Using OnDemand
This article will show you how to use an OnDemand desktop.
Starting a Linux Desktop Session
Run Program and Application Finder
Accessing Home and Project Folders
Creating Shortcuts to Home and Project Folders
Connecting to OnDemand
To access OnDemand all you need is a browser. Just get on the SSCC network using VPN (or log into Winstat), go to ondemand.ssc.wisc.edu and log in using your SSCC credentials. It may take a few minutes to log in since it is gathering resources.
Starting a Linux Desktop Session
- From the Interactive Apps box or the drop down in the top bar, choose the SSCC Linux Desktop to create your session.
- Click the Launch button. (It won't actually take long enough that you'll need an email.)
- When your desktop is ready, a page will show information about the session you are about to start. If you notice issues with the image quality you can change it using the slider on the session launch page. If you are off-campus you may find that increasing compression will improve performance.
- Click Launch SSCC Linux Desktop. For Edge users, when you launch your session for the first time it will ask if it should be allowed to access your clipboard and you should hit the allow button. This will let you copy and paste between your OnDemand session and your computer.
Your Linux desktop is very robust and will continue to run no matter what your computer does. If your computer loses its network connection or goes to sleep, it may not be able to reconnect to your session automatically. If not, just Launch it again from ondemand.ssc.wisc.edu.
Starting a Terminal
If you prefer to use command line, you can start a terminal by clicking on the applications menu and choosing the terminal emulator option. You can also open a terminal by clicking on the terminal icon on the task bar. You are welcome to do everything from the command line if you prefer. Regardless, you should use the terminal in order to submit Slurm jobs.
Run Program and Application Finder
From the start menu, you can use the run program button to access the run function and the application finder.
The run program button will default to the run function mode but can be changed to search for an application clicking on the arrow to the right.
The application finder will show a list of all applications, but you can use the search function to find a specific program from the list.
Accessing Applications
Applications can be accessed via the bottom left icon, similar to the Widows start menu.
Most of the programs you are likely to use are under Statistics, but Visual Studio Code is under Development.
You can quickly access favorite applications by finding them in the applications menu then dragging them to the bottom bar of the desktop.
Accessing Home and Project Folders
Your Linux home directory and project folders are readily available just like on Winstat. You can access the folders by clicking the corresponding icon on the desktop.
To access your home folder, click on the Home folder.
To access project folders simply click on the project folder:
Creating Shortcuts to Home and Project Folders
To create a shortcut to a folder simply right click on the folder, click on Send To, then choose where you want the shortcut to be.
The Side Pane option will create a shortcut on the sidebar of the file system window.
The Desktop option will create a shortcut for that folder on the desktop. You can also drag folders on to the bottom bar to create a shortcut for quick access.
Tips for using OnDemand
- If you use Stata, you will need to change the color settings to not dark. To modify appearance settings go to Applications -> Settings -> Appearance and switch from Adwaita-dark to just Adwaita, or any other appearance option besides dark.