Changes to the CAEN Lab Software Environment (CLSE)

The CLSE changes this summer included upgrading the base operating systems to Microsoft Windows 10 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3, as well as removing the “I” (Instructional) or “R” (Research) computer designations.

No more “I” and “R” version of lab computers

Students no longer have to decide between an “I” (Instructional) or “R” (Research) computer when walking into a CAEN student computer lab. Instructional versus research licensed software is now selected when launching software, either using the software-on-demand environment in Windows, or using specifically-configured environment modules in Linux. For example, MATLAB now has two options to launch; one for “Student Instructional” use and one for “Academic Research” use. To stay in compliance with software licensing agreements, it’s important for students to select the correct software depending on how they intend to use it. This software listing website should be helpful for those who need help in determining this.

Changes to CLSE for Windows

The base operating system has been upgraded to Windows 10 for the CLSE for Windows. Windows 10 has greatly improved the performance of the CAEN software-on-demand environment (a.k.a, Cloudpaging, Application Jukebox). Students should immediately notice the improvement in launch speed of software applications.

Changes to CLSE for Linux

The GNOME 3 Classic user interface has now replaced Cinnamon Desktop as the default window manager in the CLSE for Linux. As a result, students will notice a difference in their login environment, including new system menus, icons, and file navigation windows. Although the Cinnamon Desktop was introduced as the default user interface only last year, the change back to GNOME 3 Classic was made for several important reasons, including that it:

  • works better with the CAEN VNC (remote access) client. In particular, students can now set the default screen resolution again.
  • has better support for alternate language input.
  • is supported by Red Hat, which means it will receive updates as soon as they are released.

The remote access Linux server that requires dual-factor authentication to login, restricted-course.engin.umich.edu, has been upgraded to use the University’s new Duo two-factor authentication method. Students should make sure their VNC client is the latest supported version.

The following software applications are now locally installed on Linux: Altera, cadence-ic, calibre, mmsim, synopsis-synth, and vcs. In addition, MATLAB has been updated to version 2016a.

Your Windows home directory is now accessible from Linux in the /studenthome/uniqname directory. This means all Linux software applications are able to read and write files directly to your Windows home directory.