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This page offers students a step-by-step look at what a vLab Exercise
is, and what
basic tasks are involved with taking a lab.
Access to this feature may not be part of your subscription. If you cannot see this feature on the site, ask your administrator about feature availability.
You may find it useful to print out this overview.
There is also a list of vLab Exercises
Frequently Asked Questions
available to help you get started with your lab and address some initial questions you may have.
An expanded FAQ list is offered
once you are in the lab. Please note that vLab Exercises cannot be accessed with a Gateway.net or AOL browser. These browsers
use a
modified version of Internet Explorer in addition to restricting services on various ports.
Students using modified browsers should run
Internet Explorer or
Netscape Navigator to access our training site and take a lab.
This would also hold true for @Home and RoadRunner or
any other ISP that uses a customized browser.
What is vLab technology?
1. Selecting a vLab Exercise
2. Accessing your vLab
account
3. vLab Locker and Folder
4. Taking a vLab Exercise
5. Completing and archiving a vLab
6. vLab Exercise Guarantee
What is vLab technology?
vLab technology is live, hands-on experience with real equipment. It's not a simulation or a computer-based training program. Different labs provide an experience similar to working with networking technologies, such as a Cisco-powered production network or a Microsoft network infrastructure.
If you are currently enrolled in the Computer Professional, Hardware and Networking Operating System or MCSE library, you have the ability to enhance your subscription with 14 pre-selected labs to provide a broad-based exposure on the subject matter and to lay the foundation of fundamental knowledge needed for Microsoft Windows 2000 Server. This "Starter Pack" is available for purchase in the Store or through your Training Administrator.
You can access your vLab sessions by clicking the vLab Exercises link on your My Courses page.
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1. Selecting a Lab
vLab Exercises are available to all students through the Store. To purchase a vLab Exercise:
- Go to the Store section of the site.
- On the Store departments page, select Internetworking for Cisco labs or Networking for Microsoft.
- Click vLab Sessions to display the vLab Sessions page. The vLab Sessions page explains system requirements and general information about vLabs Exercises.
- Choose to purchase either vLab bundles or individual vLab Sessions by clicking the appropriate link. Purchasing bundles is often more cost effective than individual sessions.
vLab bundles are pre-packaged groups of labs that correspond to many of the courses available in a given library. The vLab Session Bundles page lists the bundles of labs available to you.
- Click either the lab bundle or session title for more information. You can begin the purchasing process on either the Session Bundles or Individual vLab Sessions page. These pages feature:
- vLab Bundle or individual lab title: Click for a list of all labs contained in the
bundle or more information about individual labs.
- Type: Indicates whether the item is a bundle or individual lab.
- Price: Listed in US$.
- Add to Cart: Click this icon to select this item for purchase and continue shopping.
- Buy Now: If you are finished shopping, click this icon to proceed to the checkout.
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2. Accessing your vLab account
Click the vLab Exercises
link on the My Courses page to access the vLab training site. The vLab Locker page will then display all the labs you've
purchased. Please note that it may take a
few minutes for your account to reflect your updated purchase information.
To Take a Lab:
- In order to access a lab, you must be able to telnet successfully to the vLab system hardware from your current location. Your telnet access may be restricted. This restriction is likely a result of your organization’s network security policy, or the use of a modified browser like AOL. Please refer to Additional Reference Information for hardware/software requirements and
browser information.
- Contact your network administrator to confirm that your telnet access is restricted. If access is restricted, ask your network administrator what telnet access options can be made available to you. For example, you can access the vLab system through a commercial ISP account.
- AOL and Gateway.net users should use either Internet Explorer (IE) (v4.0 or higher) or Netscape Navigator (v4.0 or higher) browsers to operate within the vLab system.
Notes:
- Before you schedule a lab, select the button under Preview, next to the lab, and read the scenario carefully to ensure the lab meets your expectations. For more information see vLab Locker and Folder below.
- Since our vLab training site exists separately from the student site, you may occasionally experience some connection or timeout issues. Do not attempt to debug if prompted.
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3. vLab Locker and Folder
The Locker page is your home base for vLab training. It provides a container for the vLab exercises that you've purchased. You'll find a list of labs you've purchased, completed, and archived. The Purchased section displays all upcoming and current labs. Completed and Archived sections only display after you've completed or archived a lab.
Each lab listed in your locker displays the lab ID, the Lab Title, the Status of the lab, and Next Steps. The Status field displays the most recent activity on a given lab (i.e. when it was scheduled, completed etc). You can perform a variety of "next step" tasks from the Locker page, such as scheduling your lab, previewing the lab, accessing your lab plan, starting your lab, answering debriefing questions, and archiving labs. Certain tasks must be accomplished before others, especially scheduling. All available "next step" tasks are described below. Next step options are found to the right of the status.
Using Next Steps
Under Next Steps, a series of buttons appears. A green check mark represents a step you've already completed. For example, if you've just scheduled a lab, a check mark appears on the Schedule button next to that lab. An "x" appears when the step does not apply to that particular lab.
- Schedule: Select a time to take your lab. See Scheduling a vLab Exercise in the vLab FAQ page for more information.
- Preview: Here you'll get to see the story and learn the starting network layout. This can be done prior to your lab time starting.
