Create a virtual Linux workstation

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This tutorial shows how to create a virtual Linux workstation running CentOS 7 with a virtual display. A virtual display device is useful when applications on your virtual machine (VM) instances require a display device, but don't require the full power or cost of a GPU.

For information about other types of virtual workstations, including Windows, see About creating a virtual workstation.

After you create a virtual workstation, this tutorial shows you how to remotely access it using HP Anyware (formerly Teradici CAS), using PC-over-IP (PCoIP®) technology, a remote desktop protocol that is widely used in the media and entertainment, game development, architecture, and engineering industries. PCoIP offers features essential to these types of workloads, such as color accuracy, support for multiple monitors, lossless display, and tablet pressure sensitivity.

This tutorial assumes you are familiar with the Linux command line.

Objectives

• Create a Compute Engine VM. This VM serves as the foundation for a virtual workstation.
• Install HP Anyware software on the virtual workstation.
• Connect to the virtual workstation using a PCoIP software client.

Note: This tutorial does not include advanced security features such as fine-grained SSH key management, certificate issuance, or multi-factor authentication (MFA). A full deployment would involve a connection broker, which helps enable a stronger security profile for connecting to virtual workstations.

Costs

This tutorial uses the following billable components of Google Cloud:

• Compute Engine

You can use the pricing calculator to generate a cost estimate based on your projected usage.

The resources that make up the virtual workstation and the factors that affect cost in this tutorial are:

• 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM E2 standard machine type
• 20-GB SSD balanced boot disk
• Internet outbound data transfer costs

Internet data transfer represents data that streams from your virtual workstation to your local display client. Variables that affect data transfer during a PCoIP session are bandwidth, screen resolution, number of display monitors, applications used, and the type of activity on each monitor. The HP Anyware Session Planning Guide can help you understand different workload requirements.

Before you begin

This tutorial uses the Google Cloud CLI, which you can run from Cloud Shell, or your local workstation. If you want to use the Google Cloud CLI on your local workstation, install the Google Cloud CLI.

1. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

2. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

4. Enable the Compute Engine API.

   Enable the API

5. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

6. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Google Cloud project.

7. Enable the Compute Engine API.

   Enable the API

In addition, make sure you have the following:

• A web browser to access the Google Cloud console.
• The latest PCoIP Client software for Windows, Mac, or Linux to access the virtual workstation.
• An account on help.teradici.com to download the HP Anyware software. Account registration is free.
• An HP Anyware software license. You can request a trial license, or contact your HP Anyware representative and ask for a trial registration code to use for this virtual workstation.

Architecture

The following diagram shows the components that are used in this tutorial to deploy a single virtual workstation. Optional components shown in the diagram include different ways to connect to your virtual workstation, shared storage, an additional VM for serving third-party licenses, and additional infrastructure representing a render or compute farm.

Choose a region

An important factor when you deploy a virtual workstation is the latency between your location and the VM you create. The lower the latency, the better the experience. Therefore, you want to place your VM in a region and zone that's geographically closest to you.

Create the virtual workstation

Create the Compute Engine virtual workstation VM by running the following command:

gcloud compute instances create test-workstation \
    --zone=ZONE \
    --machine-type=e2-standard-4 \
    --enable-display-device \
    --image-project=centos-cloud \
    --image-family=centos-7 \
    --boot-disk-size=20 \
    --boot-disk-type=pd-balanced \
    --network=default

Replace ZONE with the zone that's geographically closest to you. An important factor when you deploy a virtual workstation is the latency between your location and the VM you create. The lower the latency, the better the experience. For information about the geographical location of zones, see Available regions and zones.

After the virtual workstation is created, the VM status is displayed. The output looks similar to the following:

NAME: test-workstation
ZONE: us-west1-b
MACHINE_TYPE: e2-standard-4
PREEMPTIBLE:
INTERNAL_IP: 10.138.XX.XXX
EXTERNAL_IP: XX.XXX.XXX.XXX
STATUS: RUNNING

Note the external IP address, you need it later in the tutorial.

Sign in to your virtual workstation

After you create the virtual workstation, sign in to the VM so that you can configure it.

1. Connect to the virtual workstation using the following command:

   gcloud compute ssh test-workstation
   

2. Set your account password, as required by Teradici PCoIP, using the following command:

   sudo passwd `whoami`
   

   Store your password somewhere safe, you need it later in the tutorial.

Install a window manager

The default Google Cloud CentOS 7 image is a minimal installation of CentOS 7.x. The next step is to install libraries that are necessary to run your virtual workstation with a desktop and window manager. For this tutorial, you also install the KDE window manager.

1. Update the software repositories by running the following command:

   sudo yum -y update
   

2. Install the required components by running the following command:

   sudo yum -y groupinstall "Server with GUI"
   

3. Reboot the workstation by running the following command:

   sudo reboot
   

Your connection to the virtual workstation closes.

Install HP Anyware software

HP Anyware software provides an agent that runs on your virtual workstation, delivering the desktop to your hardware or software client.

Note: Installation may differ if you choose a different Linux distribution. For more information, see HP/Teradici's Anyware Graphics Agent for Linux Installation Guide](https://www.teradici.com/web-help/pcoip_agent/graphics_agent/linux/current/admin-guide/installing/installing/).

