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The question has come up recently from a number of trainers whether they can access their DaDesktop Fresh Start and Trainer machines using SSH for ease of use.
Unfortunately, we do not permit this for security reasons which are explained a bit more fully below:-
https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/ssh-access
Please note for DDOP - DaDesktop on Premise, SSH access can be permitted on the server if required by the customer assuming further mitigating security conditions to restrict access.
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Most applications work absolutely normally when prepared in the Fresh Start machine when using DaDesktop (DD). But there are one or two applications that due to the cloning process do not work as expected, and need a few extra steps to allow normal operation.
Hyper-V server is one of these. You can find a short guide to the small changes required when running Hyper-V in DaDesktop below.
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Hi all
There are a lot of interesting new developments happening with DaDesktop, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to update you about them. We're also now launching some very useful new features that have been in development for a while.
I will be doing more training sessions at some point soon to demonstrate these new features and to provide more info about the other changes. Additionally, full documentation will also be available shortly.
beta-button.png New Training Room - This has been entirely rewritten inhouse and will provide a simpler, better training room, but without some of the unwanted additional features on the original training room that was used from a separate application. This meant that the integration previously wasn't ideal, ie an extra chat function completely separate to all other chat apps was included.
new-training-room.png
There are views for Trainer, Side by Side and Grid and a new course Recording feature.
beta-button.png Enhanced Desktop view. This uses a more standardised system called QEMU Spice to provide DaDesktop sessions to users.
One major benefit is that Copy and Paste from the user's computer to the DaDesktop machine now 'just works'.
A couple of examples amongst many more :-
When using a MacBook, the clipboard 'just works', previously this relied on a non standard way of doing things compared to Windows and Linux. Unicode characters, e.g. including Polish/Chinese characters, can now be copied and pasted without issue, where previously support was poor or non-existent. This also makes usage of DD4W easier too.Newly built DD desktops will be supported straightaway, whereas older course machines will still use the older VNC connection method until they are updated.
Please see the docs on how to add this to your existing Windows and Linux FreshStart machines. There are a number of other benefits - please get in touch to find out more.
production.jpeg Optional dates on Courses - To simplify course creation, it's now possible to create Courses without specifying course dates. This additionally helps where a Trainer / or Co-ordinator wants to start working on a FreshStart machine on a course but the actual course dates are not yet known. Course dates can be added when they are finally known.
This new approach will also be particularly useful for more informal training events where dates can be agreed at short notice.
course-dates.png
Please note - the original method of adding dates when creating the course is still of course available.
production.jpeg Expected number of course participants - this new field has also been added on Course entry. It does pretty much as it says. Trainers and Co-ordinators are asked to input the expected number of participants on courses so that better planning of server resources can be made.
This is different to the Max. number of participants field as this value was sometimes inflated to allow latecomers to join a course, and ended up skewing the resources higher than necessary in our DD Planner calculations.
expected-number-of-participants.png
production.jpeg Participant Course Access Simplified - Previously, access to the DaDesktop machines for each user was only allowed after the start time set on the first day of the course. However, to allow additional time for participants to test out using DaDesktop beforehand, often the start time was set earlier than the real course time. This occasionally caused a degree of confusion for participants.
So to improve matters, course access has been greatly simplified.
On course days, course access is now available at any point in the day, ie before and after the course.
Outside of course days, participants now get 15 mins access to try their DaDesktop machines, instead of the previous 5 mins. See Joining a Course section here in the documentation.
production.jpegDeletion of older unused Standalones. Usage of DaDesktop is increasing, which is good, but there are a good number of Standalone Desktops that have not been used for a long while, and possibly may never be used again. In order to make the most of our resources, users will be asked if they haven't used their machines in the last month whether they still want to continue using them, and if no longer required the machines will be deleted in two weeks time. It's easy to stop deletion of any important desktops so that the question will never be asked again. This change is being made to free up disk space on servers, where there had been a few issues recently.
