USE OF VIRTUAL DESKTOP ON A POLIMI COMPUTER FOR COURSE MACHINE DYNAMICS AND

VIBRATIONS

open IE from Windows (using search function of windows)

go to the main page of virtual desktop (https://virtualdesktop.polimi.it/vpn/index.html)
log in with your PoliMi credential
once you logged in, you will see the interface above. the virtual desktop service could be regarded as a remote computer which
you can control through the above interface.
the software we are going to use is
• Esplora Risorse* (transfer file from the local computer to virtual desktop)
• MATLAB

* tip for international students: Esplora Risorse stands for “resource explorer”
in order to use the Esplora Risorse, you have to click on it and then click “Open” on the message box
after a few seconds, the Esplora Risorse will appear
 Esplora Risorse opened local resource
on virtual desktop explorer

this Esplora Risorse is the only tool through which you can transfer files between the local computer you are using and the
virtual desktop remote computer
the difference between a local resource explorer and the Esplora Risorse of virtual desktop is
• the window bar is grey instead of white, as shown in the red squares in the picture above
• in the Esplora Risorse, you can see two network location “AddonsSW (M:) ” and “Documents (Y:)” (shown in green box),
which are the hard disks possessed by virtual desktop remote computer, while on the local resource explorer you see only
the local disk “USER_DATA (Z:)”
the MATLAB installed on virtual desktop could only access the disk “Documents (Y:)”
in the following 6 slides, it is shown how to move a file on the desktop of the local computer to the disk “Documents (Y:)” on
virtual desktop remote computer.
1. choose the local disk (C: on XXX) in the Esplora Risorse of virtual desktop remote computer, then choose the “Users” folder
2. choose the “USERLEIxx” folder
3. choose the “Desktop” folder
4. up to this step, you can see the files on your local desktop
5. copy the file in the Esplora Risorse of virtual desktop
6. go to disk “Documents (Y:)” in the Esplora Risorse of virtual desktop and paste the file you have copied from your local
desktop
to download files from virtual desktop to the local desktop is just the other way around

PS: virtual desktop cleans its storage everyday so remember to download your files
run MATLAB in the same way from virtual desktop, click the Matlab in virtual desktop and then click open in the message
box
after a couple of minutes, the main panel of MATLAB appear.
then you have to change the “working path”, which is highlighted by the red box, into Y:
after the path changed, in the current folder box (highlighted by the green box), you can see all the files saved in disk Y:

working path

if you want to use your own computer to access virtual desktop, consult this page:
https://www.client.polimi.it/en/virtual-desktop/