Difference between revisions of "GUI Programs"

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[[Category:Software]][[Category:GUI]]
 
[[Category:Software]][[Category:GUI]]
 
__TOC__
 
__TOC__
Here you will find the information necessary to configure and run graphical user interface (GUI) applications on HiPerGator. The process is not complicated, but running a GUI on a remote server and displaying the windows on your local client computer with a sufficiently responsive interface is not as easy as simply running the application locally. To accomplish this task we use [https://xpra.org Xpra software] - an open-source multi-platform persistent remote display server and client for forwarding application and desktop screens. Full information on Xpra can be found in its [https://xpra.org/trac/wiki/Usage basic usage documentation] and the [https://xpra.org/manual.html Xpra manual]. Below we show the parts of Xpra documentation relevant to running GUI Programs on HiPerGator.
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Here you will find the information necessary to configure and run graphical user interface (GUI) applications on HiPerGator. The process is not complicated, but running a GUI on a remote server and displaying the windows on your local client computer with a sufficiently responsive interface is not as easy as simply running the application locally. We'd like to acknowledge an Open Source [https://xpra.org Xpra Project] for creating software we built our GUI sessions on top of.
  
=Open OnDemand=
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{{Note|Open on Demand is only accessible from the UF network. Use the [https://vpn.ufl.edu VPN] if off campus.|warn}}
We are testing an [https://openondemand.org/ Open OnDemand] setup to provide a web-only interface to starting and attaching to GUI programs and Virtual Machines with seamless connections through web browsers. This service is now in Beta and is available at the following URL:
 
 
 
https://ondemand.rc.ufl.edu
 
 
 
To provide feedback, please open a support request with [OnDemand Feedback] in the subject.  Please note:
 
 
 
'''Ondemand is currently a Beta service. Users are welcome to test the service and submit support requests with feedback. However, no SLA is guaranteed and all features should be considered experimental.'''
 
 
 
=GUI2=
 
This is the second iteration of the UFRC approach to starting GUI programs in SLURM jobs on HiPerGator and attaching to them over any modern web browser.
 
==Start GUI Session==
 
* Log into HiPerGator
 
* Load the environment module
 
$ module load gui/2
 
* Start a GUI session
 
:* Example: RStudio with 2 cpus, 8gb of memory, 24 hours of run time
 
$ gui start -e rstudio -c 2 -m 8 -t 24
 
:* Example: Matlab with default resources (1 cpu, 4gb memory, 2 hours of run time)
 
$ gui start -e matlab
 
See <code>gui start -h</code> to see all available options.
 
:* Example: Hardware-accelerated MatLab instance
 
$ gui start --gpu -e matlab
 
 
 
==Show Running GUI Sessions==
 
'''Note:''' Give the session from few seconds to a couple of minutes to start if the output is empty.
 
$ gui show
 
The output will look similar to the following e.g. with four active sessions and real passwords listed instead of 'REDACTED' in the example:
 
<pre>
 
Current GUI sessions:
 
______________________________________________________________________________
 
#:  JobID    Application  Type  State      Reason
 
1: 38005270  rstudio      gui  RUNNING   
 
2: 38005271  rstudio      gui  RUNNING   
 
3: 38005272  rstudio      gui  RUNNING 
 
4: 38005355  matlab        gui  RUNNING   
 
 
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Connection URLs:
 
1: https://gui3.rc.ufl.edu/4207/?password=REDACTED
 
2: https://gui3.rc.ufl.edu/5713/?password=REDACTED
 
3: https://gui5.rc.ufl.edu/12474/?password=REDACTED
 
4: https://gui5.rc.ufl.edu/4078/?password=REDACTED
 
______________________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
Please copy a connection URL and paste it into a modern web browser's
 
location bar on your LOCAL computer located on campus or connected via VPN
 
</pre>
 
==Connect To a GUI Session==
 
* Attach to a session
 
Copy and paste a session URI into a modern browser (tested on Firefox and Chrome/Chromium) e.g.
 
https://gui3.rc.ufl.edu/4207/?password=REDACTED
 
As a result the browser tab becomes a 'desktop canvas' and the GUI program window should be visible and can be resized or maximized to the limits of the browser tab window as normal.
 
==Stop a GUI Session==
 
To stop a session either close the application, which will cause the SLURM job to automatically terminate, or cancel the session on the command-line with
 
gui stop SESSION_ID
 
E.g.
 
