USER REFERENCE GUIDE

VMware Learning Platform User Reference Guide

Contents
About This Document .................................................................................................................................... 4
Audience ................................................................................................................................................... 4
Overview of VMware® Learning Platform™ ................................................................................................. 5
Known Issues/Non-supported Functionality ............................................................................................. 5
Tenants ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Accessing VMware Learning Platform ...................................................................................................... 5
Supported Browsers and Environments ................................................................................................... 5
Support for Mobile Devices ...................................................................................................................... 6
VMware Learning Platform End Users ..................................................................................................... 6
VMware Learning Platform Roadmap ...................................................................................................... 7
Using the Lab Status and Lab Action Options ............................................................................................ 10
Lab Details .............................................................................................................................................. 10
Enroll/Enrolled ........................................................................................................................................ 10
Resume This Lab .................................................................................................................................... 11
Using the Console Walk-Through ............................................................................................................... 12
Using the Toolbar ........................................................................................................................................ 13
Help......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Privacy .................................................................................................................................................... 13
My Profile ................................................................................................................................................ 13
General Page ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Contact Information ............................................................................................................................ 14
Preferences (Language and Time Zone) ........................................................................................... 14
About (Bio) .......................................................................................................................................... 15
Password ............................................................................................................................................ 15
Security Questions ............................................................................................................................. 16
Social .................................................................................................................................................. 16
Log Out ................................................................................................................................................... 17
Change Language .................................................................................................................................. 17
Using the Screen Display Options .............................................................................................................. 18
Using the Lab Console Options .................................................................................................................. 19
Using the Lab Options ................................................................................................................................. 20
About Grading ......................................................................................................................................... 21
Using the Lab Manual ................................................................................................................................. 22
General Options ...................................................................................................................................... 22
Drag/Drop Option .................................................................................................................................... 23
Taking an Instructor-Led Lab ...................................................................................................................... 24
Classes ................................................................................................................................................... 24
Impact on Lab Console ........................................................................................................................... 24

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Additional Features ..................................................................................................................................... 25

Detection of Closed Browser .................................................................................................................. 25
Detection of Inactive Browser ................................................................................................................. 25
Lab Time Running Out ............................................................................................................................ 25
Browser Screen Saver ............................................................................................................................ 25
Public browsing of Catalog ..................................................................................................................... 25
Email Transcript ...................................................................................................................................... 25
Appendix A: Internal VMware Learning Platform Users ............................................................................. 26

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 VMware Learning Platform User Reference Guide

About This Document

This guide describes the VMware® Learning Platform™ self-education lab and course
management tool. This guide describes how to access labs available to you, run them, keep track
of them, and customize your experience.

Audience
The primary audience for this guide is VMware® Learning Platform™ end-users who intend to
take an instructional lab.

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Overview of VMware® Learning Platform™

VMware® Learning Platform™ is a complete learning environment that integrates instructional
materials, rich VM (virtual machine) labs, video, social media and more. VMware Learning
Platform is cloud-based, and its content management tool includes features to run and track
training labs and courses. VMware Learning Platform allows you to:
• Run, pause and resume training labs in which you interact with simulated environments,
such as virtualized desktop environments, or enterprise applications
• Track the training labs and courses in which you have enrolled
• View a transcript that shows training labs and courses you have completed
• View a catalog of all available VMware training labs and courses (the catalog is not
available to all users)

Known Issues/Non-supported Functionality

The following are known issues or are functionality not implemented fully at this time:
• Linux media ejection is supported. However, your screen may pause for a few seconds.
• Printing is not supported.
• Foreign keyboards are not supported at this time.

Tenants
A “tenant” is a company or institution (or a department within a company or institution) that has
purchased access to VMware Learning Platform. The VMware Learning Platform technical staff
provisions your tenant(s) based upon information provided by your organization.

Accessing VMware Learning Platform

You access VMware Learning Platform through a browser. You must have valid credentials
from your tenant administrator in order to log in.
Note: Passwords are case-sensitive.