Trainers are requested to update their DaDesktop machines using the latest OS templates to get up to date with new features and security updates. Effectively this means recreating the machines using the latest OS template available, but the benefits include more secure desktops with improved features such as the QEMU Spice support mentioned above.
Almalinux 8 has been added to the default OS choices available which adds support for anyone who prefers using RedHat / CentOS Linux distros. AlmaLinux is a 1:1 binary replacement for CentOS 8 which is no longer supported.
If you need further information about DaDesktop or need any help with any of these new features, please contact me, or a member of the Tech team, and we'll be happy to assist.
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To simplify things, course access to DaDesktop machines has now been simplified.
On course days, access to DD machines for participants is now available at any point in the day, ie access is now fully permitted before and after the course for the entire day Outside of course days, participant's now get 15 minutes access instead of 5 minutes to try out their DaDesktop machines.Originally, there was occasionally some confusion about course start times, if the Course times had been set earlier in DaDesktop compared to the official course start time, to allow participants to get logged in and test their machines.
Further documentation for course participants can be found here
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Most applications work absolutely normally when prepared in the Fresh Start machine when using DaDesktop.
But there are one or two applications that due to the cloning process do not work fully as expected, and may need a few extra steps to allow normal operation.
Screenshot from 2022-07-20 17-50-35.png
In this case Oracle Database Server was set up in Fresh Start but when cloned to Trainers and Participant's machines, the Database server could not be contacted. This is because Oracle use the hostname of the server, which in our case gets changed when cloned as the Trainer's or Participant's machines.Workaround steps to prepare the Oracle server application in a way that works correctly after Cloning are shown in detail, with screenshots for each step in the guide below:-
https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/oracle-server-issuesfixes-during-fresh-start-cloning
Guides for other applications that require small changes to run normally will also be added to the DaDesktop Documentation.
Please get in touch for further details
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Remote Replica is a very useful new feature designed to replicate, or clone your Fresh Start Desktop to another server often in a different geographical location. Any changes to your machine will be silently and automatically copied in the background to the replica without requiring any further user input. Thus the Remote Replica is always ready if you need it.
New Documentation explaining useful ways how this feature can be used is now available as below :-
https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/remote-replica-1
Please let us know in the comments how you find this feature.
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We've recently introduced improvements so that if you need to resize your Fresh Start machines, you no longer need to make manual changes to extend the partition within the VM itself. This greatly simplifies the process and saves time.
This is the case for any standard NobleProg OS Templates, using either Windows or Linux. Custom templates may still need manual disk resizing which is detailed in the guide below.
An updated guide to resize Fresh Start desktops can be found here https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/resize-disk-of-fresh-start-desktop-in-course
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We will be releasing daily billing on 9th of May! It means you will have real time access to your next bill amount and breakdown!
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I'm very pleased to announce that we have released a Debian 11 (codenamed Bullseye) OS template for DaDesktop today.
This new template is being distributed to all DD nodes so will be available to every DaDesktop region shortly.DaDesktop Templates
As a note we support Windows, Ubuntu, CentOS and Debian officially but we're happy to provide custom templates for other operating systems such as Fedora if required.Please get in contact with us if you require assistance https://www.dadesktop.com/contact-us
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I recently provided some training on the DaDesktop platform to NobleProg staff to explain more about DD, and to provide a run through of how it works and a quick look at some of the newer features too.
The video can be found below:-
https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/dadesktop-basic-level-training-video
NB The video is just over 30mins long.
Topics Covered
Training courses
General layout of DaDesktop
DaDesktop For Work (DD4W) - Flexible Virtual desktop machines that can be spun up in seconds to work from.
FreshStart - What is the purpose of the FreshStart Machine?
Training Room
Recordings - Room recordings or Trainer Desktop Recordings
Snapshots
Remote Replica - Available for Standalone and dd4w machines, not for FreshStart nor course desktops currently
Chat
Multi-trainer capability - With example
Users in different geographical locations - For trainer, freshstart desktop and participants
Spool - Ability to keep course desktop after the course finishes
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Port forwarding allows exposing a port or ports of a desktop to the local network or the internet. It is commonly used with Remote Desktop Protocol.
