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  1. Download the latest version 3 of the desktop client here:
    https://www.starnet.com/download/fastx-client
  2. Check back every so often to see if there is an updated version of the desktop client (eg, for bug fixes). The release notes are here:
    https://www.starnet.com/xwin32kb/fastx-3-desktop-client-release-notes/
  3. When you start the desktop client for the first time, there will not be any connections configured yet. The first step is to configure a connection to fastx3.slac.stanford.edu:3300
    1. click on the + (plus) icon to add a new connection
    2. select Web
    3. in the "Name" box, enter: SLAC FastX3 (this is a just description and you can enter anything here)
    4. in the "Url" box, enter: https://fastx3.slac.stanford.edu:3300
    5. in the "User" box, you can enter your SLAC Unix username, or leave it blank and you will be prompted each time
    6. you can leave the other boxes unchecked
    7. click on the "Save" button
  4. Now you have a connection saved.  You will use this connection to connect to FastX3, and after you connect you can see your existing running FastX sessions, or create new sessions if you don't have any running yet.
  5. Enter your SLAC Unix username and password when prompted. If you are not automatically prompted, double click on the connection you just created.
  6. If you have any existing running FastX sessions, they will be listed. You can double click on them to connect.
  7. To start a new session, click on the + (plus) icon
  8. You will be presented with two default system bookmarks. One is named "Desktop", and the other is named "Terminal".
  9. Double click on the Desktop icon if you want a full Linux Desktop environment, or double click on Terminal if you just want a gnome-terminal. You can launch other GUI applications from either one. And you can ssh to other SLAC machines from either one. From a fastx3 gnome-terminal, type 'ssh centos7' to log into the central centos7 login pool, or type 'ssh rhel6-64' to log into the central rhel6-64 login pool. After you ssh into centos7 or rhel6-64, you can run any X11 GUI programs as usual.

Demo video showing how to use FastX 3

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