Use Blade For Graphical Work Without Losing Data

Blade is a shared Windows computer reached through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Use it for interactive licensed Windows software, computer-aided design (CAD), simulation pre-processing and post-processing, and light prototypes. Use Euler or another approved compute system for long or unattended heavy workloads.

Look forYour task requires the shared graphical Windows environment.

Use the campus network or connect ETH VPN before opening RDP. VPN means Virtual Private Network: the official secure connection used to reach ETH-only services from outside the campus network.

Look forThe Blade hostname is reachable from your computer.

Open Start, search for Remote Desktop Connection, and open it. Enter mavt-ide-s100w.d.ethz.ch as the computer. At the credential prompt choose More choices and Use a different account if needed, then sign in as d\<eth-username> with your own ETH password.

Look forA Windows desktop opens for your personal ETH account.

Install Microsoft Windows App from the Mac App Store if it is absent. Open Windows App, select Devices, select +, choose Add PC, enter mavt-ide-s100w.d.ethz.ch in PC Name, and select Add. Double-click the new PC. At the credential prompt sign in as d\<eth-username> with your own ETH password; do not reuse another person's saved account.

Look forA Windows desktop opens for your personal ETH account.

Search your applications for Remmina. If it is installed, open it, choose RDP, enter mavt-ide-s100w.d.ethz.ch as the server, and sign in as d\<eth-username> with your own ETH password. If Remmina is absent on a personal Linux computer, use your distribution's Software application or the official Remmina installation guide; install the RDP client and plugin only. On an ETH-managed computer, request software installation instead. Do not install a remote-desktop server, change a firewall, or alter Blade security settings.

Look forA Windows desktop opens for your personal ETH account.

Open PowerShell inside the remote Blade desktop and run the block below. The hostname check is required. The GPU line is informational and may say that the query is unavailable.

& {
  $HostName = $env:COMPUTERNAME
  $HostName
  if ($HostName -ne 'mavt-ide-s100w') { throw "STOP: this is not the assigned Blade server" }
  if (Get-Command nvidia-smi -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
      nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,memory.total --format=csv,noheader
  } else {
      'GPU query unavailable; hostname is correct.'
  }
}

Look forThe first line is mavt-ide-s100w. A GPU line may follow, but it is not required to prove the Blade connection.

If this differsDisconnect if the hostname is not the assigned Blade server.

Use the D:/P: lifetime table above. Obtain the supervisor first name and approval before entering P:\SupervisorFirstName; your temporary folder is D:\eth-username. Create your exact ETH-username folder only if absent and authorized. D: is temporary. Do not use C:, Desktop, Documents, Downloads or other mapped drives for project storage.

Look forThe approved P: username folder exists and the D: username folder is clearly temporary.

Run the existing guarded PowerShell block inside Blade after the hostname check passes. It refuses files, shortcuts and junctions at either target, creates one random non-sensitive D: file, copies it to the approved P: folder, compares hashes and removes both probe files. This cleanup applies only to the test; retain useful real outputs under the owner's rules.

& {
  $Supervisor = (Read-Host "Supervisor first name").Trim()
  $EthUser = $env:USERNAME
  if ([string]::IsNullOrWhiteSpace($Supervisor) -or $Supervisor -in @('.', '..') -or $Supervisor -match '[\\/:*?"<>|]') { throw "STOP: invalid supervisor folder name" }
  if ($EthUser -notmatch '^[A-Za-z0-9._-]+$') { throw "STOP: invalid ETH username" }
  if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath 'P:\' -PathType Container)) { throw "STOP: P: is not available" }
  if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath 'D:\' -PathType Container)) { throw "STOP: D: is not available" }
  $Durable = Join-Path "P:\$Supervisor" $EthUser
  $Temporary = Join-Path "D:\" $EthUser
  if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Durable -PathType Container)) { throw "STOP: approved P: username folder not found" }
  $DurableItem = Get-Item -Force -LiteralPath $Durable
  if (-not $DurableItem.PSIsContainer -or ($DurableItem.Attributes -band [IO.FileAttributes]::ReparsePoint) -ne 0) { throw "STOP: approved P: path is not a real directory" }
  if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Temporary) {
    $TemporaryItem = Get-Item -Force -LiteralPath $Temporary
    if (-not $TemporaryItem.PSIsContainer -or ($TemporaryItem.Attributes -band [IO.FileAttributes]::ReparsePoint) -ne 0) { throw "STOP: D: username path is not a real directory" }
  } else {
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $Temporary -ErrorAction Stop | Out-Null
    $TemporaryItem = Get-Item -Force -LiteralPath $Temporary
    if (-not $TemporaryItem.PSIsContainer -or ($TemporaryItem.Attributes -band [IO.FileAttributes]::ReparsePoint) -ne 0) { throw "STOP: new D: username path is not a real directory" }
  }
  $Name = "passport-$([guid]::NewGuid().ToString('N')).txt"
  $TempFile = Join-Path $Temporary $Name
  $DurableFile = Join-Path $Durable $Name
  $CopyVerified = $false
  try {
    Set-Content -LiteralPath $TempFile -Value "IDEAL Passport synthetic Blade storage check" -ErrorAction Stop
    Copy-Item -LiteralPath $TempFile -Destination $DurableFile -ErrorAction Stop
    $CopyVerified = (Get-FileHash -LiteralPath $TempFile -ErrorAction Stop).Hash -eq (Get-FileHash -LiteralPath $DurableFile -ErrorAction Stop).Hash
  } finally {
    Remove-Item -LiteralPath $TempFile -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    Remove-Item -LiteralPath $DurableFile -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
  }
  $TemporaryRemoved = -not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $TempFile)
  $ProbeRemoved = -not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $DurableFile)
  "copy_verified=$CopyVerified temporary_removed=$TemporaryRemoved probe_removed=$ProbeRemoved"
  if (-not ($CopyVerified -and $TemporaryRemoved -and $ProbeRemoved)) { throw "STOP: copy verification or probe cleanup failed" }
}

Look forThe final line says copy_verified=True, temporary_removed=True, and probe_removed=True.

If this differsRead the first error. The finally block attempts to remove both random probe files even after a failure. If either remains, remove only the two displayed passport probe paths; do not broaden folder permissions or delete the username folder.

Do not start overnight training, broad sweeps, or unscheduled heavy computation. Do not install a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) distribution or enable Windows features without approval.

Look forOnly the interactive graphical application or light prototype remains on Blade.

Enter only the hostname and yes/no storage confirmations in the local Passport. Do not publish the supervisor name, mapped path, credentials, or screenshot.

Look forThe result confirms the correct host, durable copy, D: cleanup, and no C: usage.