Enter

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Published on %17. %b. %2011
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The Enter command allows you to connect to your pod and take a lab on real equipment. If you reach this page 15 minutes or less before the lab starts, you will see a clock on the upper left that counts down to the lab start time. During the last 7-9 minutes of this countdown, the equipment is being set up for the lab that has been reserved. Once the countdown is over, the equipment is ready for that lab. A countdown of your remaining time to actually perform the lab then starts.

The clock time is listed using the web server's local time and is regularly updated via NTP so as to be very accurate.

Pod Actions

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On the Lab Session page, you will see several device links below the clock. You can click the pod link and see several actions:

  • Reset To... - offers to reset your equipment to the start state (preconfiguration) of any lab supported by the and for which you have usage privileges. You may also specify that a compatible saved configuration be restored during the reset operation. If you use the "Change Doc" button rather than the "Reset" button, it will change the lab document without performing any reset.
    Important Note: If you reset the equipment, you will be prevented from using the system for a period of several minutes, since the reset requires total control of the equipment during that time.
  • Topology - connect to your pod topology diagram to do the lab
  • Setup Results - allows you to see the results of all the setup activity for this reservation (scheduled setup at the beginning, plus all resets.)
  • Save config (some courses) - saves the configuration of all relevant devices. You can use the configurations link (near the bottom left) to look at these configurations and copy them to your workstation, and Reset to... link to restore them.
    Important notes:
    • Save config copies the existing configuration to non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) and captures a copy of that. So when you use Save config, you are also updating all devices' NVRAM with their running configurations.
    • You cannot restore a configuration to a different type of pod, nor a pod with a different pod number, than the one on which you saved it.

Scheduling a Lab

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Published on %19. %b. %2011
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The Lab interface offers two ways of setting up a lab reservation.  Usually you can do a lab "on the fly" without needing a prior reservation, but if most pods are reserved, it may be beneficial to make an advanced reservation.

The Schedule command shows you reservations you already have and allows you to reschedule them or schedule new ones. If there are no future or in-progress reservations, you will immediately see the scheduling page.

The Enter command allows you to begin performing the lab exercise. You are allowed to enter a waiting page starting 15 minutes before the lab. This page will display a server clock using the local time of the server, and a countdown clock. Once the lab starts, the page will change to provide access to the equipment.  During the lab, you can refer back to the lab document from the lab session page. You are given warnings at the 5- and 1-minute marks before the end of the lab session. Most labs permit approximately one hour, minus setup time, to complete the lab.

 

Connecting to a Character Device

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When you click a network device on the topology diagram, you will go straight to a a telnet session connecting you to the device.

Once the telnet session starts, an access server may present you with a password prompt. Enter the same password that you used to log into the lab system. You should see an acknowledgement saying "Password OK" or "Console Active. Press enter to see prompt." When you see either message, you are now allowed to use the device console, but you must hit the <Enter> key again to get the device to prompt you.

Depending on the lab exercise, you are likely to get another password prompt at this point. If you do, it will not be your lab system password, because you are no longer being prompted by the access server, but rather, by the actual network device. The lab instructions should tell you what the passwords will be for network devices.

Important Note: in a very small number of cases, the lab exercise purposely leaves the device powered down and you will therefore get no response on the console until you turn its power on. Sometimes, the device configuration is blank and you are prompted about entering the system configuration dialog. Please read the lab instructions carefully to see what state the device is expected to be in, before using the device.

Notes on Special Keystrokes Break sequences are occasionally required, e.g., for password recovery on a router.  To do this, click the "Send break" button on the device tab.

Acknowledgements Live labs use the Java Telnet applet, Copyright © 1996 - 2005 Matthias L. Jugel, Marcus Meissner. Java Telnet sessions are redirected to their final target system using software based on the mrelayd program Copyright © 1996, 1997 Marcus Meissner.

Selecting a Lab

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Clicking Labs makes a list of labs appear on the right. These are labs you or an administrator have added, for active use, and they are ready to be viewed or reserved. When you click a lab title, that lab is the one that will be viewed via the View command, reserved up to two days in advance via the Schedule command or taken ad-hoc via the Enter command.

Unless you are in a reservation, lab selection is where you go when you first log in. It is also the action of Labs and Labs > Work with labs on the horizontal menu bar.

At the bottom of the lab list, there may be a link called Add labs. This link brings up a list of labs you are allowed to work with, but which you have not yet added for use. It costs lab credit to add the lab and view it, but that cost also pays for the first reservation with that lab. So you may wish to add only labs you know you intend to perform on the lab equipment in the future. This is especially true if you have been allowed more labs than you have credit for, or if you wish to have the option of repeating some of them rather than viewing the most labs possible.

If you do not see the Add labs link, it means either you have no labs at all, and none to choose from, or that you have already added all the labs for which you have the option.

NOTE: Your credit balance will not show credit that is invested in the first reservation for each of your labs. For example, if you add "CCNA Bootcamp (v2.3) LG09: Using CDP", your credit balance will go down by one, but it will not decrease again when you take that lab for the first time. But if you make a second reservation for that lab, credit will be deducted again at that time.