Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Guide

To make software more readily available to current SIU students, faculty and staff, we have virtualized that software to be accessible from personal devices.

Instructions

Use the Omnissa/VMware Horizon Client to access a virtual desktop or virtual application from your personal device.  Access varies by affiliation, role, department, courses, etc.

1. Install Omnissa/VMware Horizon Client

Download and install the Omnissa/VMware Horizon Client for your personal device.

2. Connect to VDI Server

Open the Omnissa/VMware Horizon Client, click Add Server, and enter Connection Server https://vdi.siu.edu, then click Connect.

3. Login to VDI Server

Sign in with your @siu.edu email address and password.

4. Select Virtual Desktop or Virtual Application

Double-click a virtual desktop or virtual application. Standard virtual desktops include:

General Access: This virtual desktop is available to all current employees and students.

• commonly used software

Geospatial Analysis: This virtual desktop is available to all instructors of record and enrolled students for the current academic term.

• This virtual desktop is currently out of service for maintenance.

Statistical Analysis: This virtual desktop is available to all instructors of record and enrolled students for the current academic term.

• 7-Zip
• Adobe Acrobat
• Anaconda (includes Jupyter Notebook)
• Cyberduck
• EndNote
• FileZilla
• Git / GitHub CLI / GitHub Desktop
• JAGS
• JMP Pro
• Julia
• Mathematica (Wolfram)
• MATLAB
• Mendeley Desktop
• Mendeley Reference Manager
• Microsoft Office
• Notepad++
• PuTTY
• PyCharm Community Edition
• Python
• R / RStudio Desktop / Rtools
• SAS
• SPSS Amos
• SPSS Statistics
• Visual Studio Code
• VLC
• WinSCP
• Zotero

5. Save Files to Persistent Storage

Save files to persistent storage like the following. Files saved to non-persistent virtual desktops and virtual applications will be lost upon logout and irrecoverable.

• cloud storage like OneDrive
• network storage like a file share
• local device storage at Network Drive (Z:)
• removeable storage like a USB drive

6. Logout

Sign out of the virtual desktop or close the virtual application, then disconnect from the connection server.  Sessions automatically disconnect when idle then eventually logout.

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