Category: CLSE Release Notes

Over the summer, CAEN upgraded all the computers in the Duderstadt Center, CAEN computer labs, and the remote access services to new versions of Microsoft Windows 10 1809 Enterprise and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 7.7.

All CLSE systems remain dual-boot Windows and Linux for 2019.

Changes to the CLSE for Microsoft Windows 10 include:

• Logon times have been improved.
• Many software titles used for coursework have been upgraded to the latest version with the newest features.
• Microsoft Office 2016 applications are now available via the AppsAnywhere software portal.
• The Microsoft Store application has been enabled, giving students access to the full catalog of applications available in the Microsoft Windows Store.
• The Windows Subsystem for Linux is available, and an array of Linux distributions can be installed into user space via the Windows Store.
• Windows Mixed Reality, which uses the Hololens platform, is now available.

In response to student feedback about the usage of CAEN lab computers, beginning the Fall 2019 term, any login session to a CLSE computer will be automatically logged-out after 24 hours of inactivity (i.e. no keyboard or mouse interaction). This policy includes both the Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Linux CLSE computers. This policy change has been made to improve accessibility and security of CAEN Lab Software Environment for all Engineering students.

As before, an individual must remain at the computer console, or may lock the screen for up to 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, a button appears that if clicked will logout the locked user so the computer can be reclaimed.

Individuals who require background computing resources that cannot be reconciled with these policies are encouraged to evaluate the resources of the Advanced Research Computing – Technology Services group.

Now available in CAEN computer labs for the start of the Winter 2019 term is a new release of MATLAB that includes access to all available MathWorks toolkits. This new release of MATLAB can be accessed by selecting the version that starts with “MATLAB 64-bit R2018b” (note the “R2018b” in the name).

Later this term, ITS will make this version of software available for download and installation on student-owned computers. See the ITS MATLAB License for Students website (requires login) for details.

A new CAEN software listing website is available for the Fall 2017 term. This website offers an improved search for finding and viewing CAEN licensed software. It is now possible to search for software applications that match titles as you type them in real time, as well as obtain application version numbers, supported operating systems, and details about the licensing restrictions on usage.

Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Acrobat Pro DC have replaced the older Adobe applications in the new 2017 CAEN Lab Software Environment (CLSE).

Beginning with the Fall 2017 term, students will no longer be assigned a “roaming profile” when using Microsoft Windows 10 on CAEN lab computers. With this change, students should see a more consistent and improved user experience with the Microsoft Windows 10 environment on CAEN lab computers.

After this planned change takes place, students can expect to see the following:

• Desktop and Documents folders will continue to follow the student from computer-to-computer
• Applications settings for some applications will no longer follow the student between computers
• Validation to the CAEN software web page (Cloudpaging) completes more consistently
• The Windows Start Menu will be customized by CAEN for a better user experience

If you have any questions concerning this change, please Contact CAEN.

The OpenAFS client for Windows will no longer be included as part of the CAEN Lab Software Environment (CLSE) beginning in the Fall 2017. Usage of the AFS service (a.k.a. the “H:” drive) has been steadily declining for several years, and after reviewing the usage statics form the last academic year, we believe the software should be retired. College of Engineering students will continue to receive a 50 Gigabyte Windows-based home directory (a.k.a. the “N:” drive); that is not affected by this change. This space is also accessible from the CAEN Linux hosts. Other storage services, such as U-M Box and U-M Google Drive, will also continue to be available from the Kumo Client, and may be a useful alternative.

Students will still be able to access their U-M AFS space by connecting to MFile: http://mfile.umich.edu/

Accessing U-M AFS as the home directory on the CLSE Linux environment will not change.

CAEN is piloting a service called Kumo which allows you to map your cloud-based storage drives such as U-M Box and U-M Google Drive to a CAEN lab computer. Originally developed by Indiana University, it is simple to use and allows easy access to your Box and Google drives.

Setup is easy; just authorize your cloud storage accounts, and they’ll show up as a network drive on any CAEN lab computer. To start using the service, simply go to the website kumo.it.umich.edu and sign in with your uniqname and UMICH password. You can then authorize your account to access any or all of the available cloud storage services. You only need to authorize once. After authorizing, the next time you sign into a CAEN lab computer you should see those cloud storage options appear as network drives under the “Computer” icon.

See our poster about Kumo from the 2016 Michigan IT Symposium:

(Click image to view full size)

Important Notice: The Kumo service is in a pilot deployment state. CAEN is in the process of finalizing software licensing for the Kumo service, which is expected to be completed by the end of January 2017. Students can register and use the Kumo service normally today, and should not notice any difference in the service once the software licensing is finalized and the service moves from pilot to production.