| VMware Lab Platform is a multi-tenant VMware Cloud Service that lets you create, manage, and deliver rich-featured IT labs for self-paced, on-demand training, instructor-led training, and live lab events. Check for additions and updates to the release notes. |
Check regularly for additions and updates made to the VMware® Lab Platform™ (formerly known as VMware® Learning Platform™ release notes.
Updated on February 9, 2023
Support for multiple labs in a single class
This feature allows you to have multiple labs for a class. All students of a class can have multiple entitlements based on the number of labs in a single class.
For more information on how to create a class for multiple labs, see Create a Class.
Granular permissions are live for everyone
Now, you can create user accounts and provide granular access to users based on your organization's requirements. You can either use the in-built user roles or create custom user roles and define the access permissions for the role.
For more information on how to create custom roles and permissions, see Working with Roles and Permission.
Lab Builder improvements:
Role parameter in AWS S3 import and AWS S3 export is optional
The AWS Role ARN parameter is optional, instead you can use the Session Token parameter to import or export files for the AWS S3 instance.
For more information on how to import or export files to AWS S3, see Export Files to an AWS Instance.
Import to S3 option moved to Lab Builder page
The Import to S3 menu option is moved from the Lab Templates page to the Lab Builder page. To use the Import to S3 option, navigate to Lab Management>Lab Builder and click the three ellipses on the top-right of the page, and select Import from S3.
Performance improvement in deleting lab template drafts and clones
We have enhanced the back-end system to provide a better user experience while deleting a lab template draft or a clone.
Simplified the Create User Entitlement user interface page
The Create User Entitlement page is revamped and the process of creating a user entitlement is simplified. Now the user interface is more intuitive and provides a seamless experience to users.
For more information on user entitlement, see Create an Entitlement for a New User.
Accessibility improvements for the administrator user interface
To provide equal access and equal opportunity to use the VMware Lab Platform interfaces, we have made improvements to the administrator user interface such as alternative (ALT) text for all icons and images. Support to add user inputs using a keyboard is added in the administrator user interface.
Blur student console when blank
Now instructors can blank the screen to make changes in a student console during a live class. The student screen is blurred during the interaction so that students cannot see the changes that an instructor makes in the console. This feature is helpful especially when an instructor assigns tests, grades, or exercises to the students.
Updated on December 15, 2022
Lab Builder enhancements
We have made significant enhancements in the Lab Builder to improve the user experience for creating and removing VMs while editing a lab template. For more information on how to create or remove a VM, see the Add a Virtual Machine for a Lab Template topic.
The remove draft labs option in the Lab Builder Drafts page is enhanced to improve the removing draft labs operation. For more information on how to remove draft labs, see the Create a Draft Lab topic.
Improvements are made to the Add VM page in the Lab Builder section. When there are no VMs to add in the lab template, the Add VM button is grayed out. When there are multiple VMs listed, you can easily remove them using the Remove option on the page. For more information on new enhancements, see the Remove a Virtual Machine from a Lab Template topic.
Assign classes based on cloud location
For accounts with lab templates deployed from multiple cloud locations, you can set the preferred cloud location to deploy the lab templates in the Classes wizard. The Show preferred cloud location dropdown in the classes wizard setting option is added to allow administrators to set the cloud location for a lab deployment. For more information on the cloud location option in the Classes wizard, see the Create a Class topic.
Added Filter option to the Labs Catalogs page
Similar to all the other listing pages in VMware Lab Platform, the filter option is added to the Labs Catalogs page. Click the filter icon on the top of the Labs Catalogs page to set your filter criteria for search.
Added permissions for Deployment Pool
Deployment Pool permission setting is added under the Roles & Permissions page. Administrators can enable and customize Deployment Pool permissions for custom roles. To view the permission categories, navigate to Users & Groups>Roles & Permissions>Create New>Deployment Pools.
Feedback icon
The 
feedback icon is now available on the top header of the application. You can submit feature requests or provide feedback about the application using the feedback form. For more information on the feedback forms, see the Working with Feedback Forms section.
Help Center panel is revamped
The Help Center panel in the administrator user interface is revamped for ease of use and is more intuitive. Click the 
question icon to open the Help Center panel. You can view resources such as product tutorials, knowledge-base articles, documentation, and product videos. For more information on Help Center panel, see the Working with Help Center topic.
The following updates are included in this release:
Improved granular permission
We are thrilled to announce that we have made enhancements to user account permissions. Now, you can create user accounts and provide granular access to users based on your organization's requirements. You can either use the in-built user roles or create custom user roles and define the access permission for the role. To enable the granular permission setting, contact the VMware Lab Platform support team.
For more information on granular permissions, see the Working with Roles and Permissions topic.
New side menu navigation panel
The option to switch to the old side menu navigation panel is removed in the administrator user interface. By default, all VMware Lab Platform (tenant) accounts will have the new side menu navigation panel. The new side menu navigation panel is better organized, and intuitive, and provides a better user experience.
Full-screen scrollable forms
In the administrator user interface, all forms and pages, such as create a lab, create a class, and so on open in full-screen page view, and the pages are scrollable. The full screen design provides the same user experience on both the desktop and mobile device, and across different browsers.
Auto synchronization of lab templates
If a draft template or a clone lab template is deleted from the VMware Cloud Director, the system performs auto synchronization and deletes such lab templates from the VMware Lab Platform.
Improved error handling
We have improved the error handling for uploads, lab deployments, cloud tasks and so on.
Improvements are made to the email and in-app notification messages.
