A message from UBC Faculty of Forestry Information Technology,
December 22, 2021
Afternoon and Happy Holidays,
Unless things drastically change, we are going online this January hence the IT team will get prepared for the new term. For UG lab access, read on.
Remote Access to the UG Computing Labs
If you are planning to use the UG computing labs, to assist you in setting up remote access to the UG labs for your courses, I’ll need the following information during the first week of January
- Number of seats
- CWL usernames of your students
- Day and time slot for your UG labs
Once I have said information, I will setup the scheduling and then email you back with further details that you can pass on to your students.
Software for Student Laptops
If students needs access to the UG labs but you are hoping for a hybrid setup, some remoting in to the labs, others running the software on their laptops, email I the following.
- Software package
- Number of licenses needed
- Expiry date
Note that running Windows environment on a Mac is no longer feasible for Macs running Apple Silicon. I suggest Mac users use remote desktop instead.
——
Afternoon and Happy Holidays,
In the event we go online next term, and as a friendly reminder, if your UBC owned laptop (Mac or PC) does not yet use the Forestry agent (for remote assistance and accessing software), please email forestry.ithelp@ubc.ca for more details. The agent is the key for timely IT help if we’re asked to isolate next term.
FAQ
Q. What does the agent do?
A. Agent monitors patch level, allows remote assistance and gives access to Forestry software.
Q. Does it monitor anything else?
A. No, the agent just inventories the hardware and software on the device. It does nothing else.
Q. Do I need to run the UBC VPN to make it work?
A. Yes, we hide the server behind the UBC VPN to prevent external access.
Q. Is my personal laptop allowed?
A. Sorry no, the licensing agreement is limited to UBC owned devices.
Q. Can it help with manual updates like Zoom?
A. Yes, the self service portal makes updating easy.
Q. Does the agent interfere while I work?
A. No, any updates or patches will not install while the application is in use.
—–
For those wondering if the agent is installed or not. This is what you look for.
On a PC, if the VPN is running, in the lower right corner of the screen, look if this icon 
, if the icon exists, you have the agent installed. Alternatively, if this folder existsC:\Program Files (x86)\DesktopCentral_Agent, you have the agent installed.
On a Mac, the agent appears on the top right and looks like 
and if present you have the agent installed. Alternatively, open terminal and navigate to /Library/DesktopCentral_Agent and if this folder exists, you have the agent.
