Manage Lab Instances

Overview

CloudLabs VM Labs allows you to oversee and control all lab instances for a given lab. Lab instances are the distributable units within CloudLabs VM Labs, created for users based on predefined lab configurations. To learn more, refer to Lab Instances.

By the end of this documentation, you should be able to:

• Deploy new lab instances.

• Start, stop, and delete lab instances.

• Manage access to the lab.

• Connect to any VM within a lab.

• Manage the lab instances in bulk.

To manage lab instances, log in to https://portal.cloudlabs.ai/, navigate to the Manage VM Labs (1) tab present in the side pane, and click on your lab (2).

An alternative way to navigate to VM lab instances is by clicking on the More Options (1) icon on the lab and selecting VM Lab Instances (2).

VM Lab Instances

The VM lab instances section provides a detailed view of all active lab instances in the lab. Each entry in this table represents a distinct instance.

1. User Email

   Displays the name of the user assigned to each lab instance. If the instance is not associated with any user, it will show as Unassigned.

   

2. State

   Indicates the current power state of the virtual machine associated with each lab instance. Using the toggle button, you can either start or stop the VM.

   The following table describes each instance state and indicates whether that state is billed for VM usage.

   

   Power State	Description	Billing
   Creating	Virtual machine resources are allocated.	Not Billed
   Starting	The virtual machine is powering up.	Billed
   Running	The virtual machine is fully up. This state is the standard working state.	Billed
   Stopping	This state is transitional between currently running and is stopped.	Billed
   Stopped	The virtual machine is allocated on a host but not running. Also called PoweredOff state or Stopped (Allocated). This state can be a result of invoking the PowerOff API operation or invoking shutdown from within the guest OS. The stopped state might also be observed briefly during VM creation or while starting a VM from the stopped (deallocated) state.	Billed
   Deallocating	This state is transitional between Running and Deallocated.	Not Billed
   Stopped (Deallocated)	This state is similar to the Stopped State. Here, the VM is stopped from Azure rather than through the OS. The key difference here is that the non-static public IPs will be released, but you’ll also stop paying for the VM’s computing costs. This is a great way to optimize VM cost.	Not Billed

   Also, there are other options, which are discussed in the later part of this page.

3. DNS Name/IP Address

   Shows the DNS name assigned to individual lab instances.

   

4. Quota Hours Used

   It shows the total duration allotted to each lab instance and the user’s active quota usage.

   

Update VM Instance

CloudLabs VM Labs makes it super easy to control and manage individual VM instances.

1. Start or Stop Lab Instance

   Using the start or stop toggle button, you can start or stop the VM for the lab instance.

2. Redeploy a Lab Instance

   Redeploying a lab instance assigns the VM to a new Azure node. Redeploying a VM instance wipes the user data stored on the temporary disk and retains the data stored on the OS disk (C: drive).

3. Reimage a Lab Instance

   Reimaging a lab instance resets the VM and creates a new VM instance for the user. All the data on the temporary disk and OS disk will be lost, and it is irreversible.

4. Delete a Lab Instance

   Click on the delete action button to delete the lab instance. It permanently deletes the lab instance and all associated cloud resources.

   This action is irreversible, and any user data on the VM will be permanently lost.

5. Connect to a Lab Instance

There are a couple of ways to connect to any VM as an instructor/admin.

1. Using RDP Connection Information: You can get access to the connection information of any VM by using the show connection information option. Additionally, you can also download the RDP file, use the connection information, and connect to the VM instance.

   

2. Shadow VM: If Direct Web Connect was enabled while creating the lab, you can use the shadow VM feature to connect with any VM directly via the web. Just click on the Connect button and you will be navigated to a new browser tab with VM access. Refer to Direct Web Connect and Shadow VM to learn more about VM shadowing.

   

Bulk Lab Management Options

With CloudLabs VM Labs, handling multiple VM instances simultaneously becomes effortless. You can simply select several VM instances at once and carry out your desired actions smoothly.

1. Manage Lab Access

   The Lab Access button allows you to control the user access over the VM instances. With the Lab Access button toggled off, users won’t be able to connect to the VM or start/stop the VM, and vice versa. Admin will have to start/stop the VM in this case.

2. Deploy Lab Instances

   Lab instances are typically deployed on-demand, which means they are set up to deploy when a user launches their VM instance, which can take a few minutes. To reduce this wait time, you can pre-deploy lab instances. This proactive step ensures that instances are ready for immediate use, eliminating the initial deployment delay.

   
   Steps:-

   1. Click the Provision button on the VM Lab Instances page.

      

   2. In the pop-up window, enter the desired number of lab instances (1) to deploy.

   3. Click on Provision (2) to initiate the lab VM deployment.

      

        To learn more, refer to Hot Instances.

   NOTE:

   The lifetime of an unassigned VM instance is 24 hours. After this period, any unassigned instances will be automatically deleted.

3. Manage actions on Lab VMs
   These options allow simultaneously controlling the operational state of all VMs within the lab.

   1. Use the Start/Stop VM (1) action button located on the VM Lab Instances page. Click on the Start button to activate all VMs or the Stop button to deactivate them.

   2. Use the Reimage/Redeploy VM (2) action button to reimage and redeploy multiple VM instances at once.

      NOTE:

      When reimaging a deployment, the quota will also be reset. For example, if the quota is set to 1 hour and you reimage the deployment after 30 minutes(0.5/1), the quota will reset from the beginning, Not from 30 minutes(0.5/1).

      When redeploying a deployment, the quota will not be reset. For example, if the quota is set to 1 hour and you redeploy after 30 minutes (0.5/1), the quota will continue from the 30-minutes(0.5/1) mark, not reset to 1 hour.

   3. Use the Delete (3) button to bulk delete the selected lab instances.

      

4. Export lab instance data

   You can also export the data under the lab instance by clicking the More Options (1) tab on the VM Lab Instances page and then selecting Export to CSV (2).

   

Next Steps

In this article, you learned how to manage VM lab instances using different available actions.

• Add and Manage Lab users

• Template VM and Image Customisation

• General Lab Settings