Skip to content

Links

Links are an alternative way to execute apps on RPGM. A user can either create a personal instance, but only if he is logged in, has the permission to do so and "Allow personal instances" is on. Links are another way to give access to an app with far more control. You can for example:

  • Allow guests to execute an app;
  • Redirect several users to a single instance;
  • Have statistics on how many people accessed the app;
  • Set an expiration date.

Only administrators can create links. To create one:

  1. Go into the details page of an app;
  2. Click on the Links section on the left;
  3. Click Create on top of the page;
  4. Set the settings of the link;
  5. Click Create.

Settings

Here is a list of the settings of a link:

Creating a link

In this form:

  • You have to set an URL for the link. The app will then be accessible with https://yourdomain.com/a/YOUR_URL;
  • You can set if the link is active or not;
  • You can set the link access;
  • You can set the link visibility;
  • You can set an expiration date after which the link will no longer work;
  • You can set a max users per instance number;
  • You can set the start mode.

Note

Please note that a public link can only start the default version of an app.

Access

A link can either be:

  • Public: all users and guests can access it, connected or not;
  • Private: only user with the correct permissions will be able to connect to it.

Visibility

A link with Direct link only will only be available by directly using the URL set in the link settings. If the visibility is set to Show on dashboard, it will show the app on a user app listing if he has access to it. The Dashboard position setting allow to choose the order in which the app will be displayed in the "Available apps" section. A link with a position of 1 will show at the very top.

Max users

Max users allow several users to connect to the same instance. If empty or set to 1, each new user will start a new instance of the app, with its own R and/or Python process. This is useful for PGM apps, which easily create powerful apps without having to manage users. Dash apps on the other hand are made like a classic web server, where only one process is running and accept all the traffic and connections. For such Dash apps, you can set a high number of max users.

When the number of max users is reached, a new instance will be started, and RPGM will load-balance incoming users on the instance with the least amount of users.

A max users setting set to "0" means "Unlimited users".

Start mode

If the Start mode of a link is on Automatic start, an instance will always be running, even if there is no user on the link. This is useful for webapps-like apps, or to speed up the loading for the very first user connecting to the link.

Management

You can list all public links for an app in the Links section of an app details page. Alternatively, you can go in the Administration Panel ang then Apps, Links to see all the links created on the server. Clicking on a link will redirect you to a page containing all the link informations.

Link details page

On the top of the page, you can see various information about the link, like the app, the expire date, the status and some other app settings. You can edit and delete the link with the buttons on top.

The Stats section shows how much instances were started with this link. You can edit the date range on the right and click on Update graph to update the chart. Download as CSV will download the current date range data as CSV format to import in Excel or other softwares.

Finally, the History section shows every changes made to the link.