Linux Labs -Instructions for Students

Using Azure Labs in Newcastle University

An Azure Lab runs a VM (Virtual Machine) dedicated to your use for one or more computing-themed modules. This machine is provisioned in a Microsoft data centre, normally in the United Kingdom, so if available to you both on and off-campus. The initial tutorial for students is Access a lab in Azure Lab Services which is published by Microsoft. The basic outline of a session is to:

  • Register for the lab (first time only)

  • Connect to Azure Labs (subsequent times)

  • Start the VM

  • Connect to the VM

  • Use the VM for your practical work

  • Stop the VM

Register for the lab

Before you can use a lab for the first time, one needs to be assigned to you and you need to be sent a registration link by NUIT (Newcastle University Information Technology Service) or by your practical supervisor. (Many operations like this can currently only be carried out by a member of NUIT staff. In future it is hoped to extend this ability to practical supervisors.) This will provide a link of the form https://labs.azure.com/register/mrsfo7l which leads to a specific lab. Here you must log on with the long form of your Newcastle university login (I.e. c0xxxxxx@newcastle.ac.uk). Note that using an email name or ncl.ac.uk here will fail.

Subsequent connection to Azure Labs

Once you have registered for a lab, you can connect to https://labs.azure.com/virtualmachines directly, once again using the long form login.

Start the VM

Each lab assigned to you has a start/stop slider which will start the lab running. This takes a few minutes. 

Connect to the VM

The next link to the right of the start/stop slider is used to connect to the lab. The first time you use this, you are likely to be asked to set a new password for your personal use of this lab. It is not good practice to use the same one that you use for other Newcastle University logins here. Once again, this takes a few minutes, and will briefly stop and restart the lab. Alternatively, you may have been given an initial password by your lab supervisor (which you should change). 

Connecting to the lab will download a .rdp file which you need to open. The application you use for this may vary depending on the computer or laptop you are using:

  • For Microsoft Windows, use “Remote Desktop Connection” which is built-in and should be available from the Start Menu.

  • For Apple Macs, you need to use Microsoft Remote Desktop which is available from the Apple store. Other older remote desktop applications may not support a new enough protocol and may fail.

  • For Linux machines, you can use “Remmina” or (if it is configured by the lab) SSH (Secure Shell). In this case, you will have been offered a choice of “RDP” or “SSH” when you connected. SSH will give you a string containing a login, port and host name which is pasted directly as a command in any system that can run SSH, including PowerShell on a windows machine and the terminal emulator on a Mac.

  • Some Linux-based labs will offer X2Go which tunnels a graphical desktop session through SSH. If the lab is configured in this way, you will be given the necessary details by your practical supervisor.

Use the VM for your practical work

  • It is not normally possible to make connections to your lab other than as described above.

  • When connected to a lab, you will be able to make connections to any university machine that you can connect to from home. A lab can be configured with additional access to on-campus facilities, primarily for access to licence servers. Ask your lab supervisor for details if needed.

  • When connected to a lab, you can access files in OneDrive, just as you can from an on-campus session. This is an effective way to save any output that you need.

  • Most labs supply a D: drive for temporary file storage. While this should persist between connections to the lab, this is not guaranteed and will in any case be deleted if the lab is reset.

  • If your lab becomes unusable, it is possible to have it reset back to its initial. State, losing any work you may have stored in the lab. Currently you need to raise an NUIT support ticket for this.

Stop the VM

While most labs are designed to automatically stop a few minutes after you disconnect or if they are left idle, this is not always the case. Always try to stop the lab running using the Start/Stop slider on the Azure Labs home page - https://labs.azure.com/virtualmachines. Failing to do this runs the risk of you running out of quota and needing to request more before you can complete your practical work. It is also a waste of university money and is bad for our environmental footprint. Some labs can cost over $4 per hour.