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Setting Up and Using Your PNR VM

Each PNR project member can spin up a personal Windows or Linux VM, install software from the approved catalog, and tear it down between project phases. This guide walks through provisioning each platform, basic configuration, and how to access your VM through Research Toolkits.

Overview

This tutorial guides you through:

It is intended for people new to using virtual machines. It assumes that you have basic knowledge of:

  • Accessing your PNR project

Working with your VM in your PNR project

All Members in the PNR project have the ability to build a personal Windows or Linux virtual machine in the PNR project. These VMs are easily deleted and recreated to assist users with using the right tools for the right stage of the project.

You must be a Member to provision a VM

Only users with the Member role can build a VM. Admin alone is not enough.

If you are the only admin on your project, add yourself as a Member as well in Team Management before trying to provision your VM.

Part 1: Setting up your Windows VM

  1. Login to Research Toolkits and select your PNR project.

  2. Setup your personal Windows Virtual Machine by pressing the play button.

    Initial build time

    This initial build of your VM will generally take 30 minutes, but can take up to four hours. You will receive an email once the initial provisioning is complete.

    If your VM does not complete provisioning after 4 hours, you can delete the VM and try again or Request Help.

  3. Once your VM is complete, your resource will show as complete and you will have the option to review the software available on the VM by selecting the pencil icon.

  4. After selecting the pencil, a new screen appears with options to install software from an available software inventory.

    Best practice

    For the best performance, only install the software you need for this phase of the project. You can easily delete the VM and set it up again when you need different software.

    After checking the boxes for desired software, select install and your software installation will begin.

  5. After clicking install, your VM status will automatically update and an email will be sent once installation is complete.

Part 2: Setting up your Linux VM

  1. Request the Linux VM via Research Toolkits and wait for it to be built
  2. Once done, power on the VM and then click the link
  3. You'll see a home page showing AlmaLinux
  4. In the top left-hand corner, you'll see "Activities"; click this and you'll see a filing cabinet icon, a terminal window, and a grid icon

  • The cabinet icon will allow you to search through the machine with a file explorer UI
  • The terminal icon will open terminal
  • The grid matrix icon will open applications

Adjusting AlmaLinux Environment

  • Click on the grid matrix icon (remember, to get here from the Desktop, select Activities → grid matrix icon)
  • Select the Extensions icon

Here, you can enable or disable built-in extensions such as:

  • Applications menu
  • Desktop icons
  • Dash to Dock or Panel

Files

Save your work in the right place

You should always make sure to save your files in the /share/data folders. You can access these through terminal or through the UI file storage system.

Part 3: Accessing and Using Your PNR VM

All PNR VMs are accessed directly through your Research Toolkits project interface.

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