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Client Configurations

This document will demonstrate how to log in, disconnect, and log out of a vLabs station. The vLabs stations are provided in on-campus labs for student, faculty, and staff use. These stations provide access any application that would normally only be available in on-campus computer labs. For your convenience, they work almost exactly like a physical computer works.

Logging into a vLabs Zero-Client Terminal

Login screen for vLabs

Figure 1 (a)

1. When you first sit down at a vLabs station, you will see a login screen shown below in figure 1 (a).

Enter student e-mail address and password for the username and password fields, then ignore the domain field and click login

Figure 1 (b)

Enter your UMass Lowell student e-mail address and password into the corresponding fields. You can safely ignore the “Domain” field. This is shown below in figure 1 (b).

A list of labs is shown that your account is entitled access to and then select the lab that you want to access and click connect

Figure 2

After clicking the “Login” button, you will be shown a list of labs your account is entitled access to. Select the lab you would like to access and click “Connect.” The window will look similar to the image shown in figure 2. If you only have access to one lab you will be automatically connected to that lab, so you will not see the list of labs.

2. After clicking “Connect”, you will then be logged into a vLabs desktop from the lab that you have chosen. You will have to access all of the applications that you would normally use in the lab.

Disconnecting from the vLabs Zero-Client Terminals

There are a few different ways to close a virtual machine. You can either disconnect or log out.

  • Disconnecting will close the virtual machine and start a 1-hour timer. Disconnecting allows you to reconnect to the same session at a later point in time, as long as you do not exceed the one hour timer. After one hour, the user is logged out.
  • Logging out immediately disconnects the user and destroys the virtual machine. This removes any files that have been created since you have logged in. Be sure to save all of your documents in a safe location like a USB device.

Please choose the method that best suits your needs. If you need to reconnect quickly (less than an hour) you should disconnect. If you are not planning to reconnect at a later time you should log out.

Briefly press the blue button on the terminal in order to disconnect from the vLabs

Figure 3

Disconnecting is very simple. All you have to do is briefly press the blue power button on the terminal at your desk. This button is circled in red in figure 3.

In order to reconnect to the session you disconnected from, select the lab you want to connect to and you will see Reconnect to Desktop instead of Log on to Desktop in the list of your labs that your account is entitled to

Figure 4

When you want to reconnect to the session you disconnected from, follow the same instructions for logging into vLabs. When you login and are selecting the lab you would like to connect to, you will see “Reconnect to Desktop” instead of “Log on to Desktop” shown in figure 4. Alternatively, you can use your own device from anywhere. Instructions for other devices can be found on the vLabs webpage.

If you choose to log out immediately, log out as you would normally do on any windows computer using the start menu, and clicking “Log Off.”

WARNING: Logging of will destroy any new files that were created since you logged in. These files must be moved to an external storage location like a USB thumb drive or a cloud based service like Dropbox. UMass Lowell Information Technology is not responsible for any lost work or data from logging off of a vLabs station.

The following will demonstrate how to download, install and connect to a virtual lab (vLabs) desktop from your Windows computer using the VMware Horizon View Client. The Horizon View Client software is installed to your Windows computer and allows you to connect to lab machines you have been provisioned access to from anywhere.

System Requirements

  • Microsoft Windows 7 or later, 32- or 64-bit
  • 1GB RAM
  • Standard x86 Processor
  • Internet Connection
To verify the bit of type of your computer, open the start menu and find Computer, then right click on Computer and select Properties

Figure 1 (a)

Before proceeding, verify which bit type of Windows you have (32 or 64-bit) and that you have software installation permission on the computer. To verify the bit type of your computer, open the start menu. Find “Computer,” right click and select “Properties” as shown in figure 1 (a).

In this window, you will see System type, which displays the bit type of your PC

Figure 1 (b)

This window will show the specifications of your computer. You will see “System type” which displays the bit type of your PC. The images below in figure 1 (b) display the steps to verify the bit type of your Windows computer.

Installing the VMware Horizon View Client

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view any pdf files. It can be download for free from the Adobe website.

DISCONNECTING FROM A VLABS VIRTUAL MACHINE

There are a few different ways to close a virtual machine. You can either disconnect or log out.

  • Disconnecting will close the virtual machine and start a 1-hour timer. Disconnecting allows you to reconnect to the same session at a later point in time, as long as you do not exceed the one hour timer. After one hour, the user is logged out.
  • Logging out immediately disconnects the user and destroys the virtual machine. This removes any files that have been created since you have logged in. Be sure to save all of your documents in a safe location like a USB device. Connecting a USB device to a vLabs virtual machine is explained on the following page.
There are two ways to disconnect, select the X on the top right, or select the Options menu from the menu bar and then select Disconnect

Figure 2

1. There are two ways to disconnect. You can either click on the “X,” enclosed in yellow, or under the options drop-down, select “Disconnect,” enclosed in red. Both options are shown in figure 2.

2. After step 1, you have one hour to reconnect to the VMware Horizon View client and connect to the same virtual desktop. After one hour, you will be logged off.

