Here are a few facts users of EL desktops should be aware of:

Access

• All user accounts valid at DESY Zeuthen can log in on the local graphical login screen.
• No remote access via ssh.

Local Home Directory

• Home directories reside on the local disk.

  • Please note that local disks are not redundant and may break or vanish otherwise anytime.

• There is no central backup.

  • It is recommended to arrange for a personal backup of the home directory with vorta. The software is installed by default.
• There is a 4 GB home quota.
  • We need to set a quota to keep things manageable. It avoids problems when desktops are used by more than one user, which is still a frequent case, and also keeps making backups feasible and consume reasonable amounts of resources.

If downloads etc. don't fit into the home directory, there's more local space available in /tmp. Files there will be cleaned up two weeks after they were last accessed. Unlike "usual" RHEL installations, /tmp/ is not cleared when our systems are rebooted.

AFS Client

• The AFS client is installed by default, the local directories are available at '/afs/ifh.de'

Adding and Removing Software Packages

• Local users can install software from the configured repositories of permitted package sources.
  • These changes are not saved or recorded centrally, and will vanish when a system is reinstalled.

  • There is considerable potential for getting the system into a bad state, thus this feature should be used with care and thought.

  • The graphical user interface 'Software' is in the menu by default.

• On the command line, you can use the pkcon(1) command. Just translate sudo dnf install <package> into pkcon install <package>.

• You can also install third-party software using the command flatpak(1). The Zoom client is already installed using flatpak, to install Google Chrome, type flatpak install com.google.chrome

Remote access to the Windows Terminal server

If you don't want to use the web access, use the preinstalled version of remmina.

Reinstallation

• Anyone with access to the local console can reinstall the desktop from scratch. Requesting a network (PXE) boot during startup will result in presentation of a menu with all available desktop OS options to choose from.

• Note that a reinstallation will wipe the local disk and any prior content will be lost irrecoverably.

Miscellania

• While GNOME3 (gnome-shell) is the default and recommended desktop environment, it is possible though to install a plethora of others from the configured repos.

Known Issues

• Firefox cannot play some videos, e.g. from the ARD Mediathek.