New features in lab manuals
If you create lab manuals in ScreenSteps and import the manuals to the VMware Lab Platform, we have added lots of new formatting features around it. Now, the VMware Lab Platform supports the following content formats of ScreenSteps:
Collapsible sections
Checklists
Block styles and display
Alt image as captions
For more information on ScreenSteps in VMware Lab Platform, see the VMware Lab Platform Content Engine guide.
Support for help requests on proctor application
You can configure the Slack messaging application with the VMware Proctor application to receive help requests from users. For more information, see the VMware Lab Platform Event Management guide.
Fix non-ANSI US keyboard layouts
The non-ANSI US keyboard layout feature remaps the keys pressed on your keyboard sends the US ANSI key code equivalents to the console. The feature was broken due to a change, and is now restored.
Default setting changes
By default, the following menu options are deactivated (hidden from the new side menu navigation panel). You can enable these options from the Portal Settings>Configuration>Side Menu option.
Analytics
Help Desk Integrations
API Domain Allowlist
Deployment Pools (for organizations with single cloud)
For more information on the Portal Settings, see the Working with Settings topic.
Wifi icon in the Lab Builder to indicate the internet status for a VM
The Portal Settings>Configuration>Lab Builder>Show a WiFi icon is enabled by default. When you create a lab template in the Lab Builder, a wifi icon is displayed on the VM to inform you that the VM has internet access.
The following updates are included in this release:
Single Sign-On (SSO) login option for the end-user interface
Similar to the administrator user interface, support for multiple authentication providers is added to the end-user interface. The Allow Student SSO Login and the Disable Student Local Provider Login setting options are added in the administrator user interface to provide different authentication providers to users.
Allow Student SSO Login: This option lets administrators to provide a non-local authentication provider to users to log in to the end-user interface.
Disable Student Local Provider Login: This option lets administrators to deactivate a non-local authentication provider option from the end-user interface login page.
With the Allow Student SSO Login and the Disable Student Local Provider Login setting options, you will have the following four scenarios for the authentication provider setting in the end-user interface:
VMware Lab Platform login only: Deactivate both the Allow Student SSO Login and the Disable Student Local Provider Login setting options.
SSO only login: Activate both the Allow Student SSO Login and the Disable Student Local Provider Login setting options.
SSO and VMware Lab Platform login: Activate the Allow Student SSO Login option, and deactivate the Disable Student Local Provider Login setting option.
No direct login: Deactivate the Allow Student SSO Login option, and activate the Disable Student Local Provider Login setting option.
For more information on how to add and configure an authentication provider for the end-user interface, see Working with Authentication Provider.
Improved granular permissions for user role
Set, create, and edit user roles. With the new granular permission feature setting, administrators can create custom roles and customize the permissions for the custom roles based on their organization requirements. This feature lets administrators to mix and match permissions from in-built roles and create custom roles within their organization.
We invite you to try this compelling feature and give us your valuable feedback. To activate this feature, please contact the VMware Lab Platform support team. For more information on granular permissions, see Working with Roles and Permissions.
Detailed entitlement event history information
The Entitlement Event History page for an entitlement provides a detailed event history for each stage of an entitlement, including time stamps. This provides administrators a more comprehensive view when troubleshooting issues that affect multiple students, or when administrators need specific information for a support request. To view the Entitlement Event History option, navigate to Entitlements>User Entitlements, click on the three ellipses for an entitlement, and click Event Entitlement History from the list of options.
Enhancements in the Lab Builder:
The following enhancements are made in the Lab Builder for better user experience:
Ability to upgrade VM hardware version from the Lab Builder: Administrators can easily upgrade the VM hardware version from the Lab Builder menu. To upgrade the hardware version for a VM, open the VM console in the Lab Builder, and click on the Upgrade VM hardware version icon.
Access cloud network information from the Lab Builder: You can use the Cloud Network tab added under the Lab Builder>VM Networking menu to open the Cloud Network page, and easily apply or reset tags associated with the cloud.
Improved Hard Disk support: All bus types for a hard disk are supported. Now, you can select and delete multiple hard disks from the Hard Disk list with a single batch action. To remove multiple hard disks from a lab template, select the hard disks and click the Delete icon.
Back-end improvements are made to the process of uploading a VM or ISO file using the Upload VMs/ISOs option in the Lab Builder.
The following updates are included in this release:
Option to never expire a password
For the password expiry policy feature, we received several feedback, to never expire password for certain accounts which are used for automation. To address this requirement, we have added the Never Expire Password feature in the Users & Groups menu. To configure the Never Expire Password feature for a user account, or multiple users, navigate to Users & Groups>User Accounts, click the three ellipses and select the Never Expire Password option for a user. You can also apply this option for bulk users from the Batch Action menu option. Alternatively, you can also use the Accounts API to set the Never Expire Password for user accounts. To download the latest version of the VMware Lab Platform API Guide, on the VMware Lab Platform Administrator page, select Support>Rest API Guide.
Points to consider before you change a password expiry policy:
If a password for an account is changed, the Never Expire Password action must be performed again for that account.
For user accounts with the Local Provider authentication, you can set the Password Expiration option to 0 days in the Authentication Providers page. This deactivates the expiration check during login and allows users to login even with an expired password.
The default password expiration value is increased from 180 to 720 days in the tool.
Enhancements in Lab Builder
Following enhancements are made in the Lab Builder for better user experience:
Now you can view the internet access and availability for individual VMs for your labs from Lab Builder. WiFi visual icon is added to lab templates when you edit a lab template. To add the Wifi icon for your lab templates, activate the Portal Settings>Configuration>Lab Builder>Show a WiFi icon in Lab Builder to indicate VM Internet Status option.
