Accessing vcloud Director The DSU IA lab uses vcloud for creating hands on labs with virtual machines. vcloud Director can be accessed from both on campus and off campus, there are no location restrictions. Windows, Linux, and Mac are all supported, however Mac users cannot use Safari. Firefox works best for all operating systems, Chrome does work, but keyboard shortcuts may have problems. Contents Logging In... 2 Checking out a vapp (Lab)... 3 Using your VM... 5 Using vapps in vcloud Director... 5 Virtual Machines Tab... 6 vapp Diagram Tab... 6 Networking Tab... 7 FAQ s... 8 I m using Internet Explorer 10. The site says my browser is incompatible.... 8 What s the best browser to use?... 8 I m using a Mac and it tells me my browser is unsupported!... 8 I get the message Power on VM VM Name to interact with it.... 8 Last Edit: 27 August 2015
Logging In To log in, browse to the website. For the learn environment (where you d do labs for a class you re enrolled in) visit http://learn.ialab.us To work on your own projects, visit http://projects.ialab.us. For some CSC classes, visit http://cs.ialab.us From here, log in with the username and password you d normally use to log into your DSU email. Special Notes: If you receive Authentication Error Make sure that you have access (ie: you ll receive this error logging into the Learn environment if you re not in any classes). Make sure you re using your DSU username to log in (ex: use jjsmith as your username, not john.smith@trojans.dsu.edu) See the next section.
Checking out a vapp (Lab) Checking out a lab will give you an exact copy of the virtual machines needed to complete your lab. This may have already been done for you automatically! Once logged into vcloud Director: 1. From the Home tab, click the Add vapp from Catalog button a. If you re in the My Cloud tab, simply click the green plus 2. The Add vapp from Catalog wizard opens. To add a lab for class, make sure that the Look In drop down reads My Organization s Catalogs and All Templates is selected. 3. Select the lab you wish to check out and click Next. 4. The next screen will allow minor customizations to your vapp. a. Give your vapp a unique name, such as YourLastName_Lab01. The default must be changed. b. Leases: i. Runtime Lease: The runtime lease states how long your virtual machines will be allowed to run before they are suspended. Suspending the VMs allows the resources to be used by other machines. Suspending will stop any activity you have going on in your machine, but it will NOT reset (or power cycle) your VM. The maximum value is 3 hours. ii. Storage lease: The storage lease states how long your VM may be left unattended before being deleted automatically. The maximum value is 30 days.
c. Once you have customized your settings, click Finish. 5. Your vapp will be checked out and ready soon after clicking Finish..
Using your VM Your virtual machine s console is where you ll probably do the most of your work. From this window, you can: Power on your virtual machine (if it is off) Suspend (hibernate) your virtual machine Power off your virtual machine Reset, or power cycle your VM. This does NOT reset your VM to its initial state. This button allows you to mount a virtual CD. If you need to insert a virtual CD, see the section describing the Virtual Machines Tab. Insert a virtual floppy disk View your VM in full screen mode Press Control + Alt + Delete inside of your VM. Using vapps in vcloud Director This section describes basic operations once your vapp has been checked out. From the Home tab, click Open on your vapp.
Virtual Machines Tab Powering On: You may individually select a VM from inside the vapp if you wish to power on a specific VM without starting both. If you wish to power cycle to suspend the same applies. Interacting: If your machines are powered on, you may select the thumbnail under the Console heading to open and interact with your VM. You may also right click and select Popout Console. Insert a CD: To insert a virtual CD into your VM, right click on the virtual machine and select Insert CD/DVD from Catalog vapp Diagram Tab
The vapp Diagram tab shows the network configuration of your vapp. In this case, we can see that both of the virtual machines are connected to a single virtual switch called Isolate. Networking Tab The networking tab has no settings that should be modified.
FAQ s I m using Internet Explorer 10. The site says my browser is incompatible. Easy answer: use Firefox instead. Harder answer: Enable Compatibility Mode for the site. Additionally, add https://vcloud.ialab.us to your trusted sites to resolve any permission issues. Ensure your popup blocker is disabled for https://vcloud.ialab.us and ensure that you allow the plugin to operate when you try to open a VM s console. What s the best browser to use? Firefox and Chrome are the best browsers for use. Internet Explorer works, but you may run into issues or limitations. Safari is unsupported (even if you re on a Mac). I m using a Mac and it tells me my browser is unsupported! Use Firefox for Mac. I get the message Power on VM VM Name to interact with it. You ll generally get this error if you accidently click on the thumbnail of a VM that isn t powered on. It keeps telling me I need to install the plugin, but I already have! Make sure the plugin is enabled in your browser. You can usually pull this list up by typing about:plugins in the address bar. Make sure the VMware and Adobe Flash plugins are enabled.