Machines

• Introduction
• Quick actions
• Rebooting machines
• Importing existing AWS instances
• Creating machines
  • Template naming
• Viewing machines
  • General information
  • Estimated monthly costs
  • View machine in AWS console
  • Machine statistics
  • Assigned users
  • Recent history
• Updating machines
  • Remote connection
  • Scheduled machine startup
  • Assigned users
• Deleting machines
  • Terminate the instance in AWS

#Introduction

The Machines page is the main admin area for machine management. It lists all machines imported into Managed Studio from the connected AWS account and allows admins to search, create, import, assign and manage them.

Admins can perform common actions such as starting, stopping, rebooting, assigning users, monitoring usage and reviewing recent activity directly from this page.

#Quick actions

Common machine actions are available straight from the Machines list, without opening each machine.

To use a quick action:

1. Go to the Machines section
2. Open the machine context menu at the end of its row
3. Choose Start, Stop, Reboot or Connect

Actions that do not apply to the machine's current state are unavailable. For example, Start is unavailable while a machine is already running. The menu also includes View, Edit and Delete.

#Rebooting machines

Rebooting restarts a running machine's operating system, without needing to connect to the machine or open the AWS console. Unlike stopping and starting, the machine stays on the same AWS host and keeps its public IP address.

You can reboot a running machine from:

• The Dashboard, by clicking Reboot next to the machine. To stop the machine, click the arrow on the right of the Reboot button, then click Stop
• The Machines list, by choosing Reboot from the machine context menu
• The machine overview page, by choosing Reboot from the machine context menu

Reboots are recorded in the machine's Recent history and the Audit logs.

#Importing existing AWS instances

Use this when the EC2 instance already exists in AWS and you want to bring it into Managed Studio.

To import an instance from AWS:

1. Go to the Machines section
2. Click Import
3. Choose the AWS region
4. Click Continue
5. Select the instance or instances
6. Click Continue
7. Review the selection
8. Click Import instance

#Creating machines

Use this option when you want to provision a new EC2 machine directly from Managed Studio.

To create a new machine:

1. Go to the Machines section
2. Click New
3. Choose the AWS region
4. Click Continue
5. Select a machine template
6. Click Continue
7. Choose the machine size
8. Click Continue
9. Set the quantity
10. Enter the machine name
11. Optionally choose a user
12. Click Create machine

#Template naming

Template options shown in the interface include templates available in the selected region on the AWS account, including templates tagged with managed-studio:name values such as Linux Default Workstation AMI and Windows Default Workstation AMI. This feature is marked Beta.

#Viewing machines

Opening a machine displays the machine overview page, which provides detailed information about the instance and its activity within Managed Studio.

#General information

The General section provides a summary of the machine's identity and current status. This includes the machine name, instance ID, AWS region, Availability Zone, Availability Zone ID, machine type, platform, scheduled startup, current state and key timestamps such as when the machine was launched, created and last updated.

Availability Zone names such as eu-west-2a can map to different physical locations in different AWS accounts, while the Availability Zone ID such as euw2-az1 is the same in every account. Use the Availability Zone ID when comparing machines across AWS accounts or working with AWS support.

In machine lists and overview pages, you can hover over a region badge to view the estimated latency for that AWS region. This can help when comparing regions and assessing connection quality for remote sessions.

#Estimated monthly costs

The Estimated monthly costs section shows roughly what the machine costs to run in AWS each month, split into compute and storage. Hover over the information icon next to each cost to see how it was calculated.

• Compute uses the AWS on-demand list price for the machine's instance type, platform and region, based on 200 hours of use a month. The hourly rate is shown alongside the monthly estimate.
• Storage covers every EBS volume attached to the machine for a full month, as AWS charges for storage whether the machine is running or not. This includes provisioned IOPS and throughput above each volume type's free allowance. The information icon lists each volume with its size, type and monthly cost.

If Permission required is shown instead of a cost, the AWS credentials are missing a permission needed to look up prices. Please check your IAM policy matches the one in Connecting your AWS account.

#View machine in AWS console

The machine overview page includes a shortcut to open the machine in the AWS Management Console.

To view a machine in the AWS console:

1. Open the machine overview page
2. Open the machine context menu
3. Select View in AWS console

#Machine statistics

The Machine statistics section shows utilisation charts for the machine so admins can quickly review performance and activity. Standard charts include CPU, network and disk usage. When Advanced Metrics is enabled, the overview page also shows RAM and GPU utilisation.

Statistics can be viewed across multiple time ranges, from short-term activity through to a 4-week history view for longer-term performance analysis.

#Assigned users

The Assigned users section shows which users currently have access to the machine. Assigned users can start, stop and connect to the machine.

To assign users:

1. Click Assign users
2. Select the user or users
3. Click Save changes

#Recent history

The Recent history section shows recent machine activity, including actions such as imports, updates, starts, stops and user assignment changes. Each entry includes the event date, the user who performed the action, the action details and the source IP address.

The machine overview page shows activity from the last 7 days. For additional history, please see Audit logs.

#Updating machines

Machine settings can be modified from the machine overview page. Click Edit to open the machine configuration panel.

#Remote connection

The Remote connection setting controls how users connect to the machine.

Available options include DCV, SSH, HP Anyware and Custom. For DCV connections, the required configuration must first be completed in DCV Stacks.

#Scheduled machine startup

The machine edit view includes Scheduled machine startup, which allows admins to configure machines to start automatically on a schedule, so they are ready before users need them. This feature is marked Beta.

To configure scheduled startup:

1. Open the machine Edit view
2. Find the Scheduled machine startup section
3. Select the Time zone
4. Enter a Cron expression
5. Check the Next 10 startups list shows the times you expect
6. Click Save changes

Managed Studio attempts to start the machine every minute for five minutes from the scheduled time. The schedule is shown as Scheduled startup on the machine overview page.

A cron expression has five fields: minute, hour, day of the month, month and day of the week. For example:

Cron expression	Starts the machine
0 9 * * 1-5	At 9:00 every weekday
30 7 * * *	At 7:30 every day
0 8 * * 1	At 8:00 every Monday

crontab.guru can help you write and check a cron expression. A schedule cannot start a machine more than once every 10 minutes.

To turn off scheduled startup, clear the Cron expression and click Save changes.

Scheduled machine startup is in beta. We'd love to hear your feedback.

#Assigned users

Users can also be assigned or updated from the machine page.

Select the required user or users, then click Save changes.

#Deleting machines

Deleting a machine removes it from Managed Studio. Admins can choose whether to also terminate the instance in AWS.

To delete a machine:

1. Go to the Machines section
2. Locate the machine you want to delete
3. Open the machine context menu
4. Click Delete
5. Type delete in the confirmation field
6. Click Delete machine

#Terminate the instance in AWS

When deleting a machine you have an option to also remove the underlying instance from AWS. In the delete confirmation dialog if Terminate the instance in AWS is selected, the EC2 instance and its associated storage are permanently deleted.