Running RStudio on Biowulf with NoMachine
Using NoMachine to run Rstudio on Biowulf has the benefit of accessing data on the Biowulf/Helix drives. This comes at the cost of setup time and slower responsiveness. If possible, we recommend running locally from your Mac. Below, I provide installation instructions of NoMachine Version 6.10.12.
Running R in NoMachine on Biowulf
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You have to VPN using Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client. Click Connect button and follow usual instructions.
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Following NoMachine Installation for Biowulf, double click the connection shortcut. You should see something like below. Fill in Username and Password fields and click the OK button.
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Click OK button repeatedly through several information panels until the below window. I selected radio button Display the menu panel covering all screen.
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Click OK button repeatedly through several information panels to arrive at a virtual desktop which will look something like below. I selected Use default config button.
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From the Applications menu, I selected Terminal Emulator.
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This will open the Terminal app. Presently, you are on Biowulf's login node. You need to request a compute node. Type at the terminal prompt $ sinteractive --mem=6g --gres=lscratch:5 followed by Return key.
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You can see additional detail with the link below:
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Wait until you are assigned a compute node and at the prompt type: module load R/4.0 followed by Return key.
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Wait until R resources are loaded, then at the prompt type: module load Rstudio followed by Return key. By now, you should see something as depicted below.
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Next, at the Terminal prompt, type rstudio & (as depicted above) followed by Return key to launch RStudio in background.
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On success, RStudio window should open and look as depicted below.