Supported Browsers and Environments

The following desktop browsers are supported:
• Internet Explorer version 10 and above
• Firefox version 13 or above
• Chrome version 18 or above
• Safari version 6.0 or above
Note: Your browser settings should accept cookies, run JavaScript and allow web sockets.

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Support for Mobile Devices

VMware Learning Platform supports mobile devices for split screen functionality such that the
lab’s instructional manual appears on the mobile device while the lab console appears on a
desktop or laptop. VMware Learning Platform does not support the console of the virtual
machine on the mobile device.

The split screen feature allows you to go full screen with the console of the lab and have the
manual for the lab displaying on another desktop screen or on their iPad an example of which is
shown in the following example:

VMware Learning Platform End Users

VMware Learning Platform users are either internal VMware users or external users:
• External Users: Includes VMware Learning Platform users who are independent from
VMware. As an independent VMware Learning Platform user, you access VMware
Learning Platform directly through a browser.
• Internal Users: Includes myLearn Users and VMware Customer Labs (vCL) users.

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VMware Learning Platform Roadmap

As a VMware Learning Platform end-user, you typically will be following this roadmap:

1. Access VMware Learning Platform through your browser and authenticate yourself using
credentials sent to you by your tenant administrator.
Result: VMware Learning Platform displays your Tenant page which will look similar to
the following example:

The Tenant page is comprised of three tabs:

• Left tab includes three options (Enrollments, Labs and Transcript).

• Depending upon which option you click in the left tab, the right tab will display
either labs in which you are already enrolled (Enrollments option), all labs (Labs
option) or a list of labs you have completed (Transcript option). Included in the
list of labs you have completed are the Email Full Transcript and the All Tenants
option. Email Full Transcripts sends you an email with a PDF attachment of the
lab transcripts. All Tenants tells the system to include lab transcripts from
deleted tenants in the list of labs you have completed.

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• Announcements/Offers tab: Displays announcements, offers and social media.

2. Select a lab in which to enroll (click Enroll) or resume a lab you had left (click
Enrolled).
Result: VMware Learning Platform loads the lab you selected.
Note 1: You can conduct a search for a lab by entering the title of a lab in the search box
or by entering a keyword. For example, you could enter “Introduction” to list all labs in
the current catalog that include the word “Introduction” in their tittles.

Note 2: VMware Learning Platform includes a prepopulate feature (prepop) that deploys
an instance of a lab ahead of a user’s demand and leaves it running. Thus, when you
request an instance of pre-popped lab, VMware Learning Platform can connect you to an
already running copy in a matter of seconds and then queue up another deployment of a
pre-pop for future use. The prepop feature is configured by your tenant administrator.

Lab Loading Result: Once VMware Learning Platform is done loading the lab, it
displays a lab console similar to the following example:

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3. (Optional) Select a console. If the lab you started includes multiple consoles, then
VMware Learning Platform displays the Consoles options. For example, your lab might
include a Windows console icon and a Linux (RHEL) console icon. Most labs only have
a single visible virtual machine that you interact with for the exercises, thus the console
tab will not be shown.
4. Click Start this Lab to start the lab. If you had started and then left a lab, then VMware
Learning Platform displays the Resume the lab button instead of the Start this Lab button.
When you start a lab for the first time, the system automatically launches a guided
console walk-through which you can take or decline to take.

5. Click to display the lab’s manual which contains instructions for your lab as shown
in the following example:

6. Progress through the modules of your lab and end or exit the lab as you choose. (Manuals
are typically comprised of modules which you complete sequentially.)
7. Continue enrolling in or resuming other labs as you choose.

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Using the Lab Status and Lab Action Options

Each lab listed on a tenant page includes status and action options.

Lab Details
Lab Details displays a brief description of the lab, including running time and costs.

