Step 6: Working with Virtual Machines
Virtual machines (VMs) provide a secure, isolated compute environment inside the tiCrypt enclave. Data never leaves the encrypted infrastructure.
- Team: a resource group you belong to. Every VM and drive is associated with a team that defines CPU, memory, and storage limits. Your administrator assigns you to teams.
- Hardware setup: a preconfigured template (created by your administrator) that bundles an operating system image with CPU cores, memory, and optional devices like GPUs. You select a hardware setup when creating a VM.
- Home drive: the primary encrypted storage volume attached to your VM. Your files, settings, and work persist on this drive between VM sessions. The VM image itself resets on every boot, but your home drive does not.
- Extra drives: additional encrypted storage volumes you can attach for more space or to share data with other VMs.
VM Lifecycle
A VM moves through five stages: create the configuration, start the VM, connect to it, work in it, and shut it down when finished.
Open the Virtual Machines Section
Click Virtual Machines in the top toolbar, then select VMs in the left panel.
Create a VM Configuration
Click Create configuration and follow the 5-step wizard:
- Basic Information: name, team, project, and co-owners
- Hardware Setup: CPU cores, memory, and OS image
- Home Drive: select or create a primary storage drive
- Extra Drives: attach additional storage (optional)
- Actions: optionally launch the VM immediately
If no hardware setup or team appears in the dropdown, your account has not yet been assigned to a team or given VM access. Contact your administrator to complete your profile setup.
A VM configuration is a reusable template. Your drives persist between sessions. For all VM options, see Virtual Machines in the User Guide.
Start a Virtual Machine
Select your VM configuration, then click Start VM. Wait for the status to change to Running.
Connect to a Virtual Machine
After the VM is running, click Connect VM to attach your drives and establish your session. You must connect before opening Remote Desktop or transferring files.
Remote Desktop and Terminal
Click Start Remote Desktop to open a graphical desktop in your browser. In the credentials prompt, click Copy to copy your username and password, then paste them into the RDP session. You can also open a Terminals session for command-line access.
Transfer Files Between Vault and VM
With a connected VM, drag files between the Vault (left panel) and VM drives (right panel). You can select multiple files for bulk transfers.
Manage Drives
Drives are encrypted storage volumes that persist between VM sessions. Create, attach, and share drives from the Drives section in the left panel.
For all drive operations, see Drives in the User Guide.
Remote File System (SSHFS)
Mount a running VM's file system on your local machine using SSHFS. Click SFTP to VM and follow the instructions for your OS.
For full setup instructions, see Remote File System in the User Guide.
Add Users to a Virtual Machine
Share a running VM with other users from the Users section in the VM panel.
Shut Down a Virtual Machine
Click the Open Full Menu button next to the VM, select Power, then click Normal Shutdown. Your drives and data are preserved.
Use the normal Shut down option whenever possible. Use Force shut down only if the VM is unresponsive, as it may cause data corruption.
Next Steps
You have completed the user training track. For deeper reference on each area:
| Topic | Guide |
|---|---|
| VM configurations | Virtual Machines > Overview |
| VM drives and storage | Virtual Machines > Drives |
| Slurm batch jobs | Virtual Machines > Submitting Jobs via Slurm |
| Remote file access | Virtual Machines > Remote File System |
| All file operations | Vault > Files |