You can power on and power off individual VMs in a lab.
Various bug fixes and error handling improvements are made in listing, uploading, and networking tasks.
Import and export lab templates to Amazon Web Services (AWS)
If you have your own S3 instance and want to back up your lab template, or import an existing lab template to VMware Lab Platform, you can do that with the AWS S3 integration with VMware Lab Platform.
To import your S3 instance:
Navigate to Portal Settings>Configurations, and select AWS S3 Integration
Add the required details.
Activate the awsBucketEnabled option.
To view the Export to S3 option for a lab, navigate to Lab Management>Lab Templates and, click on the three ellipses next to the lab.
Note:
Only the OVF file format is supported, and the OVA file format is not supported. If you have an OVA file, you must first extract it in the AWS Bucket. The export and import action can also be performed using the VMware Lab Platform APIs. To download the latest version of the VMware Lab Platform API Guide, on the VMware Lab Platform Administrator page, select Support>Rest API Guide.
Improvements in user interface
We have made several improvements in the VMware Lab Platform user interface for better error handling, logging and audit history, upload process, and sync process.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Support for German keyboard characters
We have added support for German keyboard character inputs to student VM console. Keys with AltGR modifier are now supported for console input.
Drag and drop ISO files in Lab Builder
We have added a feature to drag and drop VMs/ISOs to Lab Builder.
To do this:
Navigate to Lab Builder and select Upload VM/ISO's.
In the Uploads section, you can drag and drop a VM, ISO, OVA, and OVF files.
Support for vCloud Director version 10.4
VMware Lab Platform now supports vCloud Director version 10.4 (with vCloud API version 34).
SaaS Console option added in the new Lab wizard
The SaaS Console option is added in the new Lab wizard. To create or add a SaaS console to VMware Lab Platform, navigate to Lab Management>SaaS Consoles>Create New. SaaS Consoles provide a simulated lab experience to users in the user interface. You can use third party applications such as Walnut to create your simulated labs and add them to VMware Lab Platform.
Show hidden VMs to instructors
We have added a feature to hide one or more VMs from students and make them visible only to instructors.
To use this feature:
Enable the Portal>Configuration>Show all VMs in instructor interface setting to view all the VMs.
Navigate to Deployment Pool>Update>Edit VM's and choose the VM that needs to be visible/invisible to students. This setting is also available in Labs>Update>VM Configuration.
Updated Tutorial section
The following new tutorials are added under the Help Center>Tutorials section:
Working with User Accounts
Working with Email Templates
Working with Content Engine
Uploading a Template or a Media
Working with Classes
Lab Tags in transcripts records
Tags associated with labs are now included in transcripts records. You can use this feature to manage and differentiate user data for better querying through the user interface and API calls.
Find and delete non-VMware Lab Platform cloud vApps in a cloud
When you perform the Sync Cloud vApps operation on the Cloud page in the Administrator user interface, a list of non-VMware Lab Platform vApps is displayed. You can select all vApps or multiple vApps, and delete it.
CC multiple support email address
This feature enables you to CC all the class related email notifications to multiple email addresses. Administrators can add multiple email addresses to get all the class related notifications from Portal Settings>Configuration>Add support email in cc in class emails.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Rebranded product name
VMware Learning Platform is rebranded as VMware Lab Platform. All VMware Lab Platform interfaces, such as administrator user interface, user interface, instructor interface, Content Engine interface, and product pages, product documentation, logo, ticketing tools, and all product communication channels are renamed to VMware Lab Platform.
Introducing all new Event Management user interface
The Event Management user interface is now redesigned and enhanced for better user experience and the interface is consolidated in the VMware Lab Platform administrator user interface. The Event Management user interface allows administrators, proctors, and technical support staff to manage lab station registration, seating maps, and help requests for virtual events and physical events. Administrators can define and schedule multiple events per VMware Lab Platform account. The Event Management feature is widely used by VMware for VMware Explore (formerly known as VMworld) and other fortune IT companies for their world events.
Show and hide console connection signal strength in user interface
Now administrators can hide the console connection strength bars in the user interface, and monitor the connection strength from the turned on console in the administrator user interface.
To use this feature, in the administrator user interface, enable the Show console connection strength Portal setting.
Insert and eject media
Insert and eject media are now two separate actions in the Lab Builder console. This avoids confusion and provides better user experience for lab creators.
Updated Zoom integration
The built-in Zoom application in the Classes menu is updated to latest version.
New filters in transcripts record
New filters such as class name, instructor assigned, and company name are added in the transcript records for better sorting and filtering data.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Ability to port user authentication from one provider to another
VMware Lab Platform provides support for multiple authentication providers for users, and enables users to login through different authentication providers. Administrators can change the user authentication provider from one provider to another with just a click from the administrator user interface. To change the authentication provide for a user, click Users & Groups>User Accounts.On the User Account page, click on the three ellipses next to the username, and click Migrate to a different provider. Enter the authentication provider details and update the page.
New password policy for local users
Passwords are one of the key essentials to protect a user account and user details. To ensure that user accounts are secure, VMware Lab Platform is enabling administrators to have more control over the password policy for its local users. Navigate to Users & Groups>Authentication Providers and click on Local Authentication Provider. In the Authentication Provider page, you can make the changes as per your requirements.
Strong passwords (passwords must have at least 1 uppercase alphabet, 1 numeric value, and 1 special symbol. This is not enabled by default).
