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Create a Virtual Workstation

Get started with creating a Virtual Workstation

A Virtual Workstation is a specialized use of a CoreWeave Virtual Server.

In this tutorial, several Virtual Workstations are created using the CoreWeave Cloud UI. The first machines demonstrate different configurations for artist use for both Windows and CentOS 7. Then, a few lighter-weight machines are deployed for administrator use.

Network Policies are deployed to provide strong security barriers between these different types of users.

Prerequisites​

This guide assumes that the user already has an active CoreWeave Cloud account.

Create a Virtual Workstation​

Log in to your CoreWeave Cloud account, then navigate to the Virtual Servers configuration screen either by clicking the Deploy Now button on the Deploy Virtual Server card, or by clicking the Virtual Servers link on the left-hand navigation.

"Deploy Virtual Server" menu card on the CoreWeave Cloud UI homepage

Create additional machines for artists​

Simple Virtual Workstations for artist use are easily created from the Virtual Server deployment form. In these examples, either Teradici or Parsec is installed as an Operating System add-on to provide remote access to the machines.

Note
  • You may choose to create your own Parsec Teams account for management capabilities, or you can license and administer Parsec through CoreWeave. To do this, please contact your CoreWeave support specialist.
  • V100s are not compatible with Teradici. The best solution when using Teradici for remote access is to use a Quadro GPU, such as an A6000, A5000, A40, RTX6000, RTX5000 or RTX4000. For more information, see Node Types.

Begin by repeating the process for creating a new Virtual Workstation: navigate to the Virtual Server creation screen and begin configuring the machine.

For this tutorial, the first artist machine will run Windows 10 Professional. Select Windows 10 Professional from the Operating System configuration screen:

Continue to configure the artist machine.

Important

If you are utilizing Active Directory, you will have to put in a temporary user before you connect the storage volume.

Windows with Parsec​

To deploy a Windows 10 Workstation with Parsec, click the Parsec Remote Desktop toggle under Operating System Additions.

Next, click the Deploy button to launch the Virtual Workstation in your namespace. Once the Virtual Workstation is running, log into it. Start Parsec, then enter your credentials.

Windows with Teradici​

To deploy a Windows 10 Workstation with Teradici instead of Parsec, click the Teradici toggle under Operating System Additions.

Deploy the Virtual Server by clicking the Deploy button. Once the Virtual Server is done initializing, the credentials specified in the creation interface may be used to connect to it.

Next, click the Deploy button to launch the Virtual Workstation in your namespace. Once the Virtual Workstation is running, log into it. Start Teradici, then enter your credentials.

Tip

To add additional applications upon initialization, the Windows package manager Chocolatey is recommended.

To use Chocolatey, add a list of application names to the choco_install parameter in the Workstation YAML manifest in the cloudInit block.

For example:

Example
cloudInit:

    choco_install: [googlechrome,firefox,vlc]

For a list of valid application names, refer to the Chocolatey community packages directory.

Linux Workstations​

Note

At this time, Parsec is not supported on CentOS 7. Teradici requires NVIDIA Drivers to be installed.

Storage in Linux Workstations is mounted in via Virtiofs. The process is the same as the other workstations: select the desired Linux distribution and version, then toggle the desired Operating System Additions.

Workstation YAML manifests​

If you are comfortable with Kubernetes, you may view the Workstation configurations as YAML manifests. Click the EDIT YAML tab on the right-hand side to expand the YAML editor.

Workstation configurations will look similar to this example manifest:

Click to expand - Example Workstation manifest
Example
apiVersion: virtualservers.coreweave.com/v1alpha1

kind: VirtualServer

metadata:

    namespace: tenant-coreweave-name

    name: new-1252

    annotations:

        external-dns.alpha.kubernetes.io/hostname: new-1252.tenant-coreweave-name.coreweave.cloud

    labels: {}

spec:

    region: LGA1

    resources:

        definition: a

        gpu:

            type: Quadro_RTX_4000

            count: 1

        cpu:

            count: 4

        memory: 8Gi

    os:

        definition: a

        enableUEFIBoot: false

        type: windows

    storage:

        root:

            storageClassName: block-nvme-lga1

            volumeMode: Block

            accessMode: ReadWriteOnce

            size: 79Gi

            source:

                pvc:

                    namespace: vd-images

                    name: win10-master-20230331-lga1

        filesystems: []

        additionalDisks: []

    network:

        public: true

        directAttachLoadBalancerIP: true

    users:

        -

            username: ''

            password: ''

    cloudInit: |

        autologon: true

        parsec: true

        edid: true

    readinessProbe:

        failureThreshold: 30

        initialDelaySeconds: 10

        periodSeconds: 20

        tcpSocket:

            port: 1337

    runStrategy: RerunOnFailure

    initializeRunning: true

With the exception of the source image (root.source), which specifies the Operating System image, all other values will remain the same for each workstation.

Note

You may decide at this point to load up a Virtual Workstation with the applications you'd like to be incorporated in a base image. For more information on how to do this, review our Root Disk Lifecycle Management guide.

Configuring administrators​

Typically, administrators and support staff do not need the same resources as artists for their work. Setting up an administrator machine can be done in a few simple steps.

In this example, a new Virtual Machine is configured running Windows 10.

Note

When artist machines are powered off, only the use of persistent storage and public IP addresses are billed.

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