General Purpose Desktop (GPD)

  • Faculty & Staff

SAS Computing has deployed a Virtual General Purpose Desktop(GPD) for use in special cases for Staff and Faculty. To get started, please reach out to your LSP.

 

How to Access the GPD

The GPD is accessed via Kite account, the same you use to access the VPN. If do not already have a Kite account, please contact your LSP

  1. Connect to the GPD through https://sas.desktop.upenn.edu/ 
  2. From there, you can download VMware Horizon client program or use HTML access
  3. Login is:
  • Username = your pennkey username, e.g. bfranklin
  • Passcode = your pennkey password

   4. Tell it what method to do 2factor authentication (e.g. type "push1" for your Duo app to ask you to approve)

 (the old GPD address, https://2factor.desktop.upenn.edu/, stopped working May 1, 2024).

  • HTML access is the simplest way to use the virtual lab; everything works right in your web browser.  
  • The Horizon client provides more functionality including the ability to connet to resources on your local computer, including disc drives and USB devices. 

 

See our Connecting to the SAS GPD page for more details on how to connect

When connected to the GPD you will be running a Windows 10 PC that works much like an on-campus office computer

You need to save your work by uploading to Box (or whatever cloud-based storage you normally use) or the network shares

 

The GPD includes the following software:

    • Windows 10 Enterprise
    • Adobe Reader DC & Acrobat Pro (requires sign-in)
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla FireFox
    • Office 2016
    • Access to Share Drives
    • Some special software per department

 

Need help or have questions?

  If you have any questions please contact your Local Support Provider (LSP) here.