diff --git a/cookbook/virtual-machines/idc-desktop.md b/cookbook/virtual-machines/idc-desktop.md
index 7c0d027..508d318 100644
--- a/cookbook/virtual-machines/idc-desktop.md
+++ b/cookbook/virtual-machines/idc-desktop.md
@@ -12,12 +12,18 @@ The instructions here are just a starting point. There are many cloud options av
 In order to follow these instructions, you will need to have a project that has billing enabled. Please follow the instructions in [getting-started-with-gcp.md](../../introduction/google-cloud-platform/getting-started-with-gcp.md "mention") to set up billing.
 {% endhint %}
 
+Note that the disk images are based on Ubuntu 20.04 and are not regularly patched, so updating the OS right after booting is suggested.
+
+If you run into an error updating the OS you may need to update the keys with this command: `sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com B53DC80D13EDEF05`.
+
 ## With a GPU
 
-You can launch a VM with a GPU in your project with a command like this in your local terminal (replace `vm-name` with a name for your machine):
+You can launch a VM with a GPU in your project with a command like this in your local terminal (e.g. replace `vm-name` with a name for your machine):
 
 ```
 export VMNAME=vm-name
+export PROJECT=project-name
+export ZONE="us-east1-a"
 gcloud compute instances create ${VMNAME} \
   --machine-type=n1-standard-8 \
   --accelerator=type=nvidia-tesla-k80,count=1 \
@@ -25,7 +31,9 @@ gcloud compute instances create ${VMNAME} \
   --image-project=idc-sandbox-000 \
   --boot-disk-size=200GB \
   --boot-disk-type=pd-balanced \
-  --maintenance-policy=TERMINATE
+  --maintenance-policy=TERMINATE \
+  --zone=${ZONE} \
+  --project=${PROJECT}
 ```
 
 Once it boots in about 90 seconds you can type:
@@ -57,7 +65,7 @@ Once it boots in about 90 seconds you can type:
 gcloud compute ssh ${VMNAME} -- -L 6080:localhost:6080
 ```
 
-On the remote machine run:
+On the remote machine run these commands once (first time you boot):
 
 ```
 # these are on-time installs
@@ -66,7 +74,7 @@ sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get -y install tigervnc-standalone-server websockify
 ```
 
-Each time you reboot the machine, run this:
+Then run these commands, which will also need to be rerun every time you reboot the machine:
 
 ```
 vncserver -xstartup xfce4-session 
@@ -77,6 +85,8 @@ nohup websockify --web /opt/novnc/noVNC/ 6080 localhost:5901 &
 
 Then you can open [http://localhost:6080/vnc.html?autoconnect=true](http://localhost:6080/vnc.html?autoconnect=true) to get to your desktop.
 
+Note that when you log out from your ssh session in your local terminal you may need to type Control-C if the VCN session is still connected via the tunnel.
+
 ## Note
 
 This effort is a work in progress with a minimal desktop environment. Further refinement is expected and community contributions would be welcome! A description of the background and possible evolution of this work is [in this document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jfHqjS7Fer7Lhqea5bjyown0b04AsqeOhIBY2gWUDO4/edit).