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CU Virtual Lab is the University’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) which allows us to securely deliver applications for faculty and students to learn and work from any location using any device whether university-owned or personal. Students can find a variety of course-specific software such as SPSS or ArcGIS.
Windows Desktop (CU Virtual Lab - General Software)
- @RISK
- ArcGIS Pro
- ChemDraw 32 and 64 bit
- ChimeraX
- Eclipse IDE
- Evolver
- FIJI
- GelAnalyzer
- HEC-RAS
- Heidi SQL
- IBM SPSS
- IDLE Python
- Logger Pro
- Microsoft Office 365
- Neural Tools
- Notepad++
- Power BI Desktop
- PrecisionTree
- Python
- R 4.5.1
- R Studio
- Spyder 6
- StatTools
Windows GPU Desktop (CU Virtual Lab - GIS, SAS)
- ArcGIS Pro
- ChimeraX
- eDrawings 2025
- Microsoft Office 365
- Notepad ++
- SAS 9.4
- SigmaPlot
- SOLIDWORKS 2025
- SOLIDWORKS Manage 2025
- SOLIDWORKS Visualize 2025
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Faculty may log in using their preferred web browser, and navigate to https://cu.apporto.com/ .
Then log in to the system using your Commonwealth University single sign-on credentials to access the App Store. DUO Multifactor authentication is required at login.
Please note: To have full functionality of the Virtual Classroom features, students should be instructed to log into CU Virtual Lab through a Brightspace CU Virtual Lab Link for the course (see this article: LINK).
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There are two desktops available: Windows and Windows GPU. Each has access to different applications. See the list of applications on each above to select the appropriate one for use.
The selected desktop opens in a new browser tab.
Click "Allow" notifications when prompted.
When you first log in to CU Virtual Lab it may take up to 30 seconds to launch an app. This is because your profile is being created. After this, applications will launch much faster, typically between 7-15 seconds.
Some applications (e.g. Persistent Virtual Machines) may take a few minutes to launch because the server needs to start before the application can be launched. In these cases, a popup will notify you when the server is starting. Starting a server typically takes 1-2 minutes.
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Available menu options are displayed as icons (buttons) in the top menu bar. Hover your mouse over an icon to see tooltip text explaining what the menu option is.
When you first launch an app or desktop, an Intro wizard will walk you through each menu option. The following guide describes the function of each menu option in more detail.
Change Display Mode
Click 
to hide the task bar.
Hover near the top-center of the screen to display the down arrow. Click it to bring back the task bar.
Click the 
icon in the top menu bar to toggle the display to full-screen mode.
Press the <Esc> key to return the display to normal mode.
Note: In full-screen mode, the top menu bar is hidden by default. Hover your cursor at the top edge of your browser to reveal the menu.
Click the 
button to get basic help, and information about the Apporto environment.
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From your device
Click the File browser 
icon to upload and download files.
Within file browser, you can select these icons to upload or download files: 
From a location on the web, such as from Brightspace or Adobe Cloud
- Open a browser in your CU Virtual Lab desktop.
- Navigate to the site(ie, Brightspace) and login using your credentials.
- Find the relevant files (ie, in Content or Manage Files) and download them.
- Open Windows File Explorer in the CU Virtual Lab desktop and navigate to the Downloads folder.
- Drag the file onto your desktop to begin working with it.
From a cloud storage device such as OneDrive or Google Drive
Use Apporto Cloud Mounter to cloud storage service (OneDrive, Google Drive). Mounted drives are accessible in CU Virtual Lab via the Windows File Explorer. From there, you can move files from the drive to the CU Virtual Lab cloud desktop to work with them and copy them back to the relevant drive when finished. This feature is supported for CU Virtual Lab Windows Desktops and apps (not Mac or Linux).
See Mount a Cloud Drive on this page for more information.
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Use the Share Screen 
icon to share your screen with another user and collaborate in the current session or offline.
You can send a link to your faculty or a teammate so they can access your app or desktop and grant permissions that enable viewing, drawing, or full control of your desktop.
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Click the Messenger 
icon to open and use Messenger. Messenger works the same as other messaging tools but is filtered by group so you can easily communicate with other students in your classes.
Please note Messenger is ONLY available for Brightspace courses where the CU Virtual Lab Desktop has been added as an External Learning Tool!
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Click the Sound 
icon to turn sound on or off. By default, sound is turned off.
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Students can submit assignments by signing into Brightspace using the Chrome browser on the CU Virtual Lab desktop.
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To use multiple monitors, you must click "More" then select "Second Monitor".
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A fast and reliable network connection is key for fast performance when working in CU Virtual Lab. View the Network Indicator 
to gauge the strength of your network connection. The number of bars depends on network latency (the amount of time in milliseconds for response from the server).
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Click the Settings 
icon to access screen scaling, resolution, microphone, and clipboard options.
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Screen Scaling
By default, the cloud desktop will match the scale of your local device. If you want desktop images and text to appear larger, you may increase the scale up to 250%. Increasing the scale may reduce system responsiveness though, since more data is transferred from the cloud to your browser. If parts of your screen are not visible (for example, the print button), we recommend adjusting screen scaling to "Scale to 100%.