3. To directly log off, there are also two ways to do this. You can log off, like you would any other windows computer, opening the start menu and clicking “log off.” You can also select the “Disconnect and Log Off” option in the menu also shown in figure 2.

WARNING: Logging off will immediately destroy the desktop being used and reset it for the next user. Make sure any documents you were working on are saved in a safe location like a USB device. The following page explains how to make a USB device available to the virtual machine.

Features

The VMware Horizon View Windows client has a key feature that will be very useful. Many students like to save copies documents to a USB flash drive to be worked on from any computer you can plug them into. You can access your USB devices from a vLabs virtual machine also, even when off campus. The following steps demonstrate how to redirect USB devices to a vLabs virtual machine.

1. You must first have a USB device connected to your computer. Make sure that your USB device is plugged into your computer.

Plug in the USB device on your computer, and login to vLabs then click on the Connect USB device button in the top menu bar

Figure 3

2. Once logged into a vLabs virtual machine, you will need to click the “Connect USB Device” button in the top menu bar shown in red in figure 3.

Clicking the Connect USB Device will show a drop down menu, select the USB device you want to connect from the list or select Autoconnect USB Devices to connect all the USB devices available

Figure 4

3. Clicking this button will drop down a menu to select the USB device shown in figure 4. Select the device you would like to connect to the vLabs virtual machine and click on the device. You can also select “Autoconnect USB Devices” which will automatically connect all USB devices available.

4. Once a device is selected, wait a moment for the machine to install the driver. After the driver installs, the device will be available for use from the vLabs virtual machine.

The following will demonstrate how to download, install, and connect to a virtual lab desktop from a personal Mac OSX computer using the VMware Horizon View Client. The Horizon View Client software is installed to your Mac OSX computer and allows you to connect to lab machines you have been provisioned access to from anywhere. Before using these instructions, verify which bit version of Mac OSX you have and that you have software installation permission on the computer. These instructions were written for a Mac Mini running Mac OSX version 10.7.2, the images may vary between computers and software versions.

System Requirements

  • Mac OSX 10.6.8 or later
  • 2GB RAM
  • Internet Connection
Click the Apple button in the top menu bar and then click About This Mac to see your Mac OSX version

Figure 1 (a)

To verify the version of your Mac OSX computer, click on the Apple button in the top menu bar and click “About this Mac” as shown in figure 1 (a).

Version of your MAC OS X

Figure 1 (b)

In this window you will see “Version 10.X.X.” Figure 1 (b) shows the steps needed to verify the version of your Mac OSX software.

INSTALLING THE VMWARE HORIZON VIEW CLIENT

How to install and connect to vLabs on Mac (pdf)

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view any pdf files. It can be download for free from the Adobe website.

DISCONNECTING FROM A VLABS VIRTUAL MACHINE

There are a few different ways to close a virtual machine. You can either disconnect or log out.

  • Disconnecting will close the virtual machine and start a 1-hour timer. Disconnecting allows you to reconnect to the same session at a later point in time, as long as you do not exceed the one hour timer. After one hour, the user is logged out.
  • Logging out immediately disconnects the user and destroys the virtual machine. This removes any files that have been created since you have logged in. Be sure to save all of your documents in a safe location like a USB device. Connecting a USB device to a vLabs virtual machine is explained on the following page.
In order to disconnect, click on X in the top left corner, or click Desktop menu and select Disconnect, or select the disconnect button under the X

Figure 2

  1. To disconnect, there are three ways to accomplish this. You can either; click on the “X,” enclosed in cyan, under the “Desktop” menu, select “Disconnect,” enclosed in red, or click the disconnect button enclosed in green. All options are shown in figure 2.
  2. After step 1, you have one hour to reconnect to the VMware Horizon View client and connect to the same virtual desktop. After one hour, you will be logged off.
  3. To log off immediately, you can click the “log off” option shown in figure 2. You can also use the windows start menu and click “Log off.”

WARNING: Logging off will immediately destroy the desktop being used and reset it for the next user. Make sure any documents you were working on are saved in a safe location like a USB device. The following page explains how to make a USB device available to the virtual machine.

FEATURES

The VMware Horizon View Windows client has a key feature that will be very useful. Many students like to save copies documents to a USB flash drive to be worked on from any computer you can plug them into. You can access your USB devices from a vLabs virtual machine also. The following instructions demonstrate how to automatically connect USB devices to a vLabs virtual machine every time a new device is inserted when running the VMware Horizon View Client.

To connect a USB device to vLabs when it is inserted into your personal computer, select Desktop menu from the menu bar and then select USB from the menu, then select the Automatically connect when inserted option

Figure 3

Once logged into a vLabs virtual machine, you will have to open then “Desktop” menu bar shown in figure 3. Clicking this button will drop down a menu, select “USB.” Select the option “Automatically connect when inserted.” This option will automatically connect a USB device to the virtual lab when a USB device is inserted into your personal computer.

To change between two modes, click the top left button

Figure 4

You may also use the VMware Horizon View client in full or windowed mode. To change between the two modes, click the button enclosed in red shown in figure 4.

Using the client in windowed mode allows you to resize the viewing window to a size of your choice by dragging the lower right corner of the window.