Enroll/Enrolled
If you are not enrolled in a lab, then VMware Learning Platform displays the Enroll option. Click
it to enroll into the lab and to make it accessible from the Enrolled option in the left tab. Once
VMware Learning Platform has enrolled you in the lab, it displays the Start This Lab option.

If you are already enrolled in a lab, then VMware Learning Platform displays the Enrolled
option. Click it to have VMware Learning Platform display the Start This Lab option.

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Resume This Lab

If you had previously started a lab, then exited that lab (but not ended it) the lab before
completing it, then VMware Learning Platform displays the Resume This Lab option. Click it to
resume the lab where you had left off.

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Using the Console Walk-Through

When you start a lab for the first time, the system automatically launches a guided console walk-
through tour which you can take or decline to take.

If it is not the first time you start the lab, then the system does not automatically launch the walk-
through tour. You can click to manually launch the walk-through.

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Using the Toolbar

Help
Displays the following options:
• Live Chat: If enabled by your tenant admin, Live Chat opens a window in order to chat
with support staff.
• Raise Hand: During an event, for example VMworld, Raise Hand activates a help request
for you. A staff member will respond to your help request. The Raise Hand option is also
available during an instructor-led class. During a class, Raise Hand alerts the class
instructor that you need help. For more information about instructor-led classes, see the
section “Taking an Instructor-Led Lab” later in this document.
• Support Options: Displays and email address for support requests and a support phone
number.
• Tips: Displays tips about using the lab console.
• User Guide: Opens a pdf of the VMware Learning Platform User Reference Guide.
• About: Opens a VMware Learning Platform product information window.

Privacy
Displays the VMWare privacy policy.

My Profile
Clicking My Profile displays the Profile page. The Profile page is comprised of several sub-
pages beginning with the General page. To dismiss the Profile page, click outside the page. Make
sure that you have saved your changes before you dismiss the page.

General Page
Use the General page to choose an avatar (a picture or graphic of yourself), set your name and
display name and company information.

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Contact Information
Click Contact Information option to set your email, phone number and complete address.

Preferences (Language and Time Zone)

Click Preferences to choose what language and time zone to use. Selecting a language sets the
language of the lab console to the selected language. For example, if you select German, the
system switches the UI to German. Also, selecting a language determines the language version of
the instructional manual. For example, if you select German, the system will use the German
version of the instructional manual associated to the lab.
Note: When you switch to the language version you selected, you must end the lab and then
restart the lab.

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About (Bio)
Click About to add a short biography about yourself.

Password
Click Password to change your password.

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Security Questions
Click Security Questions to update your security questions. Security questions help validate
who you are in case you forgot your password.

Social
Click Social to log into one or all of the social media services (Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn).
Note: VMware Learning Platform will never share social media password information.

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Log Out
Clicking Log Out logs you out of the VMware Learning Platform lab console and returns you to
the login page.

Change Language
Clicking opens a pull-down from which you can select a language. The lab console language
changes to the language you select.
Note: For anonymous users (users who are not logged in and thus do not have a profile), the
default anonymous user language was set by the tenant admin. Logged-in users do have a profile.
Thus, if a logged-in user changes language, then that user’s profile is updated accordingly.

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Using the Screen Display Options

• Use to for console resizing. Console resizing is comprised of the following:
o When the end user console is docked in the center or maximized, then VMware
Learning Platform resizes it to fit into the space available in the browser.
o If the console is floated, docked-left, or docked-right, then you can resize the
console manually by clicking/dragging the handles near the edge of the console
frame.
o If the end user console is supported with vCloud Director 5.5 or greater and
VMware tools, then the guest operating system resolution will be updated to the
new console size.
o In unsupported consoles, the guest operating system resolution remains
unchanged, but the console is scaled to the browser.

• Use to magnify (full screen) your screen.

• Use to dock your screen display to the left/right.

• Use to re-establish your console connection.
Note: This option does not refresh your screen. Use this option only if your console locks
up or your connection drops.