Retrieve your download token

Each HP Anyware account is assigned a unique token that allows access to the HP Anyware software repository.

1. On your local workstation, sign in to your help.teradici.com account. If you don't have an account, create one.
2. Navigate to the HP Anyware product page.
3. In the PCoIP Hosts section, select Standard Agent for Linux.
4. Select Downloads and scripts.
5. If you accept the terms of the HP Anyware license, scroll to the bottom of the agreement and click Agree.
6. Click Repo Setup Scripts.

7. Copy the command for Centos 7, which looks similar to the following:

   curl -1sLf https://dl.anyware.hp.com/TOKEN/pcoip-agent/cfg/setup/bash.rpm.sh | sudo -E distro=el codename=7 bash
   

8. Paste the command somewhere safe, you need it later.

Install the HP Anyware software repository

1. Reconnect to the virtual workstation by running the following command:

   gcloud compute ssh test-workstation
   

2. Paste and run the Centos 7 repo setup script that you copied earlier.

   Replace TOKEN with the token you downloaded from the HP Anyware Graphics Agent for Linux page.

3. Update the software repositories by running the following command:

   sudo yum -y update
   

4. Optional: Install USB dependencies, if you need to support USB devices other than keyboards, mice, and pointer devices.

   Note: If you skip this step, USB redirection is disabled. That means you can't use bridged USB devices.

   sudo yum -y install usb-vhci
   

5. Install the HP Anyware software by running the following command:

   sudo yum -y install pcoip-agent-standard
   

6. Set display state to graphical by running the following command:

   sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
   

7. Reboot the virtual workstation by running the following command :

   sudo reboot
   

Register the Anyware Standard Agent

To use the Anyware Standard Agent, you must have an HP Anyware license. You can request a trial license, or contact your HP Teradici representative and ask for a trial registration code to use for this virtual workstation.

1. After the virtual workstation has restarted, reconnect to it by running the following command:

   gcloud compute ssh test-workstation
   

2. Activate your HP Anyware software license:

   pcoip-register-host --registration-code=REGISTRATION-CODE
   

   Replace REGISTRATION-CODE with the code provided to you by HP Anyware in the form ABCDEFGHIJKL@0123-4567-89AB-CDEF.

3. Reboot the virtual workstation:

   sudo reboot
   

Create a firewall rule

The PCoIP client communicates with your virtual workstation using several ports. You must set firewall rules that allow traffic to your virtual workstation.

Create a firewall rule that opens the required ports by running the following command in Cloud Shell or on your local computer:

gcloud compute firewall-rules create allow-pcoip \
    --action=ALLOW \
    --rules=tcp:443,tcp:4172,udp:4172 \
    --source-ranges=0.0.0.0/0

Note: This firewall rule allows traffic from anywhere on the internet to access your VM. Always follow best practices for firewall rules to restrict traffic to your VM.

Sign in to your virtual workstation using the PCoIP client

1. On your local computer, HP Anyware product page.
2. In the PCoIP Clients section, select the software client that corresponds with your computer's operating system.
3. Select Downloads and scripts.
4. If you accept the terms of the HP Anyware license, scroll to the bottom of the agreement and click Agree.
5. Select Download now.
6. After the download completes, install the Anyware Client.
7. After installation, launch the Anyware Client.

8. In the Host Address or Registration Code field, enter the external IP address of your virtual workstation. You can optionally enter a name for the connection.

   Note: By default, PCoIP traffic is encrypted using AES-256. However, HP Anyware software uses a self-signed certificate that's issued by Teradici. This might trigger a verification warning when you connect. You can remove this warning by creating and installing your own custom security certificates. Or, you can suppress the warning by changing the client security mode for your client OS. For the purposes of this tutorial, you can ignore this warning by clicking Connect Insecurely in the dialog.

9. When you are connected, authenticate by entering your username and the password that you created for the virtual workstation.

   In a few seconds, a Linux desktop appears.

Test your virtual workstation

After you've deployed your virtual workstation, you can test performance and interactivity using a number of tools:

• Use a web browser to visit your favorite sites or play YouTube videos.
• Learn more about the PCoIP Standard Agent for Linux.
• Install applications and test their behavior and performance.

You can also learn more about PCoIP Performance Optimization based on your workload.

Clean up

Stop your virtual workstation

Stopped virtual workstations incur costs for persistent disk usage, but they can be restarted at any time. To stop your virtual workstation, run the following command:

gcloud compute instances stop test-workstation

Delete all the components

1. Delete the virtual workstation.
2. Delete the firewall rule.

Delete the project

Caution: Deleting a project has the following effects:
• Everything in the project is deleted. If you used an existing project for the tasks in this document, when you delete it, you also delete any other work you've done in the project.
• Custom project IDs are lost. When you created this project, you might have created a custom project ID that you want to use in the future. To preserve the URLs that use the project ID, such as an appspot.com URL, delete selected resources inside the project instead of deleting the whole project.
1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Manage resources page.

   Go to Manage resources

2. In the project list, select the project that you want to delete, and then click Delete.
3. In the dialog, type the project ID, and then click Shut down to delete the project.

What's next

• Learn how to create a virtual Windows workstation.
• Learn more about HP Anyware software.
• Learn more about how PCoIP differs from other remote desktop software.
• Try out HP's preconfigured virtual workstations for Windows and Linux in the Google Cloud Marketplace.