DaDesktop for Participants - Howto

Objective

This guide is intended for participants (students) wanting to join a course held on DaDesktop.

 

Overview of DaDesktop

DaDesktop is a cloud platform built specifically for IT training. It’s designed for both instructors and learners, providing virtual desktops powered by the innovative DaDesktop® technology. During sessions, each attendee gets their own complete online desktop where they can work through exercises under the trainer’s supervision.

The platform breaks down into three main components:

1. Management Console -- a web interface for administering the system, such as starting and stopping cloud desktops.
2. Training Room -- a shared area for remote desktop sharing, audio, chat, and lesson recording.
3. Remote Desktop -- a dedicated virtual machine (Windows or Linux) for each user.
    

Requirements

If you plan to join from your office or from your home here in Indonesia you will need:

• A computer (PC or laptop) with a stable internet connection (minimum 10Mbit/s download and 1Mbit/s upload). Windows, Mac, and Linux systems are all supported.
• Chrome or Firefox web browser
• A quality microphone or headset (a telephone can work as a last resort, but it’s not recommended)
• A quiet environment with no outside distractions or noise (a coffee shop isn’t suitable)
   

Recommended:

• Webcam
• Second monitor; use one screen to follow the trainer and the other to access your DaDesktop Virtual Machine for hands-on labs.
• Turn off any VPN before the course begins
• If possible, disable security software that might interfere with the network connection
• Use an Ethernet connection if you can, or test your Wi-Fi speed beforehand (e.g., at speedtest.net)

You may want to try joining your course and exploring the DaDesktop virtual classroom ahead of time. Keep in mind that on days before the course starts, you can only access the Desktop for 15 minutes.

 

Course Access

Bear in mind that access to your course is limited to a 15‑minute window outside of the course days.

On the actual course days, you can log in all day. Previously, entry was only allowed about an hour before the session.

 

Keep Desktop after Course finishes

A standout benefit of DaDesktop is that participants can keep using their machine after the course ends. 

Check the link above for full instructions on how to do that.

Joining a Course

Open the link sent by the coordinator (for example, dd4t.dadesktop.com/da/join/xxxxx).

 

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If you’re a first time user, fill in your details under “Account” and click “Sign Up”. You can register using the form or sign up with your Google or LinkedIn account.

If you already have an account, simply log in.

That will take you to the Management Console for your course.

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Using the Management Console

Select the “TRAINING ROOM” tab.

Click the “Join Training Room” button.

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The Virtual Training Room will open in a new browser window. A pop-up will ask you to permit items to be copied to the clipboard. Click “Allow”.

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Navigating the Training Room as a Participant

The Training Room appears with a tab at the top of the screen that provides links back to the course.

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Controls available at bottom of the screen

• From here you can “pop out” the screen onto another monitor if needed, and the browser window can also be maximised to full screen.
• At the bottom right, a small blue toggle lets you access the DaDesktop support chat if you need help.

 

Using the new Clipboard function

To pass text—like web links or code snippets—from your own computer into the Virtual Machine, we rely on the ‘Clipboard’.
 

When you connect to your Online Course or Stand-alone Desktop, a pop-up similar to the one shown will appear. Click ‘Allow’. Note: images currently cannot be copied to the clipboard when using DaDesktop.

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Clicking the small clipboard icon in the address bar lets you adjust the clipboard settings for this site.

Usage

• On Windows and Linux VM Desktops, use standard copy and paste shortcuts from your PC: Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V.
• On a Mac host, copy as usual and press Shift + Ctrl + V, or middle‑click the mouse, to paste.

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Please get in touch if you need additional help with this feature.
 

Original Clipboard (to be used only for incompatible browsers like IE, or as a fallback)

• To copy text from your machine to the virtual DaDesktop machine, type or paste it into the clipboard area at the bottom left of the screen.
• On the virtual machine, click the middle mouse button (or mouse wheel) to paste the clipboard content onto the desktop. This works anywhere text can be entered in DaDesktop. This assumes you’re using the standard Linux DaDesktop virtual machine.
  Mac users – use Command c or ⌘ c to copy, Command v or ⌘ v to paste. Once pasted into the dd4t clipboard, the usual Control X, C, and V shortcuts apply for cut, copy, and paste inside dd4t.
• When using the Windows virtual machine, right‑click to paste from the clipboard.

To resize the clipboard area, click the green and white arrow icon at the bottom left of the screen.
 

 

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Using the mouse in a multi-user scenario

This feature shows the username of whoever is controlling the mouse next to the cursor when multiple people connect to the same desktop. It’s especially handy during training activities where different users may take control at different times.

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If more than one user is connected, their usernames appear in the centre bottom portion of the screen.

 

 

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You can turn this feature on or off at any time by clicking the green ‘Info’ button at the bottom of the screen.