Ubuntu

Description

Surf Research Cloud allows you to use Ubuntu workspaces with various configurations:

Command-line interface:

  • Ubuntu 22.04 - SUDO enabled
  • Ubuntu 24.04 - SUDO enabled
  • Ubuntu 22.04 with CUDA (GPU support)

Desktop (Graphical interface):

  • Ubuntu Desktop 22.04
  • Ubuntu Desktop 24.04
  • Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 CUDA (GPU support)

Simply choose one of these catalog items in the workspace creation wizard.

This workspace can be created with or without nvidia CUDA GPU drivers pre-installed.

To create with GPU pre-installed select Ubuntu 22.04 with CUDA/Ubuntu Desktop 22.04 CUDA when creating the workspace,

GPU workspaces consume more credits. See the cost calculator for an estimate.

A GPU may speed up your code if the (python) libraries that you use are designed to take advantage of GPU acceleration (e.g. Pytorch, Tensorflow, LLMs). Only choose GPU workspaces if you know that this is the case. If you are not sure, contact us.

Creation

Create a workspace

In the Research Cloud portal click the ‘Create a new workspace’ button and follow the steps in the wizzard.

See the workspace creation manual page for more guidance.

Access

Accessing the Workspace via the command line (SSH)

If you do not have an ssh key pair set up, you will need to generate one and add the public key to your SURF Research Cloud account. Follow the instructions to set up SSH access..

  1. Open the ‘Terminal’ application.
  2. In your terminal application type: ssh <ResearchCloud username>@<workspace ip address>

The ResearchCloud username is given on the “Profile”-Tab of the ResearchCloud portal page. The ip-address of the workspace is displayed on the (extendable) display tile of the workspace in the main (“Dashboard”) tab.

  1. Make sure you have installed an application that allows you to login using SSH: Git Bash (recommended), alternatively MobaXTerm

  2. Open your ‘Terminal’ application (e.g. Git Bash).

  3. In your terminal application type: ssh <ResearchCloud username>@<workspace ip address>

The ResearchCloud username is given on the “Profile”-Tab of the ResearchCloud portal page. The ip-address of the workspace is displayed on the (extendable) display tile of the workspace in the main (“Dashboard”) tab.

Note

If you just submitted a new public key or when the workspace is new, you might have to wait for a few minutes for this to work.

Accessing the Workspace using the yellow Access button

  1. Open your SURF Research Cloud portal.
  2. When you login to your SURF Research Cloud portal, you will see your dashboard. Here, look for your workspace and ensure that it is running. You can access it by simply clicking the yellow “Access” button which will redirect you to a new page.
  3. You can then log in with your institutional credentials (Solis ID for Utrecht University users) to access the workspace.

Since you’re already signed in to access SURF Research Cloud, you may not need to authenticate again.

Accessing the Workspace via the command line (SSH)

If you do not have an ssh key pair set up, you will need to generate one and add the public key to your SURF Research Cloud account. Follow the instructions to set up SSH access..

  1. Open the ‘Terminal’ application.
  2. In your terminal application type: ssh <ResearchCloud username>@<workspace ip address>

The ResearchCloud username is given on the “Profile”-Tab of the ResearchCloud portal page. The ip-address of the workspace is displayed on the (extendable) display tile of the workspace in the main (“Dashboard”) tab.

  1. Make sure you have installed an application that allows you to login using SSH: Git Bash (recommended), alternatively MobaXTerm

  2. Open your ‘Terminal’ application (e.g. Git Bash).

  3. In your terminal application type: ssh <ResearchCloud username>@<workspace ip address>

The ResearchCloud username is given on the “Profile”-Tab of the ResearchCloud portal page. The ip-address of the workspace is displayed on the (extendable) display tile of the workspace in the main (“Dashboard”) tab.

Note

If you just submitted a new public key or when the workspace is new, you might have to wait for a few minutes for this to work.

Data transfer options

Use this table to find the appropriate data transfer method for your situation:

Data Source Recommended Tool Best For Skill Level
Yoda/iRODS iBridges All file sizes, GUI (Desktop) and CLI access Beginner to Intermediate
Yoda/iRODS iCommands Large datasets, transfer automation, CLI Intermediate (CLI)
SURFdrive, ResearchDrive rclone Cloud storage sync, scheduled transfers Intermediate (CLI)
Your PC/laptop scp Direct one-time transfers Intermediate (CLI)
Your PC/laptop rsync Sync or repeated transfers Intermediate (CLI)
Your PC/laptop (Windows only) MobaXterm Graphical SSH/SFTP client Intermediate
Your PC/laptop Cyberduck Graphical SFTP client Intermediate
GitHub/GitLab git clone Code repositories, version control Intermediate (CLI)

OneDrive is currently not directly supported with rclone for UU accounts. To transfer files from OneDrive:

  1. Download (preferably compress/zip) files from OneDrive to your local PC
  2. Transfer from your PC to the workspace using one of the methods above

Data transfer options

See our data transfer manuals.

Usage

Installing software packages

You can install system packages by running the following command in the terminal:

# Update package lists
sudo apt update

# Install a package
sudo apt install package-name

Tips

Contact us if you have any questions or need help with your workspace and with installing additional software packages.