• Use to center your screen display.

• Use to toggle between a docked or floating screen.

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Using the Lab Console Options

• Send Text: Displays the Send Text to Console window which allows you to type in text
or copy/paste text from your lab’s manual. When you click Send Text, VMware
Learning Platform sends the text you entered to your lab console. The text will appear at
your cursor location inside of your console.
Note: You can also highlight text in the lab manual then drag and drop the selected text
into your console.

• CTRL+ALT+DEL: Sends the CTRL+ALT+DEL key combination to the virtual machine

(VM). The result of sending the key combination is operation system dependent.
• Notes: Displays metadata about the lab (notes, username and password for each VM) as
configured by the tenant admin.
• Power Down: Powers down the VM for the lab you are running.
• Power Reset: Hard-reboots the machine as if the reset button on the physical hardware
had been selected. It is independent of the power options

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Using the Lab Options

• Time Remaining: Displays the amount of time remaining for you to complete your lab.
Note: Labs have two time limits: Time Remaining and Expiration Date.
Time remaining is the total amount of time that the lab can be active. The counter for
Time Remaining only changes when the lab is in use.
When the Expiration Date arrives, the lab will end even if there is allotted time still
available. For example, a lab could have been configured with a one-hour limit to do the
lab but expire in three days. Thus, the user could use the lab for up to one hour of total
time and could break up that time into smaller intervals spread out over three days. In
this example, the lab would end when the first of the time limits is reached.

• End: Displays a screen that allows you to confirm or cancel the ending of your lab. If you
confirm that you want to “end” your lab, then VMware Learning Platform will consider
you have completed the lab and returns you to the VMware Learning Platform lab
console login page. Thus, you will not be able to resume the lab. You must click Exit to
come back and resume your lab.

• Exit: Displays a screen that allows you to confirm or cancel the exiting from your lab. If
you confirm that you want to “exit” your lab, VMware Learning Platform returns you to
the lab console login page. VMware Learning Platform will recognize that you may want
to resume the lab and will provide you that option. The Exit option is displayed only if it
has been enabled by your tenant admin.

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• Extend: Allows you to extend the time remaining in your lab. The Extend option is
displayed only if it has been enabled by your tenant admin.
• Reset: If you reset a lab, all its virtual machines (VMs) will be restored to their original
state. You will not be able to recover any work you have done. The Reset option is
displayed only if it has been enabled by your tenant admin.

• Displays keyboard settings.

About Grading
If your tenant admin has configured your lab for grading, then the system displays the “Finish”
option instead of the End option.

Clicking Finish, ends the lab and submits it for grading. Grading means your work on the lab
will be reviewed for quality and completeness. Note that once you end the lab and submit it for
grading, you will not be able to return to the lab.

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Using the Lab Manual

General Options

• displays the instructional manual panel as shown in the following

example:

o Closes the panel.

o Makes the manual panel a floating window. Once you make the panel a
floating window, you can click the X to dock the panel on the previous side and
close it.

o Toggles between a left dock or right dock of the manual panel.

o Displays links to each module of the manual. Manuals are

typically comprised of modules which you complete sequentially.

o Your lab is comprised of virtual machines. If your

tenant administrator has included a network topology image in your tenant, then
your lab console will include a Network Topology option. Clicking Network
Topology displays an image that shows the network topology of the virtual
machines that comprise your lab.

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o Split Screen displays the Use a Second Screen or

Device screen which includes links to open the manual in a new window and
email a link to open the manual with another device such as an iPad or a second
window on your desktop. Thus, you can go full screen on your console and have
the lab’s manual on another desktop screen or on your iPad. VMware Learning
Platform keeps the manual steps on the second screen in sync with the main
screen. When you change to the next step on one of your screens, it changes on
your other screen. In order to get to that second screen, you can email yourself a
link, scan a QR code or copy and paste a special key

o Increases/decreases font size.

