Launching and Using the Remote-Unix-Deskop

The first time

Download and install the GW VPN Client (also called Cisco-Anyconnect).
Note: you will need to run the VPN Client ONLY if you are off-campus. If you are off-campus, first run the VPN Client and THEN do everything else, and you'll need to run this VPN client each time you start working with the Unix desktop.
Next, download and install the Firefox browser.
Run Firefox, open a new tab and go to https://redhat-vlab01.seas.gwu.edu:3443
You should get a screen like this in your browser (the figure below shows what's inside the browser tab):
Sign in using your GW credentials, same as you'd use for Blackboard, but only with the username (without the @gwu.edu or @gwmail.gwu.edu part). The password is your usual password.
Eventually, you'll be at the "sessions" screen, which is what you'll see in every subsequent login:
Click on "launch" button and you should see
Click on the Gnome icon and THEN click on "launch"
After this, you will be taken through a one-time sequence of screens that will get you set up. The first is something like: followed by followed by

Note: at any time during the process, your browser may complain that you've disabled popups, in which case you need to allow them.

Subsequent logins

Click on "launch" button and you should see
Click on the Gnome icon and THEN click on "launch"
You will finally get the somewhat plain Linux (CentOS) desktop:
Now you are ready to work with applications and your files with this desktop that is visible inside the browser. See below.

Useful things to remember

If you've left the Unix environment unattended for a while, you'll see a blank (usually blue) screen, like a screensaver. To get back, drag the blue screen upwards, enter your password.
To log out, click the power symbol, which brings down a menu, after which you click the arrow to the right and then logout.
To use applications on the system, go to the activities menu on the left: You will see some basic applications show up in a menu on the left:
- The Firefox browser
- A file explorer (equivalent to Explorer in Windows, Finder on Mac).
- Perhaps the most important one for you is the Terminal (shown above). Upon clicking that, you will get your Terminal window:
Verify that you have access to the Java compiler by typing javac at the command-line (followed by return). You should get something like:
Now type pico HelloWorld.java at the command-line to bring you into the pico (or nano - they're the same) editor.
Then, type in your HelloWorld program: Type ctrl-X to save.
Finally, compile and execute:
Now let's repeat this but after making a directory:
- Delete your earlier Terminal window and open it again.
- Type cd Desktop to put you in the Desktop.
- Type mkdir test to create a folder called test.
- Type cd test to enter that directory. (Remember for later: cd .. to go back up to the parent directory).
- Now type pico HelloWorld.java to type up your HelloWorld program.
Open the file explorer/finder by going to "activities" and then to the file-cabinet icon. This will bring up the file explorer application. Then click on "Desktop" which will take you to the Desktop, where you should see the folder.
Compress the folder into a zip file: Make sure you select "zip" as the option: Finally, this will create a zip file:
To upload this into Blackboard or Google-drive, fire up Firefox (activities → Firefox) within the system and proceed in the usual way.
Note: You can get timed-out of the session, in which case you will see a blue or black screen. Drag the screen up to re-start the session.
Important: you need to exit Firefox and the Terminal before you logout of the Unix desktop. What happens is that your session stays "alive" in some sense and Firefox will prevent another launch. If you should have trouble running Firefox, try typing this at the Terminal:
```
/home/ead/user_scripts/fix_firefox.sh
  
```