DaDesktop for Participants – A How‑To Guide

Objective

This guide is designed for participants (students) looking to join a course that’s delivered on DaDesktop.

 

Overview of DaDesktop

DaDesktop is a cloud platform built specifically for IT training. It targets both IT instructors and learners, using virtual desktops powered by the innovative DaDesktop® technology. During these sessions, each participant receives a full online desktop where they can carry out exercises under the trainer’s supervision.

It consists of three main components:

1. Management Console – a web interface for system admin, such as booting up and shutting down cloud desktops, etc.
2. Training Room – a collaborative area for sharing remote desktops, audio, chat, recording lessons, and more.
3. Remote Desktop – a virtual machine (Windows or Linux), with one assigned per user.
    

What You Need

Whether you plan to join from your workplace or your home, you’ll need:

• A computer (desktop or laptop) with a stable internet connection (at least 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up). Windows, Mac, or Linux systems are all supported.
• Chrome or Firefox web browser
• A decent microphone or headset (using a phone is possible but not advisable)
• A quiet environment, without distractions or background noise (a café won’t cut it)
   

We also suggest:

• Webcam
• A second screen – use one to keep an eye on the trainer, and the other for your DaDesktop virtual machine and lab exercises.
• Turn off any VPNs beforehand.
• If you can, disable any security software that might interfere with your network.
• Use a wired Ethernet connection if you can. If you’re on Wi‑Fi, test your internet speed in advance (e.g., at speedtest.net).

You might want to test joining your course and exploring the DaDesktop virtual classroom ahead of time. Just be aware that outside of course days, you can only access the desktop itself for a 15‑minute window.

 

Course Access

Keep in mind that outside your course dates, access to your course desktop is limited to a single 15-minute session.

On course days, however, you can log in throughout the day. (In the past, access was only granted about an hour before the session.)

 

Keeping Your Desktop After the Course Ends

A key advantage of DaDesktop is that participants can keep using their machine after the course wraps up. 

For full instructions, check out the link above.

Joining a Course

Open the link provided by your course coordinator (e.g., dd4t.dadesktop.com/da/join/xxxxx).

 

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

If you already have an account, just log in.

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

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Using the Management Console

Click on the “TRAINING ROOM” tab.

Click “Join Training Room”.

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The Virtual Training Room opens in a new browser window. A pop‑up will ask for permission to copy items to your clipboard – select “Allow”.

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Navigating the Training Room as a Participant

Inside the Training Room, you’ll see a tab at the top that contains links to return to the course.

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Controls available at bottom of the screen

• From here, you can pop the screen out onto a second monitor, and you can also maximise the browser to full screen.
• There’s also a small blue toggle at the bottom right for opening the DaDesktop support chat.

 

Using the new Clipboard function

To move text (such as links, functions, etc.) from your local computer into the virtual machine, we rely on the Clipboard.
 

When you join your Online Course or standalone desktop, a pop‑up like the one shown appears. Click ‘Allow’. Note that images currently cannot be copied to the clipboard in DaDesktop.

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You can adjust the clipboard settings for this site by clicking the small clipboard icon in the address bar.

Usage

• On a Windows or Linux VM, copy and paste the way you normally do on your PC: Ctrl‑C and Ctrl‑V.
• On a Mac, copy as usual, then use Shift‑Ctrl‑V or click the middle mouse button to paste.

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If you need more help with this feature, please reach out to us.
 

Legacy Clipboard (for incompatible browsers, such as IE, or as a fallback)

• To copy text from your machine to the DaDesktop virtual machine, type or paste it into the clipboard box at the bottom left of the screen.
• On the virtual machine, click the middle mouse button (or mouse wheel) to paste the contents of the clipboard to the desktop. This method works anywhere you can enter text in DaDesktop, provided you’re on the standard Linux virtual machine.
  On a Mac, use Command‑C (⌘C) to copy and Command‑V (⌘V) to paste. After you’ve pasted into the dd4t clipboard, use Control‑X, Control‑C, and Control‑V for cut, copy, and paste within dd4t.
• On the Windows virtual machine, right‑click to paste your clipboard content.

You can resize the clipboard box by clicking the green‑and‑white arrow icon at the bottom left.
 

 

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Using the mouse in a multi-user scenario

A new feature shows the username of whoever is controlling the mouse right next to the cursor whenever multiple users are connected to the same desktop. This is particularly handy in multi‑user situations and for training exercises where different people take turns using the mouse.

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When several users are connected, their names appear at the bottom center of the screen.

 

 

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