Creating a Live Event in Virtual Labs

In this guide, we're going to walk you through each step of the setup process. To set up Live Event, you need to create the event, class(es), and session(s). So let's go through each of those.

1. Create the Event

The event is the overarching event at which you will have classes. An example of this is a conference where you will run several live sessions at different times. In that scenario, your Event's name would be the name of the conference. Let's create one.

1. Select the Events view at the top left of the main Virtual Labs screen.

2. Click Add event.

   

3. Enter a Name for your event. (This will be the event name your learners see, and part of the URL you provide them.)

4. Set the Time zone for your event.

   
   Note: Event parameters, like container start and expiration, will be based off the timezone you specify, and will not be adjusted for local user time zones, as it is assumed that the live event is occurring in a fixed location. Creating your event in the time zone of the venue is a great way to make sure you don't get confused on the day!

5. Click Create.

2. Create a Class

An event can have many classes associated with it, and usually cover a set of content you have planned out to repeat at different (or just at one) time. The class is where you set which image is launched by the labs in the events, as well as how many attendees the event is limited to in order to ensure your cluster's resources are not over-committed.

1. On the tab for your specific event, click Add class …
2. Enter a name for your class.
3. Specify the max Number of students (how many people can access the class at one time.)
4. Select your Image from the dropdown (when run in a Live Event, the image’s existing settings apply.)
5. Optional: Mount a paired image by selecting it in the Volume Image dropdown.
6. Set your Container expiration time - This is when containers from this session will be automatically cleaned up so that your resources are freed up, as event can be extremely resource-intensive.
7. Set How early a container can be started before a session. This lets you get learners in and spinning up containers, even if they're a bit early, or lets you manually go and pre-launch containers for them on lab machines if available. This can help reduce strain on your cluster and ensure labs launch correctly.
8. Set How long after a session ends a container can still be created. This is useful for if you have an open session after your classes for people to try your software, or if you want to be able to quickly demo something outside of sessions.
9. Define your Learner info template. This field defines what is rendered to the user after they request to start a container. This field accepts HTML; a basic version is pre-populated with content that will work in most cases, but can also be edited. Click Show/hide help to see available variables.
10. Click Create

3. Create a Session

Sessions are instances of classes. A class can have multiple sessions. For example if you're running the same workshop (your class) on days 1 and 3 of a conference, these would both be sessions.

1. On the tab for your specific event, click the arrow to the left of the ID column.
2. Click Add session …
3. Enter the Date, Time (Hour, Minutes, AM/PM), and Duration for your session. Reminder: This is in the time zone for the event.
4. Cloud URLs for Learners. This field allows you to connect one external URL to each container. For example, if you've started a VM for each student in another Cloud service, you would attach the URLs here. If you'd like to use this feature, please contact the Appsembler team, and we can help with configuring this for you, as it can be a little finnicky in its current iteration.

Once you're done, you'll see a list of all your classes, and can edit or delete them as needed.

4. Provide the event link to your users

All that's left is to click 'Learner Dashboard' and copy the URL to get the event's unique link, which you will provide to your attendees. Alternatively, right click it and copy the URL.

The final event link will be in the format: https://yourAVLsite.com/event/nameofyourevent/

You can supply this link via email, or shorten it with a service like Bitly or QR.io and print it to hand out to users at the event. The final approach is up to you! Just make sure people know your event exists, or this will have all been for naught.