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Math@UNC

Steps

  1. Ensure that you have at least 20GB free space on your host machine. A convenient option is to install the environment on a high-speed USB 3.0 (or higher) SSD drive (not a USB Flash drive) with 128GB or higher capacity.
  2. Remove any previous version of VirtualBox from your machine.
  3. Install VirtualBox (version 6.1) on your host machine. Math@UNC assumes the host machine satisfies the CCI minimal requirements. Also install the VirtualBox Extension Pack.
  4. Create a Math@UNC directory somewhere on your machine, and download into this directory the file Math@UNC.ova (4.5 GB). This is an Open Virtual Appliance file that contains the preconfigured Math@UNC environment. This is a large file and should be downloaded from high-speed, preferably on-campus, connections.
  5. From File Explorer (under Windows) or Finder (under OS X) right-click and open the downloaded Math@UNC.ova file. This will decompress the virtual machine image onto your host computer.
  6. In VirtualBox, adjust the settings of the Math@UNC virtual machine. In particular:
    • Set virtual machine memory to 25-50% of your host machine memory;
    • Define shared folders so you can access your host machine files in your virtual machine;
    • Adjust the scale factor to 200% if you have a high-definition display
  7. From VirtualBox, launch the Math@UNC virtual machine. If your machine is not configured to allow 64-bit virtualization, see remedy below. This is often the case for Lenovo laptops.
  8. Once the Math@UNC virtual machine has started, use the VirtualBox View->Virtual Screen 1 menu item to adjust the display to your preference (screen resolution, magnification)
  9. Log onto SciComp@UNC:
    • Username:  student
    • No password is set
  10. After the initial virtual machine boot and login you can suspend the Math@UNC environment whenever needed through the File->Close->”Save the machine state” menu option. This allows you to save your current work, and return to the exact same state upon restart.
  11. You can reclaim disk space on the host machine by erasing the downloaded Math@UNC.ova file.
  12. Explore the environment through the showcase!

Enabling 64-bit virtualization

If your machine is not configured to allow 64bit virtualization, change UEFI or BIOS settings.

  • On older machines, this is accessed by pressing F1, F2, F10, F12 or Del keys immediately upon poweron.
  • On newer machines running Windows 10, go to Settings->Windows Update->Recovery->Troubleshoot->Advanced options->UEFI firmware->Restart. This will boot up the machine into UEFI Firmware setting.

Once in the settings, choose Security and enable both virtualization options.

Software highlights

  • TeXmacs, a sophisticated editor allowing embedded computational sessions, natural mathematical notation, export to LaTeX, PDF, HTML formats. SciComp@UNC has preconfigured support for sessions in: Asymptote, Clisp, Eukleides, Gnuplot, Maxima, Octave, Python, Scheme, Mathematica. Inclusion of such sessions allows production of “live” documents that combine mathematical text, graphics, and computation, enabling both instruction and reproducible research. Of crucial practical importance to research in scientific computation, TeXmacs is extensible through Guile (an implementation of Scheme, which is itself a descendent of LISP). Use of Guile extensions allows sophisticated processing and concurrent documentation.
  • Complete, up-to-date Gnu compiler suite (v9.2, gcc, g++, gfortran, gccgo)
  • Python3 environment for scientific computing
  • Octave, a free Matlab clone
  • Maxima, a symbolic computation system
  • Julia, a high-performance scripting language for scientific computation
  • SageMath, a unified Python interface to a suite of open-source applications covering many areas of mathematics
  • JupyterLab, a notebook interface to Julia, Octave, Python, SageMath
  • TeXlive typesetting system
  • Genius, an advanced general-purpose calculator especially well-suited for educational demos

Tutorials

Several tutorial videos are posted on YouTube on use of the virtual machine: