ArcGIS Pro at the University of Illinois
Students and faculty at the University of Illinois can access ArcGIS Pro desktop software in a variety of ways:
- Classroom computer labs
- ICS computer labs on campus
- The Scholarly Commons
- Access on-campus machines using UIUC AnyWare
- Install on a home machine
- SESE-GIS
Classroom Computer Labs
The most-current version of ArcGIS Pro is available in labs commonly used for GIS classes at UIUC.
- Natural History Building 1020 (managed by SESE IT) is a classroom, but if you are a major in the School of Earth, Society, and the Environment (ESES, Atmospheric Science, Geology, or GGIS) and the door is locked, you can swipe your student ID to access the room whenever NHB is open.
- NHB 1071 (managed by SESE IT) is a classroom in the NHB basement with a few computers and a printer that is available for student use when not reserved for classes or other activities. Contact the instructor for an door access code.
- Davenport 338 (managed by ATLAS) is a classroom that is usually only available to students during their class time, although the door is sometimes left open so that students can access the computers after-hours.
Instructional Computing Labs
The university's Technology Services (which also runs the help desk) supports a number of Instructional Computing Services (ICS) labs around campus that serve dual use as classrooms and open labs. When not being used as classrooms these labs are often open for students to use. Most of these labs have current versions of ArcGIS Pro installed for use.
Some computers in these labs are Apple machines, and you will need to shut them down and reboot them into Windows to run ArcGIS Pro.
A full list of labs and open hours is available here...
Dorm residents can request installation of ArcGIS Pro on dorm lab machines using the form at http://go.illinois.edu/ics_software.
Scholarly Commons
Open access PCs are available in the Scholarly Commons located in Main Library room 220.
Home Installation on Windows
You can install ArcGIS Pro on a home computer at no cost to you under a one-year student license available to you as a member of the U of I community.
ArcGIS Pro only runs on Windows machines, requires significant memory and disk space, and can be quite tricky to install.
If you wish to install ArcGIS Pro on your home Windows machine, you can download an installer .exe from ArcGIS Online:
- Log in to ArcGIS Online.
- Click your user icon at the top right corner of the home page and select My settings.
- On the left menu, select Licenses.
- By the ArcGIS Pro icon, click Download.
- Follow the downloader instructions to download the installer .exe file.
- Run the installer file from your Downloads folder.
Home Installation on Mac
You can run ArcGIS Pro on Apple computers if you have installed Windows on your machine or if you use virtualization software like Parallels. You can then follow the instructions above for installing ArcGIS Pro on Windows.
Installing Windows on a Mac requires a significant amount of storage on your machine and is a risky process that is discouraged unless you have no other reasonable options.
AnyWare
There a number of classroom and open lab computers that you can log into remotely using UIUC AnyWare, which is U of I's implementation of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service. Note that some of these machines may not be available when the classroom is being used for a class, or if someone else is already using that machine.
Even though you are interacting with the software as if it is on your own desktop or laptop computer (Mac or PC), the software is actually running on a computer on campus.
Note that you should never store personal or work files on these machines. These are shared machines and you have no assurance either that your files are secure from being viewed or modified by other users of these machines, or that your files will not get erased by other users or by system administrators.
On most personal machines you can access the remote machines either through a web app that runs in your browser, or through the Citrix Workspace application that you can install on your personal machine. The workspace application will usually be more responsive and offers more features, but may not be available for older machines.
Regardless of which access method you use, you log in to AnyWare at:
https://uiucanyware.cloud.com/
You when you view All machines, you will have one or more of the following options. They are recommended in descending order:
- Graphics Enabled Desktop: These are virtual machines with graphics processors, which will dramatically improve the performance of ArcGIS Pro. This is the preferred option for ArcGIS Pro when available.
- SESE - NHB 1020: This provides remote access to the thirty lab machines in NHB 1020. Anyone can access these machines between 5:00 pm and 8:30 am. If you left data on the lab machines, this is how you can access it.
- SESE - General: These are virtual machines with no graphics cards, so they can be slow when using ArcGIS Pro.
- General Purpose Desktop: These machines do not have ArcGIS Pro.
SESE-GIS
Alternatively, SESE-GIS is a server computer maintained by SESE IT for the benefit of GEOG and ESES students and faculty that you can log into from your home computer (Mac or PC) using Microsoft's remote desktop service.
Because this machine is shared, and often used by graduate researchers for projects with heavy computational demands, performance depends on how many people are logged in, and it can be quite slow and unreliable. However, this machine should almost always be available if you cannot find an available NHB lab computer.
You can connect to it by downloading the RDP file from the following link and opening it when prompted using the Remote Desktop Connection utility on a Windows computer.
https://uofi.app.box.com/s/ngxcgm82cdf961m75fvvdzavhxsmva80
On Apple computers, you will first need to download the free Microsoft Remote Desktop app from the Apple Mac Store.