Screen Resolution
By default, the desktop displays at a high resolution for optimal image quality. The resolution is dynamically adjusted when you change your browser size (for example by toggling to full-screen mode).
If you have a poor network connection, you may opt for a fixed, lower resolution (1024 x 768). This option will ensure faster system responsiveness since less data is transferred from the cloud to your browser.
< Note: Multi-Monitor mode does not work when Low resolution is selected.
Microphone
Enabling the microphone (in your browser and device settings) enables you to use voice features in the CU Virtual Lab desktop like making calls via Messenger.
To use it, toggle Microphone on.
Then click to allow when prompted by your browser.
Clipboard
Enabling the clipboard in your settings enables you to copy and paste text and images to and from your local device to the CU Virtual Lab cloud desktop.
To do this, toggle the Clipboard setting on.
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If you have files stored in cloud storage services (like OneDrive, or Google Drive), you can access them in CU Virtual Lab by mounting the drive. Mounting a drive makes it accessible via Windows File Explorer in the virtual lab desktop environment.
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Double-click on the Cloud Mounter desktop shortcut.
A window launches with direction to "Start a New Connection":
Select the cloud storage type you want to connect, Google or OneDrive.
The ‘Connection Dialog’ displays:
Click Connect Now
You will be prompted to enter your credentials.
Follow the on-screen prompts to enter your credentials and allow access to the Cloud Mounter. If you have two-factor authentication (2FA) turned on for your cloud drive, ensure you have your mobile phone handy when completing this step.
Windows File Explorer will automatically open when the drive is successfully mounted. The drive will also be added to the Existing Connections list in the Cloud Mounter.
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Click the File Explorer icon 
in the Windows taskbar to open File Explorer if it is not already open.
Click to expand “This PC” to access the relevant drive.
IMPORTANT: We recommend copying large files to CU Virtual Lab before working with them. This is because editing them across the network is slow and problematic. You may even lose work if your network connection gets disconnected. To copy files from a cloud drive, select the file and drag it to the CU Virtual Lab desktop.
Note you will not be able to open files that do not have a corresponding application installed on the desktop. For instance, you will not be able to open SPSS files unless SPSS is available on your desktop.
Some file types are not supported, like .sav files.
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If you want to access the cloud drive in future sessions, you should leave it mounted. However, you may want to unmount a drive in order to connect a new one in the future. For example, maybe you connected your college GDrive account but would like to connect to personal GDrive in the future. (Currently, you may only connect to one GDrive account at a time.)
To unmount the drive, open the Cloud Mounter (by double-clicking on the desktop shortcut) and click Remove.
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In order to have full functionality of the Virtual Classroom features, students should be instructed to log into CU Virtual Lab through a Brightspace CU Virtual Lab Link for the course.
Faculty should add the applicable CU Virtual Lab Desktop to their course in Brightspace through “External Learning Tools”. For instructions on how to do this, please see this article.
The Virtual Classroom enables faculty to monitor and assist students. It provides a real-time view of the desktops of all students in a particular group who are online – all from a single screen. Students can raise their hands to ask questions. Faculty can click to get a closer view of a student’s desktop, chat with or call students, and even request remote control to help a student along.
Click More in the top menu bar, then select Virtual Classroom.
Select the relevant group (eg. course, section, etc.) and click Launch.
Note: Faculty must have permission to both the group and app/desktop to launch the Virtual Desktop. The classroom may only be launched for groups of < 100 users.
The Virtual Classroom will open in a new browser tab. The desktops of all students in the group (who are online) will be visible. If no students are online, there will be a message stating that their screens will appear as they log in.
Note: Students must launch the same app/desktop as Faculty to appear in the classroom. Multiple faculty (or teaching assistants with faculty roles in CU Virtual Lab) may view the same class at the same time.
When a new student logs in, their desktop will appear. When a student logs out, their desktop will disappear. By default, students’ desktops appear in the order they came online. You may change the sort order using the class roster.
The course name from Brightspace shows in the bottom left hand section of the screen of the Virtual Classroom.
When the Virtual Classroom is launched, students will see a notification that their desktop is being shared.
Note: For privacy, the student’s Messenger and menu bar are not visible in the Virtual Classroom.
Students will also see a new menu option that enables them to raise their hand: 
When a hand is raised, you will see the student’s desktop highlighted and the raised hand icon showing. A notification will also appear at the bottom of the screen.
Clicking on the desktop enlarges the desktop, removes the blue highlight, removes the raised hand, and notifies the student.
Students may also choose to lower their hands by clicking on the Lower hand button: 
Doing so will remove the blue highlight and raised hand icon from the student’s desktop.
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The class roster shows the number of students who are present out of the total number of students in the class. Click on the class roster button to open the roster and view the list of present and absent students:
By default, present students are listed in the sort order selected in the layout menu. Click on the Sort dropdown to change the sort order to order of sign-in.
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You can adjust the view of your student display tiles in Virtual Classroom.
