Managing Project Workspace Tools
- Mojib Javadi
- Jonathan Gane
Workspace tools make it easier for Project members to work with Project data within the secure Pilot environment, fostering remote collaboration with other Project members. For more information about Workspace tools, see Using Workspace Tools.
If you need a Workspace tool deployed for the Project, please contact a Platform Administrator.
Accessing the Project Workspace Dashboard
As Project Administrator, you can check the deployment status of Workspace tools for your Project.
Launch the Project and go to Project Settings page.
Click the Workspace tab.
Each workspace tool is listed along with its deployment status. Possible statuses are:
Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
Deployed for project on {date} By {Platform Admin’s username} | The workspace too has been deployed by a Platform Administrator and is ready for use by users whose role includes that workspace tool permission level. For Guacamole only: If a Platform Admin has deployed virtual machines for the Project, the name of each VM is also displayed. |
Not Deployed for the Project | The workspace tool has not been deployed in the Project. Contact a Platform Administrator to complete deployment. |
After a Platform Administrator has deployed the workspace tool(s) for the Project, additional steps may be required to prepare the tool for use by project members. Guidance for each tool is described in the next sections.
Configuring JupyterHub
JupyterHub is a multi-user Hub that spawns and manages multiple instances of Jupyter notebooks. When deployed for a a Project, JupyterHub spins up a new JupyterLab instance for each Project member. Contact a Platform Administrator to deploy JupyterHub.
After JupyterHub is deployed for the Project, Project members with a default or custom role that includes JupyterHub can click JupyterHub in the Workspace icon group to launch their own Jupyter notebook environment (the JupyterHub icon is not visible to Project members whose role does not include the JupyterHub permission level). Login is seamless with single sign-on - just click Sign in with Keycloak. See Using JupyterHub for more details on how to use the application in the platform.
For data privacy, be sure to log out of JupyterHub when finished with the session.
Configuring Guacamole
Apache Guacamole is a clientless remote desktop gateway that gives you access to Project-based Virtual Machines (VMs) to perform computational analyses on your Project data. Guacamole supports standard protocols like VNC, RDP, and SSH. After Guacamole is deployed for the Project, Project members with a default or custom role with permission to access Guacamole can click Guacamole in the Workspace icon group to access the Project VMs.
Deploying Guacamole for a Project
Contact a Platform Administrator to deploy Guacamole to a Project.
Provisioning VMs to Guacamole-enabled Projects
Contact a Platform Administrator to provision new VMs to a Project.
Granting Access to Guacamole VMs
After the Guacamole application and the VMs for the Project have been set up, Project Administrators grant access to the VMs by following these steps:
Launch the Project and click the Members icon from the Project left menu bar.
Select the Guacamole VM Management tab. A table lists all Project members by username and user role. The # of VM Connections column displays the number of VM connections each user currently has access to.
If the user’s role does not include the Guacamole workspace tools permission level, an information ⓘ icon is displayed. Learn more about User Roles here: Understanding Project Roles
Find the row for the member you want to grant access to, and click the three horizontal dots in the Manage Access column.
Click the Manage Access button.
A pop-up window appears showing a list of all VMs configured for the project.
VMs the member already has access to are marked with a green circle and check mark.
VMs the member doesn't have access to are marked with a grey circle.
The list of VMs may be divided into Green Room VMs and Core VMs.
Click the Edit Access button to enter edit mode.
Check the boxes next to the VMs you want to grant access to.
Review your selections, then click Confirm.
A confirmation pop-up appears. Click OK to confirm that you want to grant the member access to the selected VMs.
See Using Apache Guacamole VMs for more details on how to use the application.
Configuring Superset
Apache Superset is an open-source business intelligence and data visualization tool that helps Project members derive insights into their data. Project Administrators can submit a support request to have Superset deployed for their Project.
After Superset is deployed for the Project, members can click Superset in the Workspace icon group to launch their own Superset session. Login is seamless with single sign-on, and users will have access to the visualization tools to design charts and visualizations, and the SQL lab to query the data in the project-specific database. See Using Apache Superset for more details on how to use the application in the platform.