SMSR: asking for space

Rack space, power, and available cooling in the self-managed server rooms are all limited. The SRRG (Server Room Resource Group) oversees the allocation of space in all of the School's server rooms. Before you make plans to site equipment in either room, you must submit a Server Room Request Form explaining what equipment you propose to install, how much rack space you'll need, and how much power your equipment can be expected to draw. If the request is reasonable, the SRRG will reserve the space, subject to the School's SMSR space policy.

Software on Virtual DICE

The software in Virtual DICE is a subset of the software on normal DICE computers. Some DICE software is too big to fit. Other software is excluded for legal reasons, or because it doesn't make sense to run it in a virtual machine. For example, Google Chrome, Matlab and Webots are all excluded - but you can run them on a normal DICE computer in the AT student labs.

Software updates

Here's how to keep Virtual DICE up to date with the software we recommend. Before doing this, read the Notes section below.

sudo om client run

Wait a few seconds, then:

OpenVPN for iOS

Sorry, but our OpenVPN service cannot currently work with iOS or iPadOS devices.
The reason is that the app store for these devices offers only OpenVPN version 3, and at the moment our OpenVPN service is only compatible with OpenVPN version 2.
At some point we hope to upgrade our service to be compatible with version 3.
For these platforms we suggest that you use the main University VPN.

Remote Desktop on Windows

The Informatics Remote Desktop gives you a graphical login on DICE, displaying on another computer.

This page explains how to access the Remote Desktop service from a Windows PC. It has been tested on Windows 10 and 11.

You will need to use either the University or School VPN. If you don't, you won't get access to the Remote Desktop service - unless your computer is already on the University of Edinburgh network (for example in an office or a computing lab).

Remote Desktop on Android

The Informatics Remote Desktop gives you a graphical login on DICE, displaying on another computer.

This page explains how to access the Remote Desktop service from an Android device. This involves installing an app, then configuring it, then connecting to the service. Installing and configuring the app only has to be done once.

Get on the network

First, your device will need to join the University's network. On campus, connect to eduroam wifi. Anywhere else, connect to the University VPN.

RDP on Linux

The Informatics Remote Desktop gives you a graphical login on DICE, displaying on another computer - a Linux computer, in this case.

You will need to use the University VPN. If you don't, you won't get access to the Remote Desktop service - unless your computer is already on the University of Edinburgh network (for example in an office or a computing lab).

Remote Desktop Service

With the Informatics Remote Desktop service, you can get a graphical login to DICE Linux. You can use it from anywhere, on any device which has RDP client software.
You connect to a DICE remote desktop server. If you're a staff member or research postgrad with your own DICE desktop computer, you can connect to that instead.

If you just need a text-only login, use ssh instead.

Remote Desktop on a Mac

The Informatics Remote Desktop gives you a DICE graphical login, displaying on your computer.

This page explains how to use Remote Desktop on a Mac.

It tells you how to install the client, then configure it, then connect to DICE. Installing and configuring the client only have to be done once.

You will need to use the University VPN. If you don't, you won't get access to the Remote Desktop service - unless your computer is already on the University of Edinburgh network (for example in an office or a computing lab).

Screen Lock in GNOME

GNOME is one of the window environments available on DICE. (There are others - see Window managers.)

To lock the screen in GNOME, either select the lock icon which is found at the right-end of the bar at the top of the screen:

Or press the left Super key (the key which usually has a Microsoft Windows logo, typically between Ctrl and Alt), then type lock, then select the DICE Screen Lock icon which appears.

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