Password length (minimum password length must be 8 characters).
Password expiration (number of days before a password expires and a password change is required. Default value is 180 days).
Previous password (number of previous passwords that users cannot use as their new password. Default value is 0).
The default values are implemented for all the current users and will be effective once the user changes the password, or when the user's password expires after 180 days. This change will not affect the currently logged in users.
Note: The changes are not applicable to VMware Cloud service logins or any other authentication provider logins.
Support for custom permissions in CSV user uploads
We had customized permissions in our previous release, we now support CSV upload for user creation with custom permissions. Contact the VMware Lab Platform support team to enable granular or custom permissions for your account.
Enhancements in Lab Builder
Administrators can now edit or create new NAT rules in Lab Builder while editing a template. This is useful when you need a special port to be enabled. This is applicable for both NSX-T and NSX-V based clouds.
To do this, navigate to Lab Management>Lab Builder.
Select an unpublished lab template. and from the Actions menu, click Edit.
On the Edit Lab Template page, click Lab Networking tab.
On the Lab Network page the network diagram is displayed. Click on the lab network in the network diagram.
In the right pane, network details are listed. Click on the three ellipses, and click configure services.
Click on the NAT tab and add a rule based on your requirements.
Fixed “Unknown” import status message while importing a lab template.
Fixed virtual machine (VM) console access issues.
Improved services like template replication, network tagging, and user experience.
Warning for insufficient cloud resources in class creation
Warning messages for insufficient resources for a class are added. The warning forecast helps administrators to allocate resources or modify the class settings. After creating a class, you can see the forecast of resources for a class based on number of students added to the class. If there is shortage of resources for the class, a warning message is auto populated. The warning message is added in the end of class creation wizard and the Classes list page.
Access Content Engine user interface from Admin user interface
The Content Engine user interface, and content manual design and building process is now merged within the Admin user interface. Previously, administrators and content creators had to navigate to separate links to access the Content Engine user interface. Also, the error handling of corrupted file upload for manuals is improved for a seamless user experience.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Granular permissions for roles (Beta release)
Set, create, and edit user roles. With the new granular permission feature setting, administrators can create custom roles and customize the permissions for the custom roles based on their organization requirements. This will enable administrators to mix and match permissions from in-built roles and create custom roles within their organization.
We invite you to try this compelling feature and give us your valuable feedback. To try this beta feature, please contact the VMware Lab Platform support team.
Monitoring Lab Builder template replication from API
APIs for Lab Builder template replication task are updated. The new API's include; listing of template replication tasks, creating a new replication, tracking progress of template replication, and stopping template replication.
For information about the APIs, refer the VMware Lab Platform REST API Guide from the Help Center panel.
Improved user experience for VMware Login
When you have an active login session of a VMware Lab Platform tenant (organization) and attempt to login to another org account, instead of throwing an error, the system displays a message to log out from the current org and login to the other org. You cannot login to two orgs simultaneously in the same login session.
Always detect VM power state
In certain use cases, when users power off VMs within a guest OS or execute the power off command in the user console, VMware Lab Platform detects the state of the VM and provides an option to power on the VM.
Get alerts for nearly exhausted cloud networks IP pools
Network IP pool shortage issues are always frustrating, especially when you want to add more labs for deployment. To address this issue, VMware Lab Platform now monitors network IP pools and alerts you when it is about to exhaust. Notifications are presented in the notification bar and can be subscribed as an email alert with Category: Cloud and Severity: Medium. Administrators can view and receive real-time notification alerts from the system. The alerts are categorized based on the severity and priority of the issue as High, Medium, and Low. To view all notification alerts for an account, click the bell icon on the top of the page header. You can view the list of subscribed notifications from the Notifications menu option. You can create subscriptions for notifications and customize them as per your requirements.
For information about notifications, see the VMware Lab Platform Administrator Guide.
Enhancement to In-product Help Center
The VMware Lab Platform Help Centre panel provides in-product support experience. Our support experience is constantly evolving with new features being rolled out for our services. Currently, you might view some or all the following features in the Help Center panel.
New videos
Tutorials – Our tutorials are designed to assist new users, or current users who need help, with completing tasks in VMware Lab Platform.
FAQ’s
Status page,
REST API guides etc.
Feedback page
We will keep adding more content here to improve the service.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Password reset option
Administrators, instructors and content creators can now reset their passwords using the "Forgot Password" option from the Administrator login page. Currently only local user accounts password reset is supported. VMware CSP and SSO login password reset is not supported. By default, the feature is enabled for all VMware Lab Platform organization accounts that don't have an alternative authentication provider.
Create anonymous users for one-time lab use
Administrators can create temporary, anonymous user entitlements for one time lab use, or for a class. Once the entitlement is completed, the user account is deleted from the system. This feature is useful for administrators who create content for quick demos or live events to demonstrate their products to users who might not use the system regularly. Anonymous users can be created using the Users & Groups>User Accounts>Create New> Bulk Upload optionor with the Account API call. Administrators can share the quick launch URL for the lab with the user.
Create Account API
Added anonymouseUser and providerName API parameters to create anonymous user and create a user with existing authentication provider.
Add custom email templates for a class
To create and add custom email templates for a class, administrators can use the Email Templates option and add the custom emails from the Create a Class page. To see the menus in the class creation wizard, you need to enable the Settings> Class and Instructor>Send student class assigned email from email template and Send instructor class assigned email from email template options.
See Create a Class.
