Managing volumes and virtual desktops

Prerequisites

• Create virtual desktop

SD Desktop management

With the SD Desktop service, you can easily manage volumes and pause, reboot or delete your virtual desktops. Managing desktops happens in SD Desktop management page.

• Detaching and attaching a volume
• Pausing or unpausing a virtual desktop
• Rebooting a virtual desktop
• Deleting a virtual desktop

Note

These options are available only on virtual desktops created after February 2, 2023. Please contact service desk if you are working with older desktops.

Detaching and attaching a volume

Detach a volume from your virtual desktop

With the option Detach volume, you can easily disconnect a volume from your virtual desktop. The volume and its content will be stored in the same CSC project where it was initially created. You can compare this operation to disconnecting or attaching a hard drive to your laptop.

1. Log in to SD Desktop. Access the correct virtual desktop on the homepage under All connections.

2. Save and close all the files on the volume to prevent data corruption and log out from the virtual desktop.

3. On the homepage, click SD Desktop management.

4. At the bottom of the page, under Available desktops choose the correct virtual desktop, and in the same row, on the right side, click Detach volume. Confirm the operation through the notification.

Attach a volume to a new virtual desktop

When you want to access the data saved in the detached volume, you can attach it to a new virtual desktop.

1. Log in to SD Desktop. On the homepage, click SD Desktop management.

2. At the bottom of the page, under Desktop selection choose the necessary options (CSC project, operating system etc.). Follow steps 1-2 in these instructions.

3. Under Add External Volume (optional) click Choose from existing volumes. Dropdown will show available volumes stored in the same CSC project. Leave fields Volume size and Volume name empty.

4. Click on Create desktop.

Note

• A detached volume can not be attached to an existing virtual desktop, only to new virtual desktops during creation phase.
• The content of a detached volume can not be accessed or deleted.
• To delete or access the volume content, attach it to a desktop with the same operating system during the desktop creation phase.
• Volumes can not be moved or transferred between CSC projects for security reasons.

Pausing or unpausing a virtual desktop

You can pause a virtual desktop. In this manner, the desktop will stop consuming billing units.

Pausing a virtual desktop

1. Log in to SD Desktop. Access the correct virtual desktop on the homepage under All connections.

2. Close all the programs, save or close all the files, and log out from the virtual desktop to prevent data corruption.

3. On the SD Desktop homepage, click Go To SD Desktop Management.

4. At the bottom of the page, under Available desktops choose the correct virtual desktop, and in the same row, on the right side, click Pause desktop.

5. Confirm the operation via the notification. Pausing a desktop may take up to 30 minutes.

Note

You can't access or detach a volume while a desktop is paused.

Resuming a virtual desktop

1. Log in to SD Desktop. On the SD Desktop homepage, click Go To SD Desktop Management.

2. At the bottom of the page, under Available desktops, select the correct virtual desktop. In the same row, click Options on the right, then choose Resume.

Note

Resuming a paused desktop is only possible for active CSC projects with available billing units.

Rebooting a virtual desktop

If your virtual desktop or software becomes unresponsive, you can reboot it. After the reboot, all files and software saved on the virtual desktop will remain accessible.

Note

If the Data Gateway application becomes unresponsive due to old sessions running in the background, there's no need to reboot your desktop. Instead, you can utilize the terminal to identify and halt the process. For assistance, please contact CSC Service Desk, subject "Sensitive data."

To reboot a desktop:

1. Log in to SD Desktop. Access the correct virtual desktop on the homepage under All connections.

2. Close all programs and ensure you save or close any files to prevent data corruption.

3. On the SD Desktop homepage, click Go To SD Desktop Management.

4. At the bottom of the page, under Available desktops, select the correct virtual desktop. In the same row, click Options on the right, then choose Reboot.

5. Confirm the operation via the notification. Rebooting a desktop may take up to 30 minutes.

Deleting a virtual desktop

At the end of your analysis, you can delete your virtual desktop, including the external volume and all files saved in it. You cannot undo this action:

1. Log in to SD Desktop. On the SD Desktop homepage, click Go To SD Desktop Management.

2. At the bottom of the page, under Available desktops, select the correct virtual desktop. In the same row, click Options on the right, then choose Delete.

Note

Please contact all the project members before deleting a virtual desktop. With this action, you will delete the entire workspace, including all files saved in the virtual desktop or external volume by other project members.

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