Accessing your project workspace

To enter your SEAD project workspace you need to:

1. Activate your virtual machine
2. Launch your virtual machine

Each project Virtual Machine (VM) is displayed on individual tiles, with your “Active” VM appearing at the top above those that are “Locked”. For more information about your VMs, refer to Functions in my projects.

Each project has a separate VM and you can only access one project VM at a time. If your machine is already available to launch, skip to Launch your virtual machine.

• If not, click the ‘Activate' button as shown below and wait until the ‘Connect’ button appears.
• If your machine shows a status other than ‘Connect’ or ‘Activate’ you must rebuild the VM first. See Virtual machine management options for more information.

Click on the ‘Activate’ button of the VM you want to launch.

If you have a VM for another project that is currently active, this logs you out of your other session. If you have a program running in your workspace using another VM, this will stop the program. You can only run multiple VMs if you have requested to use offline local disk space.

Before launching your VM, you can choose your preferred connection. You are required to install the Windows App (for Windows) or Remote Desktop client (Windows users only), or have your organisation do so to be able to connect to your VM. All browser-based applications, including Azure Virtual Desktop web client and the Windows App web client are disabled and no longer available for connecting to your virtual machine. 

Note: Temporary access to the web client is available for MacOS users, however we recommended using a Windows device if available. MacOS users can contact info@mydata.abs.gov.au for assistance.

If you are connecting to the 'Remote Desktop Client' version of AVD, contact your SEAD administrators to ensure that your IT department has enabled the correct networking addresses. 

If you intend to use the 'Remote Desktop client' on your organisation's workspace, your internal IT department will need to make it available to you. 

The latest version of 'Remote Desktop client (MSI)' for Windows, is available here. Ensure you download and install the correct version for your device.

Once you have been provided access by your organisations IT department, or have downloaded, installed and opened the application, click ‘Subscribe’ as shown below. 

You will then be shown a new window that allows you to log into your SEAD account using your SEAD credentials. 

Upon a successful login, you will be shown all your available VMs. If you can’t see the VM that you want, it may be dormant and would require a rebuild. Rebuilds need to be completed through the SEAD web portal. 

If you have access to multiple projects you may be shown multiple tabs, one for each project as shown in the image below. 

Note: If you wish to use multi-display, right click on your VM icon, click ‘Settings’, and turn off ‘Use default settings’. You should now see options for how you would like to display your VM.

Click into one of the computer icons and you will be taken to a login screen to reconfirm your identity, before access is granted to enter your VM. This may not appear if you have recently entered your credentials, through a similar window. 

The below loading bar should briefly appear. 

If, instead of the second login prompt, you receive a message as shown in the below image, then either your machine is not the active machine or it is not using the version ‘2025’ or similar. If your desktop session does not start, repeat  step 1 to Activate your virtual machine from the SEAD web portal, and check that the version at the bottom of your VM says ‘2025’ or similar. 

You will then be presented with another login screen for the VM itself. 

By logging in you agree to these conditions:

You will then have a new window open on your computer displaying your VM workspace. Note: you will also receive a pop up reminder that your activities within your SEAD VM are being monitored and recorded. 

For more information on navigating the workspace, refer to Navigating your project workspace.

Note: VMs continue to incur running costs if the VM has not been stopped, even when not in use. The ABS recommends users shut down their machine during periods of inactivity to avoid unintended charges. Disconnecting, or closing your machine window, is insufficient. VMs are required to be shut down completely as per the VM management options to avoid continued running costs.

Download the Microsoft Windows App from the Microsoft Windows App Store.

Note: If you intend to use the Windows App on your organisation's workspace, you will need to contact your local IT department to make it available to you.

Once you have been provided access by your organisations IT department, or have downloaded, installed and opened the application, select sign in.

Sign in using your SEAD username. Once your Username has been entered, you will be navigated to the ABS SEAD branded log in screen to enter your password.

Once you've successfully logged in, you will be able to see all of your available VM's. If you can’t see the VM that you want, it may be dormant and would require a rebuild. You will be required to connect to the SEAD web portal to activate or rebuild your VM.

Select 'Connect' on the device tile you want to access, noting only the Active VM as displayed on the SEAD web portal will allow you to progress into your workspace.

At this point, you may be required to enter your SEAD credentials again to launch the VM, if you have not logged in recently.

When attempting to connect to your VM you may encounter the following error. If so, please confirm from the SEAD web portal that the VM you are trying to launch is 'Active' and does not require a rebuild.

If changes have been made to the VM in the SEAD web portal, you may need to refresh the available resources in the Windows App for changes to take effect.

After successfully Connecting to the VM you will then be presented with another login screen for the VM itself. Again, you may be required to enter your SEAD credentials.

By logging in you agree to these conditions outlined on the important notice:

You will then have a new window open on your computer displaying your VM workspace. Note: you will also receive a pop up reminder that your activities within your SEAD VM are being monitored and recorded. 

Upon shutting down your VM you will receive the following confirmation message. Ensure that you shut down your VM once your analysis is complete to avoid running costs.

It is recommended that, where possible, users access SEAD using a Windows device. 

While we work towards making the Windows App for MacOS viable for accessing the SEAD, users will need to connect via the web client. Please contact sead.support@abs.gov.au for assistance. Windows users cannot access the web client as this method has been deprecated.

To access SEAD on a MacOS device, click the drop down arrows next to the ‘Connect’ button on your active virtual machine and select the ‘Connect (web client)’ option. You may need to revisit this setting upon each VM shutdown or rebuild.

Select the 'Connect (web client)' button. Your virtual machine will launch in a new window on your browser.