Add PDF manuals from Content Engine
Support to add PDF manuals for a lab from Content Engine user interface is added. Earlier, instructors and content creators had to add PDF manuals as a lab resource in a lab. Now, you can directly add PDF manuals to a lab from the Manuals drop-down menu.
For more information, see the VMware Lab Platform Content Engine Guide.
Help Center panel
With VMware Lab Platform in-product Help Center support experience, you can view help content, tutorial guides to help you perform your tasks, search for answers to your questions, and for those times when you want to contact a member of our customer support team. Click the help icon to open the Help Center panel and view the Help Center panel options; Getting Started guide, tutorials, videos, what's new in VMware Lab Platform, FAQs, and the Help and Support feature.
Add personalized support site
Now Support>Get Support menu for instructors can be configured with a custom site or email address. To enable it, navigate to Portal Settings>Configuration>Get Support (Instructor) and add a site or email address in the Get Support (Instructor) field. If left empty, all support requests will redirect to the default VMware support site.
You can also modify the support link for your VMware Lab Platform organization administrators by contacting the VMware Lab Platform customer support team.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
New side menu navigation
The side menu navigation panel is restructured to provide better user experience. The menu options are grouped in logical order based on the different user roles for VMware Lab Platform. Menu labels/names are changed to make it more relevant and intuitive to the user.
To enable the new side menu navigation, contact the support team.
Full page wizard
All the menu pages such as Create a lab, Create a class, now provide a full page wizard view. This helps the users to easily navigate across different work flows/tasks. Users can easily exit a task mid way or resume tasks by selecting the options from the full page wizard.
Bulk Upload, Remove, and Download options
In the User Account page, the Bulk Upload option is moved under the Create New drop-down list. Access the Bulk Remove and Bulk Download options from the three ellipses drop-down list available on the top of the page.
Multiple connections to VMs from a single lab
If a lab has multiple VMs associated with it, end-users can open the VMs in separate tabs to access each of the VM consoles in the end-user interface.
Create a lab template from an entitlement
You can create a lab template from an entitlement by using the Capture Template action menu. This captures the contents of the lab template and creates a new lab template in the Lab Builder page. This feature is useful in scenarios where administrators and content creators want their own version of the lab templates for the same lab.
View the cloud org virtual data center associated for a lab, from the Class tab
Administrators can view the cloud org virtual data center of a user from the Class >Student setting. Use the view-columns menu on the page to add the Cloud Org Vdc option on the listing page.
Create and enable verified accounts
Administrators can now verify an unverified account from the Administrator user interface. Navigate to Users & Groups>User Accounts listing page, click on the username and mark the account as verified in the User Access tab.
Recreate entitlements from a class
Added support to recreate entitlements from the Classes menu. If a student ends an entitlement before the class ends and wants to rejoin the class or there are updates, changes made to the class, administrators can recreate the entitlement for the student without creating a new entitlement for the student. To recreate an entitlement for a user, on the Classes page, select the student and click the three ellipses next to student name and select the option Recreate Completed Entitlements.
Note: You can recreate entitlements only for the completed/ended entitlements.
CPU/Memory/Storage columns added in download entitlement statistics
The “Download Entitlement Statistics” report from the user dashboard now provides the CPU, memory and storage utilization for all entitlements.
Lab Builder improvements
Improved error handling mechanism is added when a lab template is "busy" in vCD and users try to create a lab replica of the lab template in VMware Lab platform. Now, you cannot create the replica and a system message is displayed.
All the menu options and listing in Lab Builder and Edit Lab Template pages are moved to the left-side of the page. With this change, users will have more workspace area in the center and a better user experience.
You can view and edit multiple VMs parallelly in Lab Builder without impacting the performance or powering off the VMs. Now, you can undock the VMs from the main page and open the VMs in separate tab.
Power on and force customization option is added on top of VM consoles in the Edit Lab Template page, which will force and apply the changes enabled in Guest Customization page.
The template network connection type is enhanced to provide options to connect the network over the internet from VMware Lab Platform. The following options are available for a network connection:
none
isolated (no internet)
default (with internet)
mixed
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Network diagram for lab templates
You can view the network configuration associated with a lab template and project it in the form of a diagram. This feature is useful for lab creators to identify the network complexities, metadata, and configurations associated with a lab template without deploying a template instance.
Hide time remain when lab is part of a class
We have added an option to make time allotted for an entitlement equal to the class duration and hide the remaining lab time. This will avoid confusion with lab timer and unnecessary lab extension requests for instructors.
To use this feature, enable the setting Make Time Allotted for entitlement equal to class duration and hide remaining lab time.
Default columns
In all the menu listing pages, the column display is updated to show the most frequently used and relevant columns by default. To activate or deactivate a a column, click the View Column icon, and use the checkboxes to activate or deactivate a column. To see the default list, select Restore Defaults. See Customizing the Administrator User Interface.
Filter entitlements by a class
Entitlements can now be filtered by class names. This feature helps to differentiate and list entitlements belonging to different classes.
Copy URL in a class
In the Classes page, the Instructor Launch URL and Registration URL columns have the options to “copy to clipboard” and “open in a new tab”.
Change vApp template to lab template
As we work on simplification of the Administrator user interface, the vApp templates are now renamed as lab templates.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
SSO authentication
VMware Lab Platform also supports user authentication from various third-party authentication providers. You can enable this for VMware Lab Platform user interface and administrator interface login. Some of the supported authentication providers are—Facebook, Google, VMware Workspace One and every OpenId provider.
Custom user messages
Administrators can push custom notification to all, or selected users logged in the end-user interface.
