Unity OnDemand File Browser

Unity OnDemand provides a simple and convenient way to manage your Unity files with a graphical user interface (GUI) rather than the command line interface (CLI), making it a great option for less experienced CLI users. The OnDemand interface can replace your terminal, FTP client, and JupyterHub.

Unity OnDemand allows you to:

  • Navigate the Unity filesystem
  • Copy, move, create, and delete files and directories (folders)
  • Upload and download files from/to your local machine
  • Edit text files
  • View images
  • Open a given directory in an interactive session on a compute node

Part 1: Open the Unity OnDemand File Explorer

Unity OnDemand allows you to sign in on your browser using your organization’s identity provider, so you don’t need to install SSH/FileZilla, configure SSH, or set up any public and private keys. To open the Unity OnDemand file explorer, follow the steps outlined below:

  1. Login to Unity OnDemand with your organization’s identity provider.
  2. From the top menu, click Files. A dropdown menu opens.
  3. Click Home Directory
OnDemand File Explorer menu

OnDemand File Explorer menu

Your Unity file explorer Home Directory appears, which displays your files and directories:

OnDemand File Explorer

OnDemand File Explorer

Part 2: Manage and navigate files

To interact with the Unity filesystem, click on the directory, image, or file name that you want to open or edit. For example:

  • To open a directory, click on its name.
  • To go back to a parent directory, click on different parts of your current working directory to go back. For example, with /home/simonleary_umass_edu as my current working directory, I can go back to /home by clicking on it.
  • To edit a text file, click on its name.
  • To view an image, click on its name.

The Unity OnDemand interface also includes a taskbar at the top of the page with options such as:

  • Open in Terminal to open your current working directory in an interactive session.
  • Refresh to refresh you current working directory.
  • New File to add a new file to your current working directory.
  • New Directory to add a new directory.
  • Upload and Download to upload or download files from/to your local machine.
  • Copy/Move to copy or move files to another location.
  • Delete to delete a file or directory.

Click on any one of the taskbar options to complete that action.