Apporto

Owned by Kyle Levenick (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Sept 04, 2020
4 min read

Overview

Apporto is an online application that streams virtual desktops and apps to browsers. It can be used to run heavy compute applications on a machine that is not powerful enough to run it by itself.

Accessing Apporto

You will need a device that has an HTML5-supporting browser.  Nearly all standard and mobile browsers -- including Google Chrome, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox support HTML5.

Our instance of Apporto is under https://tamuarch.apporto.com/.

You will log in with your NetID and NetID password.

Available Software

Currently there is only one option available, the “Full Desktop” application. This desktop has the following programs installed:

  • Allegorithmic Substance Designer

  • Allegorithmic Substance Painter

  • ArcGIS Desktop

  • Autodesk Maya

  • Autodesk Mudbox

  • Autodesk Revit

  • Blender

  • ClimateStudio

  • Google Chrome

  • GridMarkets

  • Houdini

  • Mari

  • Marvelous Designer

  • Microsoft Visual Studio Code

  • Notepad++

  • Nuke

  • Mari

  • RenderMan / RenderMan for Maya

  • Rhino 6

  • SketchUp

  • Unity

  • Unity Hub

  • Unreal Engine

  • ZBrush

For the most part, there should be icons on the desktop and everything should function as expected. Please refer to the Apporto Help Center for any specific operational questions that you have about the product (for example, it’s possible to mount a Cloud Drive to access files on your Google Drive)

Software Requests

If the software you are looking for does not exist on Apporto, please email helpdesk@arch.tamu.edu to request it, filling out the below information. Requests received for new software without the below information will not be considered. We will make a best-faith effort to get the software onto Apporto, but please be aware that licensing restrictions may prevent us from doing so.

Software Request Template

  • Name of software?

  • Where do we get it from?

  • Are there any costs associated with this software?

  • How many people need this software (is it for a class, or just for you)?

    • If it is for a class, please let us know which class (professor and class name)

  • How quickly is this software needed?

    • Please keep in mind that we will make every effort to get the requested software on Apporto as quickly as possible, but we can make no guarantees on a timeline.

Along the top of your screen you should see a menu bar:

These all have different functions, detailed here.

The most important are the “full screen” button, and the “upload” and “download” buttons.

The full screen button makes your Apporto session full screen, instead of a “nested” window. To get out of the full screen, use the <Esc> key or press the full screen button again to exit.

The upload and download buttons can be thought of as “import” and “export”, respectively. You can upload files to your Apporto session to work on things that you’ve created outside of it or have been working on already. You can download things that you’ve created or edited within Apporto back to your local computer to send them where you need to, or continue working on them offline.

Current Limitations and Considerations

The below restrictions are important to keep in mind:

  • Multi-monitor mode does not work. It will cause an error and may crash your session.

  • Microphone initialization will crash your session.

Network speed and reliability is the major limiting factor of Apporto, since you are connecting to a virtualized desktop hosted in the cloud.

To ensure an optimal experience with Apporto, make sure you have a high bandwidth, low latency internet connection. If you have a poor network connection, response times may be slow and images may appear pixelated. Use of personal hotspots is not recommended as they will not work reliably.

  • For most applications, performance is good over WiFi if latency is less than 100ms. Bandwidth is typically not a limiting factor.

  • For graphics-intensive applications we recommend using a wired network connection instead of WiFi, ideally with bandwidth of 1 Mbps or greater and latency less than 50ms.

  • For video, we recommend a bandwidth of 3 Mbps for regular video or 5 Mbps for HD and latency less than 50ms.

Using a hard wired network connection can reduce latency by a factor of ten.

Inactivity, Poor Network, and Session Disconnected

If you step away from Apporto for some time, your session will become inactive. Typically after 30 minutes of inactivity the session will be ended. A warning message will show 2 minutes before ending the session. SAVE YOUR WORK to avoid data loss.

If your internet connection becomes unstable while working with an app, the message "Poor internet connection detected." will display at the bottom of the screen. SAVE YOUR WORK to avoid data loss. If your connection stabilizes, you can click on the window to dismiss it.

If your internet connection is lost, a "SESSION DISCONNECTED" message displays. Click the Reconnect button to attempt to reconnect to the Apporto server.