The main screen for editing a VM looks like the following:
On the left hand side of the screen you will see the VM console. If you are working through the process of creating our example lab, this should be a simple Windows desktop. You can interact with the VM itself in much the same way as you would any computer – clicking on the various icons and other elements of the operating system will perform their usual tasks. On the right hand side of the screen there is an instructions pane. This is intended to remind expert users of the steps required during VM authoring.
If you want to see more of the VM console – it may be that one side of it is obscured as a result of the browser window being too small – you can hide the instructions pane by clicking the separator bar that appears between the two panes. You can also resize the VM console itself with the slider control underneath, next to the text Resize console display. Move the slider to the desired value, and click Scale. If, for example, you scale to 50%, this means that the VM console will be displayed at half of its normal size – meaning there is room for twice as much of the screen within the browser page. (Of course, the price you pay for this is a loss of detail).
For our example Paintbrush lab, we now need to configure the VM so that when it starts up, a copy of Paintbrush appears with a blank canvas ready for drawing in. For Windows XP, the simplest way to do this is to add a shortcut in Start / All Programs / Startup to mspaint.exe. Navigate the Start Menu to the Startup folder, right-click it, and select Open. In the window that appears, right-click again, select New / Shortcut and then type mspaint.exe. Click Next, and then Finish. (If your System Administrator has supplied you with a newer version of Windows such as Vista in the backend VM, you may need to adapt these steps slightly.)
This VM is now ready to use in stage 1 of the Paintbrush exercise. If you were creating a VM to use in a lab of your own, you might also need to install additional software, upload/create files and/or data for the lab exercise, and so on. The objective during the VM configuration is to prepare the VM so that it contains everything the student needs to perform the task required of them during the lab, and that it boots up into a position where the student can immediately continue this stage of the lab. (You might find the page Suggested order of activities when authoring VMs a useful reference, once you acquire proficiency in WLab VM authoring.)
Once the configuration of the VM is complete, IT IS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL that you follow the instructions given to you by your System Administrator to make the VM safe for use in a lab stage. If you do not follow these steps, students may not be able to connect to your lab, and you may adversely affect other tutors/students’ labs. As stated previously, if you do not have these instructions and/or do not understand them, you should not proceed and instead should consult your System Administrator for advice.
Once you have made the VM safe for use in a lab stage, you should shut it down. Our example uses a Windows-based VM, so you should simply use the usual Shut Down option in the Start Menu (note shut down – NOT restart!). You may not get any visual indicator that the VM has concluded its shut down – so, once you have issued and confirmed the shut down command, you can click the Return to main menu option underneath the VM console.
Your VM is now ready for use in a lab stage. However, if you are working through the Paintbrush example, and indeed, wherever possible when authoring your own labs, we recommend that you create all of the required VMs for the individual lab stages at the beginning of the process before creating any other WLab objects such as lab stages or the lab itself.
A common shortcut during the authoring process is to use the previous VM as a basis for the next:
Because each subsequent VM is a clone of the previous, it includes all of the software, configuration and file/data of the last. The configuration of the new VM essentially entails you working through the same activities as the student would perform during that stage of the lab exercise. The advantage of this is twofold:
- You only need to perform the initial, "main" configuration required for your lab (e.g. software installation, uploading of data) once - i.e. when you create the first VM for the lab exercise.
- Working through the same activities as the student will during the lab allows you to iron out any bugs in the process as you work through creating the VMs. You might also want to, concurrently, write any accompanying handouts or documentation that will complement the lab exercise (which, later, can be turned into WLab resources).
If you are working through the Paintbrush example, move on to building the VMs for stage 2 and 3. After, you'll need to go on and build the lab stages.