Virtual Labs - Student Handbook

Owned by Tim Scott, created
Last updated: Mar 30, 2023
4 min read

You may hear this system referred to as Virtual Labs, Online Labs, vLabs, VMs, Virtual Machines or Proxmox.

This handbook is intended to guide you through the process of logging into and using your Virtual Labs in a way that offers the best experience possible. Much of what you see here will be step by step, but will also include some suggestions that you can use to help navigate best through the environment.

 Logging In

You will receive or have already received an email with some important information included. This email comes from help desk and may have been how you landed on this page. This email contains lots of valuable information for you to use when accessing the Virtual Labs platform.

  1. In the email you received there will be a link for you to use to access your Virtual Lab environment. Click to open or copy this link into a modern web browser.
    This may be the same as other classmates but also may be different. This is OK, but it is important for you to use the one you are provided for that specific module. It may change if you use virtual labs for more than one resource throughout your time with the college.

  2. You will be prompted to login.

    1. Enter your username, which is the first part of your email address (all lower case) before the @ sign.

    2. Enter your password. This is the same password you use to login to your email, Microsoft Teams, Student Web, etc.

    3. Select your Realm from the drop down.

      1. For students with an @triosstudent.com email address, select triOS College Students.

      2. For students with an @easternstudent.ca email address, select Eastern College Students.

  3. Click Login

 The Interface

As a student logging in, you will only have access to labs that are specifically assigned to you. You do not have access to other student labs and they do not have access to yours. You instructor though, does have access to your labs using their login.

Once you login, you will see an interface that looks very similar to the below screen shot. Steps below will help you customize your environment so that you can better view your labs. First an overview of the interface itself and it’s different sections.

  1. View Drop Down - Adjusts the View of the Navigation Pane.

  2. Navigation Pane - Allows you to navigate between your different labs.

  3. Master Search Box - Power Search with Hints (Not very useful as a student where you have limited assignments).

  4. User Account Menu - Drop down menu with options for your user account

  5. View Pane - View of the Available and accessible resources.

  6. View Search Box - Search Box for the context of the View Pane.

  7. Log Pane - Log information of all contextually available resources.

  8. Hide Log Pane - Minimize the Log pane for a larger view.

 Recommended Interface adjustments

You can make changes to the view and to the interface that stay persistent between your logins on the same computer.

  1. Change the view drop down (1) to Pool View as it offers the best view for your student experience, and only shows the Lab Machine that is assigned to you without any extras.

  2. Minimize the logs by pressing the arrow above the log pane (8).

  3. Shrink the size of the View Pane by placing your mouse between sections 2 and 5 and dragging the divider to the left side of the screen.

When all is said and done, it should look something like this:

 The View Pane

In the view pane, when set to pool view, it will look much like this. You will see your assigned Lab Environment and be able to interact with it.

By double clicking you can open a Console (Monitor) in a new Window.

By Right Clicking on it, you can start and stop it, and open a Console in a New Window.

By Left Clicking on it to highlight it, it will open additional details in the information pane, as shown in the screen shot below.

 The Console

The console is where you interact with the Lab itself. When you Start the Lab (clicking the start button at the top in section 2, or right clicking on the Entry in the View Pane and clicking start) you will be presented with the Desktop of a Windows computer for you to interact with and complete your assignments.

  1. Options Menu - Summary and Console are the two important ones only.

  2. Header Bar - Power Options for the lab environment.

  3. NoVNC Controls - Options such as full screen and Power options. This is gone over in full detail here.

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