Use the remote desktop environment

Learning objectives

• Practice using the UPPMAX documentation
• Can navigate the file system
• Can find the name of the file explorer
• Can do basic file management: create, copy, move and delete a file and folder
• Can start a terminal
• Can start a program from the terminal
• Can start a visual text editor
• Can find the name of the visual text editor
• Can do basic things in the visual text editor: edit, save, close
• Can copy-paste text between local computer and the remote desktop (in both directions)

For teachers

Teaching goals are:

• Learners have used Thunar
• Learners have found out that the file explorer is called Thunar
• Learners have done basic file management: create, copy, move and delete a file and folder
• Learners have started a terminal
• Learners have start xeyes from the terminal
• Learners have started gedit
• Learners have found that the text editor is called gedit
• Learners have done basic things in gedit: edit a files, save, close
• Learners have copy-pasted text between local computer and the remote desktop (in both directions)

Lesson plan:

gantt
  title Using the remote desktop
  dateFormat X
  axisFormat %s
  section First hour
  Prior : prior, 0, 5s
  Present: present, after prior, 2s
  %% It took me 5 mins, here I do that time x2
  Challenge: crit, challenge, after present, 10s
  %% Here I use the same time it took me to give feedback
  Feedback: feedback, after challenge, 5s

Prior questions:

• Do you expect it to be hard to use a remote desktop environment?
• Do you expect there to be much different behavior when using a remote desktop environment?
• Does someone have already tried to copy-past text between local computer and remote desktop?

Why?

After logging in to the remote desktop, we can work with Rackham. Let's make sure we can do so :-)

Here we start to feel at ease using the remote desktop environment. Most exercises (e.g. creating a file) will be intuitive to do.

The goal is to make sure you can indeed do all these 'simple' things, as maybe you'll be too afraid to ask a colleague later.

Exercises

Need a video?

Here is a video that shows the solution of these exercises

It is assumed you are logged in to the remote desktop environment of Rackham.

No need to read the documentation here: we'll take a look at the (Linux) filesystem of Rackham.

Try to do these exercises by trying out things yourself first. There are usually multiple ways to solve the exercise. Feel encouraged to explore this new environment too!

Exercise 1: file navigation

• Start a program to navigate your files

Answer

At the bar at the bottom of the screen, click on the rightmost folder icon to open the file explorer. You will be asked in which folder to open it (giving away the answer to the next question). Pick any.

• When you start that program, in which directory are you?

Answer

When you started the file explorer, you already had to pick a folder, giving away the answer to this question.

In the file explorer, you can read the directory in the top bar. For the image above, the directory is called /home/richel.

• What is the full path to your home folder (whatever a 'home folder' is)?

Answer

When you started the file explorer, pick the top option 'Open folder' to open up your home folder.

It's full path is /home/[your UPPMAX username], where [your UPPMAX username] is your UPPMAX username. For the image above, the username was richel and hence the home directory is called /home/richel.

To be able to search the web for questions on this file explorer, its name will be useful to know:

• What is the name of the file explorer?

Answer

In the file explorer, click on Help | About:

It shows the name of the file explorer:

The file navigator is called Thunar.

Exercise 2: file management

In Thunar:

• create a file

Answer

In Thunar, click on the white space next/under the files with the right mouse button. In this pop-up menu, click 'Create a new file':

In the following dialog, give it any filename:

Now the file is created:

• copy a file
• move a file
• delete a file
• create a folder
• copy a folder
• move a folder
• delete a folder

Exercise 3: starting a terminal

• Start a terminal

Answer

At the bottom bar of the screen, click the icon for 'Terminal emulator':

You now have started a terminal:

• From the terminal, start the program xeyes by typing xeyes and press enter,

Answer

These eyes will show up:

• Close the terminal. There are multiple ways!

Answer

These are some of the more conventional ways to close a terminal:

• Click on the x at the top-right of the terminal. When asked to really do it, say 'Yes'
• Click the terminal and Press CTRL + C to stop xeyes. Type exit and press enter
• Many more: any solution that worked is fine

Exercise 4: starting a text editor

• Create a file called my_file.txt (the .txt at the end is important), if not already present
• Edit a file by start a visual text editor from Thunar. There are many ways!

Answer

Here there are multiple ways:

• Double-click the file. Because the file ends with .txt it will open a visual text editor

• Do a right-mouse button click on the file and select 'Open with text editor'

It will look similar to this:

To be able to search the web for questions on this graphical text editor, its name will be useful to know:

• What is the name of the graphical text editor?

Answer

The visual text editor is called 'gedit'.

You can see its name in the menu bar at the top:

You can also click on the hamburger button and click 'Help':

This will show you the gedit about screen:

• Save the file. There are multiple ways!

Answer

There are multiple ways, these are among the most conventional:

• Press CTRL + S
• Click on the 'Save' button at the top menu bar of gedit

• Close gedit. There are multiple ways!

Answer

These are some of the more conventional ways to close gedit:

• Click on the x at the top-right of the terminal
• In the gedit hamburger menu, click 'Quit'

Exercise 5: copy-paste text

Go to the UPPMAX documentation at https://docs.uppmax.uu.se, then answer these questions:

• Find the page where it is documented to log in to Rackham's remote desktop via a webbrowser.

Answer

The page is here.

• On that page, find where to find information on how to use the remote desktop

Answer

The link can be found at the 'Usage' heading, which takes you to ThinLinc, the program that is the workhorse behind the website

• Copy-paste text from local computer to your remote desktop

Answer

Select some text on your local computer and press CTRL + C to copy it to your loal clipboard.

Then, click on the menu bar on the left side of the window and click on the clipboard icon. Press CTRL + V to paste the text from your local clipboard to the remote desktop's clipboard

Then, in the remote desktop environment, press CTRL + V to paste the text from the remote desktop's clipboard to a text editor

• Copy-paste text from your remote desktop to your local computer

  In the remote desktop environment, press CTRL + C to copy the selected text to the remote desktop's clipboard.

  Then, click on the menu bar on the left side of the window and click on the clipboard icon. Copy the text in the remote desktop's clipboard using CTRL + C to your local computer's clipboard.

  Then, on your local computer, press CTRL + V to paste the text from your clipboard to a text editor