This feature can be used for both DaDesktop Course machines (Super admin and own permissions required), DaDesktop For Work or Standalone machines. Please note, the interface may appear slightly differently for the different types of machines.
This feature has been improved by the addition of auto allocation of ports both TCP and UDP as well the maintaining the manual port forwards feature as originally introduced.
Screenshot_from_2022-04-13_16-25-34_1.png
For further details please see the DaDesktop Port Forward Documentation
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Hi all
There's been a lot of improvements and new features added to DaDesktop recently so I thought it was a good time to update you with the latest goings on with DaDesktop.
New Forum : forum.dadesktop.com
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Firstly, the new DaDesktop Forum, https://forum.dadesktop.com has been launched. The plan is that DaDesktop announcements, feature requests, bug fixes etc, will be presented and tracked in the open from now on.
The Tickets & Feature Requests category will include bug reports and new feature suggestions from Franchisees and the other users.
One example added this week, to give you an idea :- Accessibility - Pre Course readonly test should have audio test.
Franchisees will be able to login with their staff login as usual. Franchisees will also be subscribed to receive any new items added to the 'Announcements' category in the forum.
The forum is also open to course delegates and the public via their DaDesktop login.The site has been recently redeveloped to improve the SEO of the forum content available.
Any feedback for the forum is welcomed.
New and Improved DaDesktop Features
A newly requested feature is the use of 'Multi Trainers'. This means that DaDesktop now allows one or more trainers on all its courses.
The trainers will each have their own login to DD, and can control the ‘Trainer Desktop’ as if it were their own.
The idea is that both trainers will be on the Audio conference, swapping over at intervals as appropriate, but can take control of the Trainer Desktop as required. This will be especially useful on longer courses, or courses that just work better with input from two experts in their field to the course participants.vGPU - can now offer 3D graphics capability* on Windows and Linux machines on DaDesktop
A new Production DD node with this capability, hs2fi.npg.io has been set up, located in Europe.This enables NobleProg to host courses for applications such as CAD packages such as SketchUp which were not previously possible because a full graphics stack could not be configured. This server allows SketchUp or other graphic applications to be used or installed.
Please get in touch for further info.
Removal of CentOS8 DD Templates, as this OS is now End of Life. A drop in replacement such as AlmaLinux or RockyLinux will be added in its place suitable for Redhat Linux RHEL clone OS course requirements.
Seafile - A new storage system, Seafile on the NobleProg network has been set up. This allows you to upload files, even full virtual machines from your own laptop or desktop that can now be easily accessed inside the Trainer's desktop machine.
Improved Clipboard - you might remember that we much improved the clipboard functionality at the end of last year. This has been since been further improved.
Although it may appear to be a small feature, the ability to simply copy and paste from a machine into the DD Desktop was one of our most requested features to improve upon. It's particularly useful on courses where delegates require a lot of copying and pasting commands etc as part of their course.Likewise, ongoing updates are being made to the DaDesktop Documentation site to refine, update and improve the information held there.
There are many more smaller improvements coming through and also a number of wider improvements to the User Interface, some of which you may have seen already.
Full details of these will be posted on the next newsletter.If you have any queries about any of these new features or the new Forum, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me.
Many thanks
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Julian Robbins
Cloud Support Manager / Troubleshooter -
CentOS 8 DaDesktop Templates have been removed due to a change in business model by CentOS.
A drop in replacement such as AlmaLinux or RockyLinux will be added in its place shortly, suitable for Redhat Linux RHEL clone course requirements.
Please note CentOS7 is still supported and will still be offered as a DD template.
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A newly requested feature is the use of 'Multi-trainers'. DaDesktop can now allow one or more trainers for all its courses.
