Udacity offers different workspace types within the classroom. The most common workspace types are Jupyter Notebook and VS Code, which are Linux containers running in Udacity’s cloud infrastructure. The current guide outlines certain key points for learners to consider while using the abovementioned workspaces.
General Information
Benefits of using Udacity Workspaces
- You don't have to install any tool or utility on your local machine.
- Udacity preserves your files and folders.
- You can use the workspaces on any platform, Windows, Linux, or Mac, and you will have a consistent experience.
- Workspaces are best supported on Google Chrome and might not load correctly on other browsers.
Limitations in Udacity Workspaces
- You cannot install external packages.
- There is limited CPU and memory available to you.
Workspace Best Practice
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Delete unnecessary files from your /workspace directory.
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The overall size of the /workspace directory must not exceed 3 GiB
- The maximum size of an individual file in the workspace must not exceed 1 GiB
Store the files larger than 1 GB of size in the /opt directory. However, note that the /opt directory is ephemeral, meaning the contents of the /opt directory will be erased next time you visit the workspace.
Reset Data:
This option will give you a new VM and replace whatever work you have done so far with a copy of the files. We recommend this option only if you want to start over again from scratch.
Please note that this option will reset your workspace and remove any previous work
Steps to reset data
1: Click the “Settings” button at the bottom left side of the workspace
2: Download your workspace files using the “Download Files” button.
3: Once downloaded, you should see the “Reset” button enabled in “Red”
Hitting the “Reset” button, which should restart a fresh workspace
Refresh Workspace:
The Refresh workspace option will give you a new virtual machine (Workspace system) but will restore all your files onto it. You can try this if you find your Workspace is unresponsive, e.g., you've created an infinite loop in your code.
How to refresh the workspace:
1: Click the “Settings” button at the bottom left side of the workspace
2: Scroll down to find the "Refresh workspace" section and hit the "Refresh button in blue
Re-Auth Workpsace:
When loading your workspace, if you face a message stating "Your workspace is not authenticated,". You can use this option to authenticate the workspace.
How to Re-Auth the workspace:
1: Click the “Settings” button at the bottom left side of the workspace
2: Scroll down to find the "Re-Auth Workspace" section and hit the "Re-Auth" button in blue
3: A new tab should load, confirming the message as shown below:
4: Close the above tab, come back to the main workspace lesson tab, and refresh it. Your workspace should be authenticated now.
Quick notes:
1: Please ensure you are not using any pre-saved links to the workspace or bookmarks
2: Ensure that when accessing the workspace, you are always logged in with your associated email
3: Ensure you have third-party cookies allowed on the browser. Instructions to do so can be found by clicking here.
Adjust Workspace Timeout:
This feature in the "Settings" is provided for learners to adjust how long the workspace stays active without interaction.
Please note: Setting it too long may result in unnecessary GPU hour usage.
Shutdown Workspace:
This feature in the "Settings" is provided for learners to shut down additional workspaces running at the same time. Hitting the Blue "Shutdown" button should give you the option to stop the running workspaces.
Learners are required to ensure they do not have multiple workspaces running at the same time.
You can check the number of active workspaces from the "Usage" option on the workspace.