By default, the layout of student tiles is determined automatically. To change this, click on the layout button 
to trigger the Layout menu screen:
You can choose between an auto adjusting grid based on the number of students joining, or you can use a fixed grid of a particular number. Click on the fixed grid dropdown to view the grid options from which you can select.
You can choose to display the tile order alphabetically or by order of sign in. Click on the thumbnail sort dropdown to change the display order of the present students’ desktops.
Click Save to commit any changes to the layout.
Click on a desktop to enlarge the view and see real-time updates of desktop activity. “You are viewing [username]’s screen” will appear at the top of the view.
Click < Back to close the view. The student will be alerted that you are no longer watching their screen.
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In order to assist a student, click the Request control button. A confirmation message will display, showing that you have requested control.
The following request will appear on the student’s desktop.
If the student accepts, your view will refresh. “You can control [username]’s screen” will appear at the top of the view, and you may cursor into the view to control the student’s desktop.
Click Stop control to return screen control back to the student.
Students may also decline requests for faculty remote control by clicking on the Decline button in the popup. If a student declines your request, you will see a message that states “[username] has declined your request for remote control.”
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If Messenger is enabled for your instance, it will be available in the Virtual Classroom to make it easy to chat with students 1-on-1 or call a student to help quickly answer a question. As faculty, you may trigger this function by clicking the 
Chat button at the bottom of the screen.
When viewing the entire class, the Messenger contact list shows all students in the group. It also shows other faculty members and labels them with “(Faculty)”.
When viewing an individual student’s desktop (enlarged view or remote control), the contact list is filtered to make it easy to communicate with that specific student.
A student may also initiate the chat session by clicking on the Messenger button at the bottom of their view or the Chat button at the bottom of the screen.
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While you are in your virtual classroom session, you will see an End Session button on the screen. Once you are finished with your session, click the button and the system will prompt you to confirm your decision. Click Close Classroom and then you can close the browser tab to return to the desktop.
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When you are finished using your CU Virtual Lab desktop, please follow these steps to disconnect:
- Click the Windows start icon in the bottom left corner of the virtual desktop screen.
- Click Power, then Disconnect, and close out of the browser tab.
- Finally, sign out from the CU Virtual Lab App Store by clicking the drop-down on the top right of the App Store screen, then Logout.
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Q. How do I request that a different software title be made available in CU Virtual Lab?
A. Please submit a request via the Help Desk. Please allow 2 weeks for University-approved and licensed software. Please allow 8-12 weeks for software that needs to be vetted or purchased.
Q. What is required to access CU Virtual Lab?
A. CU Virtual Lab can be accessed on any computer with any web browser. It does not require any additional software or plug-ins to be installed. It will work on Windows, MacOS, ChromeOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The virtual desktop will open and run completely within a browser window.
Q. Are virtual MacOS or Linux desktops available in CU Virtual Lab?
A. At this time, only virtual Windows desktops are available. However, it is a potential feature for future release. If this is something of interest, please contact IT to let us know.
Q. How can students access CU Virtual Lab?
A. Faculty should add a link to the desktop with the appropriate software for your course as an External Learning Tool in Brightspace. Instructions to do so can be found at this article. When students click the link through the External Learning Tool link in Brightspace, it will take them directly to the correct desktop and will pass their credentials and class information to CU Virtual Lab. This provides access to tools such as Virtual Classroom, Analytics, and Messenger.
Students can also go to https://cu.apporto.com/, however, they will be required to login, select the correct desktop and the tools above will not be available.
Q. How do I access cloud storage in CU Virtual Lab?
A. In any of the CU Virtual Lab desktops, you can use the Cloud Mounter tool to map a drive to your CU Microsoft OneDrive files or your CU Google Drive files. You will only need to authenticate to each of these services once.
Q. Can I access files from my local computer in CU Virtual Lab?
A. Yes. You can use the Upload File and Download File tools in the CU Virtual Lab desktop to move files from your local computer to the CU Virtual Lab desktops. Complete instructions can be found HERE
Q. How do I access files from D2L in CU Virtual Lab?
A. The easiest way to access files from D2L in CU Virtual Lab is to log into Brightspace from a browser in the CU Virtual Lab desktop. From there, you can download the files directly to the CU Virtual Lab desktop.
Q. Will my files be saved in my CU Virtual Lab Desktop?
A. Files saved to your CU Virtual Lab profile in the Desktop, Downloads, or Documents directories will be retained through the entire semester. At this time, profiles will be deleted at the end of the semester, so please make sure you save any files needed to cloud storage before the end of the semester.
Q. Are Adobe Creative Cloud Applications available in CU Virtual Lab?
A. Adobe Creative Cloud applications are not available virtually due to our licensing agreement with Adobe. If your students need Adobe Creative Cloud for a class, please fill out the request form for Adobe Creative Cloud.
Q. When I'm in some applications, the bottom of my screen is cut off, how do I fix that?
A. We recommend going to Settings > Screen Scaling > Scale to 100%. You will find Settings in the top right corner of the desktop (gear icon).
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If you need help with CU Virtual Lab, please submit a Help Desk request. It will be routed to the appropriate team to assist you with your request.
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