The trainers will each have their own login to DaDesktop, and can control the ‘Trainer Desktop’ as if it were their own.
training-page004_0.png
The idea is that both trainers will be on the Audio conference, swapping over at intervals as appropriate, but can take control of the Trainer Desktop as required. This will be especially useful on longer courses, or courses that just work better with input from two experts in their field to the course participants.Read more about [Multi Trainers feature](https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/trainer-guide
https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/add-trainers) -
A new storage system, Seafile on the NobleProg network has been set up. This allows you to upload files, documents and even full virtual machines from your own laptop or desktop that can now be easily accessed inside the Trainer's desktop machine.
training-page008.png
The Seafile Docs server is accessible from anywhere, where you login via the SSO link and then upload course content etc, which can then be readily accessed within the DaDesktop Machines on a course. Trainers can use this feature to add content for a course. This tool can also be used to upload entire Virtual machines if they are to be used in a nested configuration using VirtualBox or Virt-Manager for example.Alternatively, you may wish to use a cloud storage application such as DropBox, Google Drive etc, but this is likely to be slower in use within the DaDesktop machine compared to using the NobleProg Seafile cloud storage system.
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We will be making regular updates here with new features and improvements to DaDesktop.
Upcoming features and bug-fixes will be announced on this forum.
We welcome any feedback and suggestions concerning these updates to DaDesktop.com
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We have some exciting new features coming up on DaDesktop.
The first one is an oft-requested feature where the username of the person controlling the mouse follows the mouse cursor when more than one user are connecting to same desktop. This is especially useful for multi-user scenarios, and also training activities where different users may be taking control of the mouse at different times.
mouse-with-user-shown.gif
If more than one user is connected to the desktop their usernames are shown in the centre bottom part of the screen.
mouse-with-name1.jpg
This feature can be enabled or disabled as you wish by clicking the ‘Info’ button at the bottom of the screen.
info.jpegThe feature above is available now.
Also coming up soon is a related feature for multi-user keyboard usage. The name of the user typing is shown for the user typing on the keyboard at that specific time. Although this feature isn’t available quite yet, this should be available very soon.
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This feature is only available in: DaDesktop Private Server (DDPS), DaDesktop On-Premise (DDOP) only.
Previously as highlighted the system would alert if there were not enough resources for CPU, memory and disk space during creation of VM’s in course creation.
IE If the course as created would mean that the CPU resource required is too high, a warning just for this parameter will be created on screen, making it much easier for the trainer to know what was causing the over resourcing issue compared to before. This has now been improved so that a warning is created instead specifically for each parameter. See below for an example of the new warning.
Over committed warning-yellow.png
In this case, the machine would need to be migrated to another server, reduced in size or to have overcommit co-coefficients changed in the server config.
If for example, over resourcing is happening with both CPU and disk space, then two warnings will be provided as they occur, so the trainer is much more aware of the boundaries that they need to work within.
Additionally, this also makes it simpler to make use of the temporary increasing of overcommitted co-efficients as a last resort, as only the parameter(s) that are causing the problem can be increased if necessary.link text![Over committed warning-yellow.png]
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For those trainers who need to use nested virtualisation for their courses, the following new page in our DaDesktop Docs will be very useful. Note this is very much a moving target so please get in touch with your course co-ordinator or DaDesktop Support if you have any issues
See this link for full details and notes [https://www.dadesktop.com/doc/dadesktop-nested-virtualization-compatibility)
Nested-virtualisation-chart.png
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We’ve introduced a new administration feature when dealing with DD templates. This makes it a cinch to delete many DaDesktop templates from a number of different servers in one operation.
Admin → OS Template → Distribution → Remove from …
Please see detailed documentation on this feature here
Port Forwarding improvements
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Port forwarding allows exposing a port or ports of a desktop to the local network or the internet. It is commonly used with Remote Desktop Protocol.
This feature can be used for both DaDesktop Course machines (Super admin and own permissions required), DaDesktop For Work or Standalone machines. Please note, the interface may appear slightly differently for the different types of machines.
This feature has been improved by the addition of auto allocation of ports both TCP and UDP as well the maintaining the manual port forwards feature as originally introduced.
For further details please see the DaDesktop Port Forward Documentation