Links to the Jupyter notebooks making up this module can be found here: lecture series.
To run and edit the notebooks yourselves we have several options:
Edit and run them locally using Anaconda
It is possible to run everything on your desktop/laptop - this is a good option if you have firewall or internet issues. Anaconda should be installed on departmental machines. To install yourself look at Anaconda and choose Python 3.x. You can then download the notebooks from the github repo for this module and run them locally. On Windows, to use Anaconda to run Jupyter notebooks search for ‘Jupyter’ and click on the ‘Jupyter Notebook (Anaconda3)’ app.
Using a cloud based solution - Google Colab
Google Colab is an option if you don’t want to install Anaconda locally: https://colab.research.google.com/notebooks/intro.ipynb.
You will need to register for a Google Account - if you don’t already have an account you can make a throwaway account if you do not want Google to have your data.
If you have trouble connecting to this service try using the College VPN.
You can upload a notebook using
File -> upload
You can also mount your Google Drive with the following commands
from google.colab import drive
drive.mount('/content/gdrive/')
See here for more information.
Google Colab (should) store your notebooks automatically, but it can never hurt to save and store your work locally:
File -> Save
and then download a copy of the .ipynb file:
File -> Download .ipynb
Using Azure Lab Services
What is the Azure Labs service?
Azure Labs is a Microsoft cloud service which provides a virtual computer laboratory in which virtual machines are available to students at any time and from any location. The virtual machines for this module are created from a template which is configured with Windows 10, preinstalled with required software, and allows students to work independently of the physical computer they’re accessing Labs from. This avoids problems with software on the local system being misconfigured or absent.
Students access their assigned virtual machine using Remote Dekstop, giving access either in the form of a windowed application or as a full-screen overlay to give the experience of working on the Labs system as if it were local to the user.
Note that the virtual machines allocated to students will be reset following the completion of the module, removing all user data, so it is critical that any data students wish to retain is transferred off the virtual machine. OneDrive is recommended as an easy way to do this, and all Imperial College users will get an Imperial OneDrive which can be used for this purpose.
Time and resource limits of Labs use
Virtual Machines provided by Azure Labs need to be started when they are required, and stopped when they are not being used. Students are allocated a set number of running hours when they are invited to a Lab, and are responsible for starting and stopping their virtual machine at the start and end of their work. This is a best-practise habit which is applicable to cloud use in general, and students are encouraged to adopt it in order to minimise running costs.
Each virtual machine will typically have four cores, 16GB RAM, and 30GB local storage attached to it for the student’s sole use. When working with larger datasets students should be aware of memory and storage limits, and may find they need to remove very large files between exercises to release storage capacity. It is reiterated that any data which needs to be retained after the end of a module or miniproject should be stored in the cloud, off the virtual machine, preferably in the student’s Imperial College OneDrive.
When and why should you use Azure Labs
Many students will prefer to use their own laptop or desktop computer for work during this module, but some students may either prefer not to install extra software on their local computer, or not have sufficient administrative rights to do so.
The Azure Labs service is intended to provide a remote computing option to by-pass these issues, and requires only that students have a computer and network connection sufficient to connect to the Labs service using Remote Desktop Protocol. Almost all modern systems should be capable of a Remote Desktop connection.
Even if you intend to primarily use your local computer for course work, it is recommended that you have a basic familiarity with Labs in case you need it unexpectedly as a back up work environment.
Registering for a lab
Before the module begins you will receive an invitation to the associated Azure Lab, sent to your Imperial College email address. This will provide you with a link to follow, which may require you to authenticate with Azure using your Imperial College user account if your browser does not already have a saved authentication session.
Setting a password
You can see all live labs in which you have an allocated virtual machine by going to the Azure Labs Virtual Machines page, which will require you to be logged in to Azure using your Imperial College Account. For each lab you are registered with you will see a tile allowing you to manage the virtual machine associated with that lab.
Before your first connection to an Azure Labs virtual machine you will be required to set a password. To do this, go to the Virtual Machines landing page and click on the actions button (three dots, bottom right hand corner) for your virtual machine, then select ‘reset password’ from the actions menu. Enter a new password when prompted, and then wait whilst the password is reset.
While the password is being reset you will not be able to start or connect to your virtual machine, and you should see a notification that the password is being reset. Wait for this notification to clear before starting and connecting to your virtual machine.
Connecting to a virtual machine
Before connecting to a virtual machine you need to start the virtual machine using the switch at the lower left hand corner of the virtual machine pane. The virtual machine tile should now show that the virtual machine is starting. Once the start up process is complete, the tile should show you that the virtual machine is running. It’s this step that starts the use of your time allocation, and where you will need to stop the virtual machine running when you are finished with a session.
Connecting using Remote Desktop Protocol
Clicking on the connect button on the Virtual Machines landing page - the monitor symbol to the left of the three dots - will provide you with a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) configuration file. Most modern operating systems will be preconfigured with a client to open this configuration file, but if you do not have one, the Microsoft Remote Desktop client is available for Windows and Mac OS X, and Remmina is available pre-packaged for most Linux distributions.
If the configuration file does not automatically supply a username, the default username for this module is ‘Student’. Use the password you set in the previous step.
You may be prompted to trust the virtual machine you are connecting to, including accepting a certificate; this is a required step, so unless you have specific security concerns during the connection process you will need to ‘OK’ all trust dialogues.
Setting up Teams and OneDrive
Once you have connected to your Labs virtual machine, you will be prompted to connect to Teams, for which you should use your Imperial College username and password to authenticate.
You are encouraged to connect your Virtual Machine to your Imperial College OneDrive account, as a backup in the case of lost or corrupted files, and to store data freeing up space on the virtual machine, and also to store any data that you want to retain at the end of the module. Note that at the end of the module virtual machines are reset and all user data is removed.
To connect your virtual machine to OneDrive, click on the OneDrive icon in your virtual machine session, and enter your Imperial College username and password when prompted.
Stopping a virtual machine
You will be allocated a set number of hours use of your virtual machine in Labs for each module. This is intended to cover your active use of the Labs virtual machine, but it is important that you ensure your virtual machine is stopped when you are no longer using it. If you do not do this, it will continue to run and use up your allocated hours. To ensure a clean and successful shutdown, it is recommended that you shut down the Windows operating system that your virtual machine is running from inside the virtual machine, and then go back to the Virtual Machines landing page and use the switch available there to ensure your virtual machine has stopped. This is the same switch you used to start your virtual machine.
If you need additional hours contact the course coordinator.
Viewing (and editing and running with caveats) on binder
Clicking on a link like the following
takes you to a copy of the notebook running on Binder.
This gives you a means to view the notebook, as well as to edit and run cells on the cloud.
Be aware though that your changes to cells won’t be saved and you will lose changes after 10 minutes of inactivity. You can download your version of your notebook using
File -> Download as -> Notebook (.ipynb)
Back to main page: https://matt-piggott.github.io/Numerical-methods-undergraduate/