<pre>
 
$ gui stop 3
 
Current GUI sessions:
 
______________________________________________________________________________
 
#:  JobID    Application  Type  State      Reason
 
1: 38005270  rstudio      gui  RUNNING   
 
2: 38005271  rstudio      gui  RUNNING   
 
3: 38005272  rstudio      gui  COMPLETING  Stopping session and cleaning up
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Connection URLs:
 
1: https://gui3.rc.ufl.edu/4207/?password=REDACTED
 
2: https://gui3.rc.ufl.edu/5713/?password=REDACTED
 
______________________________________________________________________________
 
 
 
Please copy a connection URL and paste it into a modern web browser's
 
location bar on your LOCAL computer located on campus or connected via VPN
 
</pre>
 
 
 
This is all it should take to use the 2nd generation setup.
 
 
 
=Hardware Accelerated GUI=
 
This is a service to provide hardware acceleration for OpenGL applications needing 3D acceleration on HPG.
 
 
 
To use hardware acceleration for applications launched with gui/2 use the '--gpu' argument with 'gui start'
 
 
 
For older gui/1 approach, which uses Xpra client software please see the following page for more information:
 
 
 
[[Hardware_Accelerated_GUI_Sessions|Hardware Accelerated GUI Sessions]]
 
 
 
=GUI1=
 
This is a classic client/server approach where a gui program is started in a SLURM job on HiPerGator and is wrapped in Xpra server. Once started the session can be attached from a remote (local) computer using the xpra client software.
 
See [[GUI_Version_1]] page for documentation on using the server/client xpra approach for running Gui Applications on HiPerGator.
 
 
 
=Connect From a Client Computer=
 
<span style="color:red">'''Servers in the SLURM gui partition are accessible only within the UF campus network.'''</span>
 
  
 
If you are working off campus, you will need to use the VPN to connect to the UF campus network using [https://connect.ufl.edu/it/wiki/Pages/glvpn-anyconnect-install.aspx AnyConnect VPN] or similar software. Please see: [https://vpn.ufl.edu https://vpn.ufl.edu] for additional information.
 
If you are working off campus, you will need to use the VPN to connect to the UF campus network using [https://connect.ufl.edu/it/wiki/Pages/glvpn-anyconnect-install.aspx AnyConnect VPN] or similar software. Please see: [https://vpn.ufl.edu https://vpn.ufl.edu] for additional information.
  
====Connecting from Linux====
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=X11 Forwarding=
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:70%; padding: 5px; border: 1px solid gray;">
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For the simplest case of running a lightweight GUI application for a very short time you can log into HiPerGator with
''Expand this section to view connection instructions for Linux/Unix.''
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ssh -Y MYUSER@hpg.rc.ufl.edu
<div class="mw-collapsible-content" style="padding: 5px;">
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load the environment module your application is in and run it. Do not analyze data this way, but running a text editor, a web browser to log in and get an api token from a remote service or some other very short and lightweight operations are fine.
Use the client command provided by 'xpra_list_sessions' to connect while adding any local options you need to improve the viewing experience like desktop scaling with <code>--desktop-scaling=on</code> or resolution, dpi (dots per inch) with <code>--dpi=96</code>
 
  
;Command
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=Open OnDemand=
:$USERNAME is your UF GatorLink username, $SERVERNAME is the GUI server address, and $PORT is the X11 port.
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Normally the X11 DISPLAY variable is set once the X11 server is startedThis can be done manually, as described above, but an easier method is to use [https://help.rc.ufl.edu/doc/Open_OnDemand#Display_Environment_on_the_Console Open OnDemand] since that will start an X11 server and allocate the frame buffer automatically.
  xpra attach ssh:$USERNAME@$SERVERNAME:$PORT
 
Example:
 
jdoe@local_computer:~$ xpra attach ssh:testuser@i21a-s33.rc.ufl.edu:12345 --desktop-scaling=on --dpi=96
 
  
;Note
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[https://openondemand.org/ Open OnDemand] provides a web-only interface to starting and attaching to GUI programs with seamless connections through web browsers. This service is available at the following URL:
:if you close the application window using the close button in the top right (or left) corner, this will exit your application and terminate your SLURM gui session. Use 'Ctrl+c' key combination in the terminal windows where you ran the xpra attach command to disconnect the session if you plan to reconnect later.
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
  
====Connecting from MacOS X====
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https://ondemand.rc.ufl.edu
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:70%; padding: 5px; border: 1px solid gray;">
 
''Expand this section to view connection instructions for MacOS X.''
 
<div class="mw-collapsible-content" style="padding: 5px;">
 
 
 
'''Note:''' This is done '''ON YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER''' since you will be connecting from it to HiPerGator. Do '''not''' run this command on HiPerGator.
 
 
 
Use the client command provided by 'xpra_list_sessions' to connect while adding any local options you need to improve the viewing experience like desktop scaling with <code>--desktop-scaling=on</code> or resolution, dpi (dots per inch) with <code>--dpi=96</code>
 
 
 
Example:
 
xpra attach ssh:test-user@i21a-s3.rc.ufl.edu:143 --desktop-scaling=on --dpi=96
 
 
 
Once the GUI application windows is displayed on your local computer, if you close the window using the close button, both the application and the SLURM gui session will close. If you want to detach from the session (leaving it running) and return later, click on the terminal window where you ran the client command and use the 'Ctrl+c' key combination to detach from the session.
 