- Plan: Plan the execution of your lab by answering questions that help you start thinking about the lab and how to approach it. You can create a plan before you start a lab and save it for future reference.
- Start: To start your lab, your scheduled lab time needs to have started.
- Debrief: When you complete your lab or its time expires, you can choose to answer a set of debriefing questions about your lab experience.
- Archive: When all steps of a lab are complete, you can move the lab results into the archive section of your locker. You can refer back to your archived labs at any time.
Managing Locker Views
You can limit the listing of labs and rearrange their order using:
- Show Only: This option limits the list of labs to only those that meet the criteria you select in the drop-down box.
- Sort by: Indicates the order you want the labs listed.
vLab Folder
There's a separate Lab Folder for each lab, which contains a summary of the lab. It also includes tips and links to reference information that can help you determine the correct approach for solving a lab.
- To access the Lab Folder for a specific lab, from the Lab Locker, click the lab ID number link.
- Along with the lab summary and mentoring information, you'll see a history for the lab. This tracks the history of the different tasks that are performed on the lab.
- In the Notes box, type brief notes about the lab that may be helpful to you. When you're finished click Save.
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4. Taking a Lab
vLab exercises typically last one hour. To take a lab, follow the progression of next steps. Remember, it's especially important to schedule a lab prior to taking it. For more information on Next Steps see Lab Locker and Folder above.
Once you've completed all of the necessary next steps for the lab, click Start for the lab. The Start Lab Confirmation page displays with these options.
- Start Preparing for this Lab: The system will check for available resources and start preparing your lab immediately if resources exist.
- Cancel: Go to your vLab Locker to view all your labs.
- Cancel: Go to your vLab Folder for this lab.
During the lab, you may choose from the following options:
- Lab Summary: An overview of the lab including information such as technology, skills, level of difficulty and more.
- Scenario: Each lab has a story, and you are given an assignment to create or fix the network within that story. Each lab is different. You'll have the opportunity to learn router configuration skills and practice those skills in different situations.
- View Plan:> Planning how to handle a network configuration or troubleshooting task is important in an operational network. To help you think through the process, answer the questions under View Plan. You'll find that taking the time to think about the scenario and what you have to do will help you be more successful in completing the lab within the allotted time.
- Suggested Approach: Obviously, the best solution is one that you work out for yourself. But sometimes it's useful to have some suggestions about how to tackle the assignment. This item shows you some high-level steps that should get you started.
- Sample Solution: In those cases where you get stuck, we provide a sample solution. The solution we provide is not necessarily the only solution to the assignment. You may think of other approaches that arrive at the same solution. Each solution is organized into Tasks. Each Task is reduced to a set of Steps, and each Step is composed of an Action, Result, and Explanation.
- Check Results: Even if you've done the lab without referring to the Suggested Approach or the Sample Solution, you'll likely want to know if you've done it correctly. Selecting Check Results shows you the final configurations of the devices had you followed the Sample Solution.
- Load: Loads the saved configuration into one or all devices. You can load the initial configuration or your previously saved configuration. If you have not previously saved a configuration, only the initial configuration is available. You can only load a configuration that was saved while in this lab.
- Save: Saves the configuration of one or all devices. Only one configuration can be saved per lab.
- CycleBreak: If a device becomes wedged and you need to unlock it, use CycleBreak. This will leave the device in a known state, typically in the low-level monitor. From this state, you can reboot the device. If you don't know how to reboot a device once it's in this state, use the Load function to load a known configuration into it.
- Quit Lab: This link exits the lab, takes you back to your locker, and marks the lab completed.
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5. Completing and archiving a vLab
If you finish your lab or want to end your telnet session, select Quit Lab.
After a lab is completed, it will appear in the Completed section. You can use the Archive feature to catalog old labs and resume incomplete labs where you left off. Even if you run a lab and never initiate any saves during the course of that lab, the system will automatically save your configurations when the lab is complete or runs out of time. When the lab is finished or runs out of time, it moves from the Purchased section of your locker to the Completed section.
Labs are not archived automatically. To archive a lab, click the Archive button next to the completed lab on the vLab Locker page. The Locker Archive page displays. The archived lab is no longer displayed on the vLab Locker page, however, an Archive link displays. Select the Archive link to view archived labs.
To archive, select the Archive button. This will move the lab from Completed to Archived. If you didn't have time to complete the lab, you could then re-purchase the lab (giving yourself another full clock) and copy/paste the saved configurations from your Archive into the device configurations of the new instance of the lab. In this way, you're able to pick up where you left off.
Lab Transcript
When you've finished a vLab exercise, your transcript will be updated. To locate your transcript, select the Transcript link from the My Courses page.
The following information displays:
- Title: Select the title to link to the vLab exercise description.
- Date: Indicates the dates you accessed the lab.
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6. Guarantee/Terms and Conditions of vLabs Session purchases and usage
Because vLab Exercises involve the operation of a telnet session in addition to a web browser session, they are
more complicated to set up and execute than an online course. As a result, we offer a satisfaction
guarantee. If you are unable to complete a vLab session due to a technical problem you will be given a free vLab session to replace it. If you are
dissatisfied with a vLab session, you may contact Customer Support so
we can address the issue or enter a replacement lab in your vLab Locker.
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