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Orientation to the Classroom Environment

Figure 0.1: Classroom environment

In this classroom environment, your primary system for hands-on activities is workstation. The workstation virtual machine (VM) is the only system with a graphical desktop, which is required for using a browser to access web-based tools. Always log in directly to workstation first. From workstation, use ssh for command-line access to all other VMs.

Additional student VMs for hands-on exercises include servera and serverb. All of these systems are in the lab.example.com DNS domain.

The utility system hosts an IdM server with a .com realm.

All student computer systems have a standard student user account with a student password. The root password on all student systems is redhat.

As seen in SectionFigure 0.1: Classroom environment, all VMs share an external network, 172.25.250.0/24, with a gateway of 172.25.250.254 (bastion).

Table 1. Classroom Machines

Machine nameIP addressesRole
bastion.lab.example.com172.25.250.254Router to link VMs to central servers
workstation.lab.example.com172.25.250.9Graphical workstation for system administration
servera.lab.example.com172.25.250.10Managed server "A"
serverb.lab.example.com172.25.250.11Managed server "B"
classroom.lab.example.com172.25.254.254The classroom materials and content
utility.lab.example.com172.25.250.17Support services such as DNS and container registry

The primary function of bastion is to act as a router between the student systems network and the classroom network. If bastion is down, then student machines can access only systems on the individual student network.

Several systems in the classroom provide supporting services. Two server URLs, content.example.com and materials.example.com, provide software and lab materials for the hands-on activities, as described in the activity's instructions. These URLs are aliases of the classroom.example.com server. Both the classroom and bastion systems must remain running for the course environment to work properly.

Controlling Your Systems

You are assigned remote computers in a Red Hat Online Learning (ROLE) classroom. Self-paced courses are accessed through a web application that is hosted at . Log in to this site with your Red Hat Customer Portal user credentials.

Controlling the Virtual Machines

The virtual machines in your classroom environment are controlled through web page interface controls. The state of each classroom virtual machine is displayed on the Lab Environment tab.

Figure 0.2: An example course Lab Environment management page

Table 2. Machine States

Virtual machine stateDescription
buildingThe virtual machine is being created.
activeThe virtual machine is running and available. If it just started, it still might be starting services.
stoppedThe virtual machine is shut down. On starting, the virtual machine boots into the same state that it was in before shutdown. The disk state is preserved.

Table 3. Classroom Actions

Button or actionDescription
CREATE Create the ROLE classroom. Creates and starts all the virtual machines that are needed for this classroom.
CREATING The ROLE classroom virtual machines are being created. Creation can take several minutes to complete.
DELETE Delete the ROLE classroom. Destroys all virtual machines in the classroom. All saved work on those systems' disks is lost.
START Start all virtual machines in the classroom.
STARTING All virtual machines in the classroom are starting.
STOP Stop all virtual machines in the classroom.

Table 4. Machine Actions

Button or actionDescription
OPEN CONSOLE Connect to the system console of the virtual machine in a new browser tab. You can log in directly to the virtual machine and run commands, when required. Normally, log in to the workstation virtual machine only, and from there, use ssh to connect to the other virtual machines.
ACTIONStart Start (power on) the virtual machine.
ACTIONShutdown Gracefully shut down the virtual machine, preserving disk contents.
ACTIONPower Off Forcefully shut down the virtual machine, while still preserving disk contents. This action is equivalent to removing the power from a physical machine.
ACTIONReset Forcefully shut down the virtual machine and reset associated storage to its initial state. All saved work on that system's disks is lost.

At the start of an exercise, if instructed to reset a single virtual machine node, click ACTIONReset for only that specific virtual machine.

At the start of an exercise, if instructed to reset all virtual machines, click ACTIONReset on every virtual machine in the list.

If you want to return the classroom environment to its original state at the start of the course, then click DELETE to remove the entire classroom environment. After the lab is deleted, then click CREATE to provision a new set of classroom systems.

Warning

The DELETE operation cannot be undone. All completed work in the classroom environment is lost.

The Auto-stop and Auto-destroy Timers

The Red Hat Online Learning enrollment entitles you to a set allotment of computer time. To help to conserve your allotted time, the ROLE classroom uses timers, which shut down or delete the classroom environment when the appropriate timer expires.

To adjust the timers, locate the two + buttons at the bottom of the course management page. Click the auto-stop + button to add another hour to the auto-stop timer. Click the auto-destroy + button to add another day to the auto-destroy timer. Auto-stop has a maximum of 11 hours, and auto-destroy has a maximum of 14 days. Be careful to keep the timers set while you are working, so that your environment is not unexpectedly shut down. Be careful not to set the timers unnecessarily high, which could waste your subscription time allotment.

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