📖 Note: This article provides information on how Participants can attempt lab parts in courses on the platform.
Starting Labs
Lab parts in course modules can be identified by the Computer icon, as shown below. Click Open to open a lab module part.
Once you have opened a lab part, you'll be able to see details about it, such as its description. By default, your lab will be in Not Started status. Each lab has a duration of 2 hours. Click Start Lab to spin up a lab instance to begin working on. Once you start your lab instance, the Lab Time Remaining timer will begin counting down from 2 hours.
Once you have started your lab, your lab will be in Ready status and the lab timer will begin countdown from 2 hours. You will be able to see one or more Virtual Machines, as shown below. You will then need to wait until the VMs turn on before you can attempt them. Click Connect to connect with a VM.
You'll also see an Extend Lab button and a Reset Lab button. These buttons will aways be present when your lab is in Ready status (and when you have time left in the Lab Time Remaining countdown timer).
Extending Labs
You can extend your lab as many times as you wish by clicking Extend Lab. Extending a lab simply resets the countdown timer for your current lab instance back to 2 hours, allowing you to continue working on your current lab instance with progress being unaffected. Although you can extend your lab infinitely, the maximum time available on the Lab Time Remaining countdown timer at any given point is 2 hours. You won't be able to stack more time on time of this maximum by extending your lab. For instance, if you extend your lab while there is 1 hour 50 minutes remaining, your lab time will be reset to 2 hours, not 3 hours 50 minutes.
If the lab countdown timer reaches 0, your lab instance will be deleted (all progress will be lost). You'll be able to restart your lab again to continue work. However, once you start your lab again, a new lab instance will be deployed with all progress being refreshed - you won't be able to recover your previous lab instance once its lab timer runs out, so please watch the timer carefully while you attempt the lab and extend your instance if required to avoid losing your progress.
Resetting Labs
If you wish to manually deploy a new lab instance for yourself (i.e. before this is automatically done when the lab timer runs out) while working on a lab (if for example, you have run into an error or simply wish to reset your lab progress), click Reset Lab. This will delete your current lab instance (and any progress along with it). Upon a brief loading period, your lab will return to Not Started status. You'll be able to start your lab again by clicking Start Lab. Once your lab has started up and is in Ready status again, you'll be able to begin working on your new lab instance.
Restarting Labs
If you would like to restart your current lab instance (rather than reset your lab to get a new lab instance), please raise a support ticket. The FifthDomain team will be able to restart your current lab instance for you.
Marking a Lab as Complete
When you’ve completed the lab, you can click Mark Complete, as shown below.
Note that after you mark a lab part as complete, you'll still be able to interact with it normally. You will still be able to start labs, extend them and reset them as you require, until your course administrator removes your access to the course.