Drag/Drop Option
The Drag/Drop feature allows you to drag text from the lab’s instructional manual and drop it
into a field in the lab console. To use the Drag/Drop feature:
1. Select some text in the manual. The Grab icon appears.
2. Drop the text into the appropriate lab console.

Consider, the following example from HOL-1685 Insider Look at the Technology for how
VMware Deliver’s Hands-On Labs. In Step 3, the manual instructs the end user to “…enter
your tenant administrator credentials”. Using Drag/Drop you can simply drag
your username (admin@rainpole.local) from the manual and drop it into the username
field on the lab console and likewise, drag your password (VMware1!) and drop it into the
password field.

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Taking an Instructor-Led Lab

Classes
Your tenant admin can set up instructor-led labs by completing the following set of tasks:
1. Assign an existing user the role of “tenant instructor”. A Tenant Instructor can monitor
the progress of selected students (a “class”), taking a specified lab at a specified time
(“instructor-led lab”).
2. Create a class. A class is comprised of selected users (students) to take a specified lab, at
a specified time and to be monitored by a specified instructor.
3. Once the tenant admin sets up a class, the tenant instructor, by means of the Instructor
Console, can monitor the progress of each student in a class who has started the lab.

Impact on Lab Console

If your tenant admin has selected you to be a student within a class, you will not see anything
different when you launch the lab for that class. You simply go ahead and start the lab. Once you
launch the lab, your lab console will:
• Alert you if your lab is being monitored.
• Provide a button to send a message to the instructor console.

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Additional Features
Detection of Closed Browser
VMware Learning Platform can detect when a user has walked away from a lab. For example, if
the user shuts the lid on his/her laptop or the quits the browser without clicking the End Lab
option button, then VMware Learning Platform pauses the user’s lab and bookmarks where the
user is in the manual. When the user returns to the lab, VMware Learning Platform returns the
user back to where the user left off.

Detection of Inactive Browser

VMware Learning Platform can detect if the user has not moved the mouse or pressed a key on
their keyboard for a period of time (default is 10 minutes). If the user has left the browser
inactive, then VMware Learning Platform pauses the user’s lab and bookmarks where the user is
in the manual. When the user returns to the lab, VMware Learning Platform returns the user back
to where the user left off.

Lab Time Running Out

When the time is has nearly run out on a lab, VMware Learning Platform flashes the timer in
yellow. When the remaining lab time is extremely low, VMware Learning Platform flashes the
whole screen in red.

Browser Screen Saver

At events VMware Learning Platform utilizes a screen saver that runs in the browser and
circulates information and advertising.

Public browsing of Catalog

VMware Learning Platform allows users to browse a catalog of labs without having to log into
the interface. If a user wants to register for and take a lab, then VMware Learning Platform will
direct the user to the login page and be prompted to enter login credentials.

Email Transcript
Transcript page includes the Email Transcript option. Click Email Full Transcript if you want
to VMware Learning Platform to email your lab transcript to the email address you provided.

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Appendix A: Internal VMware Learning Platform Users

Internal VMware Learning Platform users include:
• VMware myLearn Users: Internal VMware Learning Management System. If you are a
student through VMware Education you start by choosing, or accepting, courses to which
you are directed through myLearn. Since you chose the course at myLearn, when you
click Start This Course, a new window opens directly to the lab.
• VMware Customer Labs (vCL) Users: As a virtual console user, you have been enrolled
in training labs and courses already, so when you start a lab, you are automatically moved
to the VMware Learning Platform My Enrollments page. From there, you choose a lab
and click Start This Lab to begin.

Note the following about beginning a training lab or course

• myLearn Users: If you came through VMware’s myLearn site, your lab is already started
in a new window when you come to VMware Learning Platform. All you need to do is
choose a console and begin.
• VMware Customer Labs Users: Find the course you want to begin on the My
Enrollments page and click Start This Lab. The lab page opens, and VMware Learning
Platform begins to build the lab.

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