 
 
'''Note:'''
 
If the xpra script was not installed by the .pkg installer or manually as noted on the [[Xpra_MacOS_X_Installation|client software installation]] page, you will need to change into the Xpra installation directory before running Xpra executable.
 
cd /Applications/Xpra.app/Contents/MacOS
 
xpra attach ssh:test-user@i21a-s3.rc.ufl.edu:143 --desktop-scaling=on --dpi=96
 
 
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
 
 
====Connecting from Microsoft Windows====
 
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:70%; padding: 5px; border: 1px solid gray;">
 
''Expand this section to view instructions for logging in with Microsoft Windows.''
 
<div class="mw-collapsible-content" style="padding: 5px;">
 
'''Note:''' This is done '''ON YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER''' since you will be connecting from it to HiPerGator. Do '''not''' run this command on HiPerGator.
 
 
 
 
 
Assuming the xpra shell script was downloaded and installed as on the [[Xpra_Windows_Installation|client software installation]] page. You can open a new terminal window and paste the xpra connect command:
 
 
 
;Example:
 
xpra attach ssh:test-user@i21a-s3.rc.ufl.edu:143 --desktop-scaling=on --dpi=96
 
 
 
Once the GUI application windows is displayed on your local computer if you close the window using the close button both the application and the SLURM gui session will close. If you want to simply detach the session and come back later click on the terminal window where you ran the client command and use the 'Ctrl+c' key combination to detach the session.
 
 
 
'''Note:'''
 
If the xpra script was not installed, you will need to navigate to the install location of xpra (normally C:\Program Files\Xpra\) . 
 
;In MobaXterm:
 
cd "/drives/c/Program\ Files/Xpra/"
 
xpra attach ssh:test-user@i21a-s3.rc.ufl.edu:143 --desktop-scaling=on --dpi=96
 
 
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
  
===Special cases (GUI scaling, font issues, etc)===
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==[https://mediasite.video.ufl.edu/Mediasite/Play/4654bfa838624de894085bf54678848f1d Using Open on Demand on HiPerGator]==
See the [[GUI_Programs_Special_Cases|Special Cases page for GUI Programs]] if you run a program or a local system that requires special care compared to the normal usage. Some examples of special cases include desktop scaling and DPI issues.
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[[File:Play_icon.png|frameless|30px|link=https://mediasite.video.ufl.edu/Mediasite/Play/4654bfa838624de894085bf54678848f1d]] [5 min, 11 sec]
 +
This video covers the use of Open on Demand https://openondemand.org/ on HiPerGator via https://ood.rc.ufl.edu/.
 +
* Connect to https://ood.rc.ufl.edu/
 +
* Launch a terminal
 +
* Launch many graphical applications like Rstudio, Matlab and Freeview
 +
* Manage job submission
 +
* Upload, download and edit files via your browser

Revision as of 18:02, 26 September 2022

Here you will find the information necessary to configure and run graphical user interface (GUI) applications on HiPerGator. The process is not complicated, but running a GUI on a remote server and displaying the windows on your local client computer with a sufficiently responsive interface is not as easy as simply running the application locally. We'd like to acknowledge an Open Source Xpra Project for creating software we built our GUI sessions on top of.

Open on Demand is only accessible from the UF network. Use the VPN if off campus.

If you are working off campus, you will need to use the VPN to connect to the UF campus network using AnyConnect VPN or similar software. Please see: https://vpn.ufl.edu for additional information.

X11 Forwarding

For the simplest case of running a lightweight GUI application for a very short time you can log into HiPerGator with

ssh -Y MYUSER@hpg.rc.ufl.edu

load the environment module your application is in and run it. Do not analyze data this way, but running a text editor, a web browser to log in and get an api token from a remote service or some other very short and lightweight operations are fine.

Open OnDemand

Normally the X11 DISPLAY variable is set once the X11 server is started. This can be done manually, as described above, but an easier method is to use Open OnDemand since that will start an X11 server and allocate the frame buffer automatically.

Open OnDemand provides a web-only interface to starting and attaching to GUI programs with seamless connections through web browsers. This service is available at the following URL:

https://ondemand.rc.ufl.edu

Using Open on Demand on HiPerGator

Play icon.png [5 min, 11 sec] This video covers the use of Open on Demand https://openondemand.org/ on HiPerGator via https://ood.rc.ufl.edu/.

  • Connect to https://ood.rc.ufl.edu/
  • Launch a terminal
  • Launch many graphical applications like Rstudio, Matlab and Freeview
  • Manage job submission
  • Upload, download and edit files via your browser