Administrators can create a “user message” which will be pushed to all the logged in users for a specified time. The message can be broadcasted to All Accounts/Logged in users/ Accounts in the lab console. To setup a user message, navigate to Portal Settings>User Messages and create a new user message.
Variable tags in lab manual
The lab manual content creators can display some of the important information in lab manuals with help of variable tags. Lab manual content creators can create and inject certain data in lab manuals when a user takes a lab. The variables are injected when the step is first rendered and do not update dynamically if they are changed. Ensure that the variable tags are within double curly brackets {{}}.
Some of the supported variable tags are:
lastName: lastName
firstName: firstName
labSku: sku
classId: {{classId}}
className: {{className}}
entitlementId: entitlement-id
For more information, see Inserting Variables into a Manual.
Administrator account creation without VMware ID
Previously, a new administrator account was created only from VMware Cloud Services console. Now, new administrator accounts can be created from VMware Lab Platform.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Class
Improved the class video conferencing feature to enable seamless integration of Zoom with a class. To enable this feature, contact the VMware Lab Platform support team.
See Create a Class.
Administrators can now edit the start time of a started class. The new start time for a class will be effective from the following day.
See Modify a Class.
Notification alerts for cloud resource usage threshold
Added notification alerts when cloud resource usage is at 90%. This will help administrators to avoid a production issue and will provide enough time for administrators to contact cloud administrators to increase or clean up the resources.
Added Notification menu in the side navigation panel
We have added a new menu for notifications. On this page administrators can see all the notifications. You can perform various actions such as acknowledge, flag, and subscribe to notifications.
Parallelly power on VMs in Lab Builder
Previously, when you had multiple VM’s in the Lab Builder editor, the VM power-on operation was sequential and time consuming. Now you can power on all the VM’s parallelly, which will save time and you can work on one of the powered-on VM and reboot another VM at the same time.
User accounts
Ability to modify usernames:
The username field is an email address that cannot be modified. Now, modifications and corrections can be made in usernames.
Administrators can merge user accounts:
We have added a feature to merge user accounts. This is useful when a user has changed their email address and wants their transcripts to be transferred to a new account.
See Edit User Accounts.
Administrator user interface
Improved administrator user interface listing pages by providing a uniform view of titles, search bar, filters, sorting icons, bulk action options for all the listing pages.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Exam module
With the exam feature, administrators, instructors, proctors can grade entitlements (users) and provide certification on passing exams. You can define the exam in VMware Lab Platform and add grading options in the system. Administrators can customize email templates to send the exam report to the users.
Power on vApps from the entitlement list
Support to power on a vApp of an entitlement from the VMware Lab Platform administrator interface is added. To power on a vApp assigned to an entitlement, click Entitlements>User Entitlements. Click on the three ellipses of an entitlement and select Power on Cloud vApp.
Simplified lab creation wizard
Create new labs with a new interface for simplified lab creation. A simple and easy-to-use lab creation form that lists only the required fields for a lab. This option is useful when administrators want to create a quick lab.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
Network visualization diagram
With the network diagram feature, administrators can create and modify lab templates with suitable network configurations across virtual machines. A network diagram provides a graphical view of virtual machines and networks in a vApp.
Import template from any cloud
Lab creators can import a lab template from a cloud (vCloud Director) that is not registered in VMware Lab Platform.
Improved backup monitoring
Enhancement are made to improve the backup monitoring process with appropriate system messages. Several useful visualizations, alerts, messages, and tooltips during lab builder operations are added to enhance the user experience of VMware Lab Platform.
CC a support email address
This feature enables you to CC all the class related email notifications to a particular email address. Administrators can add an email address to get all the class related notifications from Portal Settings>Configuration>Add support email in cc in class emails.
Skip provisioning
We have added an option to skip provisioning of resources for classes. This option can be used when administrators want to save the resources and not assign it to students unless the lab is launched.
Improved notification experience
For better customer experience, the user interface elements of notification alerts are enhanced. The new View all Notification list page can be used to see all the alerts and perform actions like Acknowledge, Acknowledge All, Mark as read, Flag etc.
Power off vApps from the Entitlement list
Support to power off a vApp of an entitlement from the VMware Lab Platform admin interface is added. To power off a vApp assigned to an entitlement, click Entitlements>user entitlements. Click on three ellipses of an entitlement and select Power off Cloud vApp.
Power reset
The power reset option resets the power cycles for all the VMs in a vApp, except for entitlements that have Awaiting Grade status.
Quick load of listing in deployment pool
Added improvements to the Deployment pool list page, which helps in loading and editing of deployments quickly. The template selection list for a deployment pool is also improved with appropriate warning and listing.
For detailed information about the features, see the VMware Lab Platform Administrators Guide.
The following new improvements are included in this update:
In-App notification for admin interface:
Get easy access to all alerts and errors with the in-app notification feature in the admin interface. Real-time pop-ups of alerts can help you to fix the issues on the go.
Option to subscribe for alerts based on various categories and priority for effective monitoring of the platform.
File uploader
Upload a file (of any type) while you build or modify a template in Lab Builder. The uploaded files generate a temporary link that can be used to download the file within a VM to help you build a lab quickly.
Warning for powered on labs
While creating a class, if resource-saving option for a class is not enabled, the system displays a warning alert before you can publish the class. To save resources, by default the resource management setting is set to suspend the vApps of a class after 30 minutes, at the end of each day.
