Windows in the MGCF

Option 1:

For those wanting Materials Studio, our preferred solution is to give you a copy of Windows 10 Pro and provide instructions on how to run your own Windows VM.
Materials Studio requires Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise. Windows Home, Student, etc will not work.

It is easy to set up your own Windows 10 Pro Virtual Machine, and then install Materials Studio. Email us and we will send instructions and links.
It takes a few hours but mostly this is waiting for Windows to install and does not actually take much user time.
For example, Kathy runs Materials Studio on a Windows 10 Pro Virtual Machine on her Macbook Pro laptop.
Many other people run Windows 10 Pro VM's on their Windows 10 Home machines.

Option 2:

If running your own Windows 10 Pro VM is not suitable, or you want to use SolidWorks, MGCF users should email us and request access to our MGCF Windows server.

Please tell us what software you want to use. We'll configure your MGCF Windows server login accordingly.

If you email us to request an MGCF login, we typically only make you a login on the Linux systems since that is 98% of our user base requiring heavy computational support. We don't create MGCF Windows server logins for most of our MGCF users since only a tiny segment of our user base needs this. So please be specific in your email about what you want to use/do and we will help as best we can.

If you are a new user, we need the PI name and chartstring. See the MGCF usage fees.

The MGCF Windows server exists to support MGCF programs that are Windows only. Currently these are: Materials Studio, Igor Pro, Origin Pro and Solidworks.

The MGCF Windows server is not designed to replace your personal machine. Nor will it duplicate programs that we already fully support in the Linux environment like Matlab and Comsol.

The MGCF Windows server is not suitable for large calculations. It is only to support these GUI programs. Larger simulations should be run on the MGCF Linux servers and we can discuss this on a case by case basis.

Once you have obtained a login on The Windows server, you can access it using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app. For Mac users, this is in the App Store.
You must be on the Cal VPN if you are connecting from off campus.
When you connect, you will see a certificate error message. Just go ahead and allow the connection.

If you have a login on the MGCF Windows server and want to connect to it from an MGCF linux workstation, open a terminal and type
win_server
recommended if you are remote and using X2Go.
If you are on the MGCF workstation consoles in 175 Tan Hall, or have a large screen monitor you can type
win_server_big

When you are finished with the Windows server, please logoff. Do not shutdown the server.

File Transfers: Once you have a login on The Windows server, you can use Mobaxterm or Filezilla on The Windows server to transfer files to/from the main MGCF workstations. See the FAQS. Both are on your The Windows server Desktop.
You can also of course use a cloud resource like google drive.

REALLY IMPORTANT: Do not save files on The Windows server. There is no backup of these files and only limited disk space. Transfer your files regularly.