Terminals
Permission requirements
- Virtual Machines
- View their drives
- Edit drives (name and backup setting)
- Get drive keys (needed to share and attach drives)
- Attach drives to VMs
- View the VM hardware setups available to them
- View their VM configurations and those shared with them
- Create and edit VM configurations
- Start VMs from VM configurations
- View their own VM username
- View their VMs and VMs shared with them
- Start VMs without a VM configuration
- Connect to their VMs and VMs shared with them
Access the Terminals
bulk-action
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
You can work on multiple terminals for the same VM simultaneously.
The ⋮ menu next to a running VM in the left panel opens the same window with Open Terminal Hub.
The terminal hub
The terminal hub lists all your running VMs, with the VM you opened it from at the top. A VM whose
terminals are not loaded yet shows a Connect to
the terminals of vm-name button; click it to load them. When the hub opens on a VM
that has no terminals, it creates one and opens it.
The following table describes the controls of the hub toolbar.
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Collapse panel / Expand panel | Narrows the left panel to numbered buttons, one per terminal, or widens it again. |
| Expand terminal lists / Collapse terminal list | Shows or hides the terminals listed under every VM. |
| Filter VMs... | Shows only the VMs whose name matches. Filtering starts at two characters. |
| Reset layout | Resets the layout of the terminal panes. See Reset Terminal Layout. |
| Keybindings | Shows the Terminal keybindings. |
In the collapsed panel, the button next to a VM reads Add a terminal to this VM. Hovering a terminal in the list shows when it was started, and you can drag a terminal from the list into the layout.
The following table describes the terminal keybindings.
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| CTRL + SHIFT + C | Copy |
| CTRL + SHIFT + V | Paste |
| CTRL + SHIFT + F | Move focus out of the terminal |
The hub saves its layout in your browser. Each start gives a VM a new identity, so when the hub opens, it closes the tabs of VMs that have shut down since you last used it.
Connect to a New Terminal
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
- In the new window, click a terminal listed under the VM, for example Terminal1. The VM Controller names the terminals. If the VM has no terminal yet, the hub creates one and opens it.
Ensure you have at least one running VM before opening a new terminal.
Add a New Terminal
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
- In the new window, view the active terminals in the left panel.
- Click the Add a new terminal button.
- Click the new terminal to open it.
Minimize a Terminal
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
- View the opened terminals in the left panel.
- Click the Minimize terminal button next to the terminal in the left panel.
- The terminal must be open to access the minimize option.
- A minimized terminal remains active and continues to use VM resources.
- Minimize only the terminals you are actively working with.
- Delete unnecessary terminals to manage your resources efficiently.
Split Terminals
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
- View the opened terminals in the top panel.
- Drag-and-drop terminal tabs into the opened terminal window as needed.
You can split an unlimited number of terminals, but use up to 16 to keep the work environment organized.
Maximize Split Terminals
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
- View the split terminals.
- Click the maximise button in the top right corner of the terminal.
Clicking the maximise button twice restores the terminal to its previous split position.
Reset Terminal Layout
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
- View the opened terminals in the top panel.
- Click the Reset layout button in the top left panel.
Resetting the terminal layout minimizes all open terminals.
Delete a Terminal
- Go to the Virtual Machines icon in the top left taskbar.
- In the left panel, select a running virtual machine, then click the Open Terminal option.
- View the opened terminals in the left panel.
- Click the Close terminal button next to the terminal in the left panel.
- If the terminal is still running, click Yes in the pop-up to confirm.
Deleting a terminal terminates all running processes in the terminal.
To close all terminal tabs in a pane at once, click the close button in the top-right corner of the pane. This only hides the terminals, which keep running; the Welcome tab returns when no tabs are left. To end a terminal, use Close terminal in the left panel.
Installing Python Packages
tiCrypt VMs do not have internet access, so pip install cannot reach the public PyPI index. Instead, your administrator maintains an offline Python package mirror on the NFS share with over 2,400 pre-downloaded packages covering data science, machine learning, NLP, genomics, visualization, and more.
See the Python Packages guide for full instructions on searching, installing, and managing Python packages from the terminal.