Duplicate a running class
Now you can duplicate a running class. This feature is useful when you have to duplicate an existing class for recurring instances. Administrators and instructors can duplicate a class from the Class list menu option.
Clone entitlements
Support to clone entitlements from an existing student's entitlement for another student is added. Suppose a student’s lab is corrupted or the student is running behind the class schedule. Instead of starting an afresh lab, students’ entitlement can be cloned with one of the existing student’s entitlement. Administrators can clone entitlements from the Entitlements>User Entitlements list menu option.
Log in without a password
Administrators can enable pre-registered students or end-users to log in to VMware Lab Platform student interface without providing a password. This is useful for on-demand lab access during a large event, such as conferences. Administrators can enable this feature from Portal Settings>Configuration>Events>Allow users to login without providing a password.
Compact view for end-user interface
You can modify the student interface to be compact and unobtrusive and provide maximum screen space to work on the virtual machine. Administrators can enable this feature from Portal Settings>Configuration>Console Interface>Compact Panel option.
Customize the side menus
You can optimize the admin interface by hiding the less frequently used side navigation menu items. Administrators can show or hide the required menu items from the Portal Settings>Configuration>Side menu option.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Resource use and cost estimation:
Widget to view cost per lab per user: The Download Entitlement Statistics widget in the Dashboard provides cost (in USD), compute, and storage utilization data for each entitlement.
Entitlements: Get resource usage and cost estimates of an entitlement in real-time. The More Details option in the Entitlements page provides the storage, compute units, and cost (in USD) data for an entitlement. You can also use the API to monitor the resource usage of an entitlement in real-time.
Transcripts: The More Details option in the Transcripts page displays the storage, compute units, and cost (in USD) inputs associated with a transcript.
Class:TheMore Details option in the Class page provides the storage, compute units, and cost (in USD) inputs associated with a class.
This feature is currently available to all commercial customers with VMware Lab Platform owned Cloud.
For more information or support, contact the VMware Lab Platform Support team.
Create lab from the Create Class menu
Now you can create a lab for a class from the Create Class menu. The Create New Lab is accessible from the Create Class menu. You can choose an existing lab from the list view, or from the Recently created labs view, or create a new lab from the Create Class menu.
Send email to students before or after starting a class
Instructors can send emails to students with a link to join a class before or after the class has started. To use this feature, on the Class page, click on the three ellipses next to a student's name and select Send Notification Email.
Quick launch emails
For existing entitlements or enrolments, administrators can send an email to user or student with a quick launch URL in one click.
Send keyboard shortcuts to console
In the end-user interface, you can send a prompt with several new frequently used keyboard shortcuts to the console from a student's keyboard. The new shortcut user interface replaces the Ctrl+Alt+Del button that is above the console. Enable this feature using the Show Shortcut Keys button in the Portal Settings>Configuration>Lab Console page.
Delete vApps in an error state
In a scenario, when a running vApp or a prepop fails to deploy because of an issue in the cloud, you can delete such vApps from the Cloud Vapps page. Enable the Delete prepops in error state after specified hours and Delete vapps for entitlements in error state after specified hours options in the Portal Settings>Configuration page. All vApps in error state are not billed.
A running vApp is your lab instance deployed for a user (entitlement) or a prepop by VMware Lab Platform deployment pool using a lab template in a cloud.
Improved administrator user interface
Improved administrator interface for better user experience. With this enhancement, overlapping of tooltips issue is resolved and it provides for better scrollbar experience.
API guide under the Support menu
Administrators can access the VMware Lab Platform API guide from the Support menu.
New notification subscription page: The severity levels in the email Notification Subscription List are represented as Low, Medium, and High. To subscribe for notifications, use the Create Notification Subscription option.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Backup lab template
With the Backup feature, an administrator can easily create a backup for a lab template. The Backup option displays the template file name, creation date, and the validity period for the backup. Click Lab Builder,and select the template for which you want to create a backup and click on the plus sign to add a backup. Use the Content Migration widget to view the status of the backup.
Import and upload virtual machines, ISOs or vAPPS
Import virtual machines (VMs) and media (ISOs) to your VMware vCloud Director catalog through the VMware Lab Platform Admin UI. OVF, OVA, VMKS, VMDK, MF, NVRAM, and ISO file types are supported. The import process is a two-phase process, where you first upload the file and then import it in the template. Click Lab Builder, and click the ellipsis next to the New Lab Template button. In the Upload VMs/ISOs window, click Attach Files, and upload the required files. The upload progress information is displayed. After the file is successfully uploaded, you can import it for a lab.
Copy and move templates
Copy and move lab templates from one catalog to another catalog in using the Lab Builder menu.
Compute and storage units information
Administrators can now view compute and storage unit information from the Transcripts menu for a lab or a user. Navigate to Entitlements> Transcripts and click on the ellipsis next to the transcript file to view the compute and storage details.
Enable management of user roles from VMware Lab Platform
VMware Cloud Service users of VMware Lab Platform can use the Admin interface to manage all roles, except for the administrator role.
Support menu
For better support accessibility, the Admin interface is updated with hyperlinks for the Support site, Documentation, YouTube and Compatibility test results.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Introducing the billing dashboard
Keep track of current usage with the Billing Dashboard (Reports>Billing). Storage and compute utilization for labs are presented in an easy-to-read graphical representation.
Audit log
We are excited to announce a new log that keeps an audit trail for every administrator including Create, Update, and Delete actions. (Reports>Audit History)
Class resource capacity forecast
Streamline resource planning with the Upcoming Classes Resource Usage widget. The widget provides a timeline graph of estimated resource usage for upcoming classes.
New email setting for class-related notification
Send customized VMware Lab Platform alerts to students and instructors when a new class is created.
Faster lab provision on reset of an existing entitlement
We have improved the algorithms to quickly provision a new vApp when an existing entitlement is reset.
Deployment-based on geo location (API)
Control where entitlements are deployed when you have multiple clouds.
Compact manual and console tab
Lab users have more options to choose on how the full-screen mode should be handled.
Intercept paste
Copy text from the clipboard and paste it directly to a VM console.
Fix non-ANSI US keyboard layouts
Remap the keys pressed on your keyboard to send US ANSI key code equivalents to the console.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Detailed entitlement history
More information is always better than not enough. Administrators can now see a detailed event history for each stage of an entitlement, including timestamps. This gives admins a more comprehensive view when troubleshooting issues that are affecting multiple students, or when providing more specific information for a request for support.
Lab Builder - running workload identification
After stability, cost-consciousness is at the forefront of every cloud user's mind. Keeping this in mind, users can quickly and easily identify which templates in the Lab Builder have a VM or draft powered on. If the dot next to the template name is green, it is running. If it’s gray, it’s powered off.
Improved LTI interface
LTI v1.1 and v1.3 tool settings have been consolidated into a single interface for easier navigation and integration between VMware Lab Platform and your LMS of choice.
Deployment delay notification
Know if your students are having deployment issues as soon as they do. Template deployment delay alerts are now included in the Notifications widget. You can read more in the Working with Widgets documentation.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Bitnami
A catalog of possibilities at your fingertips. Bitnami provides no-cost, pre-packaged templates for standard applications such as WordPress, Redmine, GitLab, MariaDB, and over 100 more. These templates can be used directly from the VMware Lab Platform to build, deploy and launch new labs quickly. Bitnami applications are always secure, up-to-date, and packaged according to industry best practices. Check out what we have to offer at the VMware Cloud Marketplace.
Suspend vApp
If you do not use it, snooze it. The Suspend feature allows the administrator to hibernate a vApp upon exit, keeping its existing state in memory and ready to go after a lunch break or the next day of class while lowering compute costs for the time that it is not used. Less waiting and lower charges, the best of both worlds.
Console connection monitor
A number of improvements have been made to the Console Connection monitoring with respect to sensitivity, and the amount of information available to the instructor about the state of a student's connection to the console. If the connection is determined to be unstable from the student’s side, this information will be conveyed to the instructor in the class overview page, or when viewing an individual student's console.
Class duplication
Saving time is always in everyone’s best interest. That is why we have introduced the functionality to duplicate an existing class, targeted towards recurring classes. Navigate to the Classes section in the Admin UI. Choose a class from the list and click on the ellipsis on the left. Select Duplicate from the sub-menu and confirm. A window for class creation will appear and all fields should have the same values as the original class (except date and time zone fields).
Speed test improvements
Performance and latency issues are always aggravating, especially when it is difficult to determine where in the network path the issue resides. The VMware Lab Platform Speed Test will help students in determining where the issue is by looking at the connection to both the VMware Lab Platform servers and the Cloud where the lab is being hosted, which in turn will assist administrators and instructors to mitigate the issue as quickly and effectively as possible. The UI is improved making it easier to understand where the connectivity issue might lie, as you can run the test manually as opposed to only during the compatibility test before launching the lab. Lastly, the administrator can also specify which cloud to run the test against in a multi-cloud environment. For further information, see VMware Lab Platform Speed Test.
Instructor vApp cloning
The ability for an instructor to clone a vApp can now be restricted via a newly added Configuration setting.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Active lab template update
Lab (vApp) Templates can now be easily updated in-flight without any disruption to existing students (active entitlements) via Lab Builder. This functionality is very convenient in situations where an improvement is identified and introduced to a Lab template, but existing students are still active on the previous iteration of the lab. Once the lab template is updated and distributed, and new lab entitlements will be off and running on the newly released iteration.
Media management
Media uploaded through Lab Builder can be managed through a new menu in the UI called Cloud Media under Cloud Management, removing the need to manage it through vCloud Director.
Cloud catalog management
Cloud OvDC catalog administration can now be performed directly from the Admin UI. This provides the capability to create, update or delete catalogs, removing the need to manage it through vCloud Director. Navigate to Cloud Management > Cloud OvDC Catalogs and click on the ellipsis next to the catalog name for menu options.
Deactivate console controls
Administrators or class instructors can activate or deactivate controls visible in a student lab on a per lab basis based on case by case scenario. Navigate to Portal Settings>Configuration and search for console header buttons.
Student interface quick launch
If you want to see how the changes made by you will impact the end user console, we have the quick launch capability in the Admin UI which leverages your existing credentials to save time while testing. The link is located at the very bottom of the main menu.
Class start time auto-calculation
When creating a class, the administrator or instructor can choose to set the start and end time in either their local time, or the time where the class will be taking place. Updating one automatically updates the other, so no more referring to a time zone calculator.
Deactivate on-screen manual
For those courses that do not require any on-screen instructions or additional materials for students to follow, administrators can now choose to deactivate the instructions panel to avoid confusion for the students and free up screen real estate. Navigate to Portal Settings>Configuration and search for Hide Instructions panel when no manual.
vCloud Director vApp identification
An administrator can easily identify a template that was created in vCloud Director as opposed to VMware Lab Platform Lab Builder. Development of this functionality is part of an ongoing process to consolidate management interfaces into a single pane of glass. In addition to identification, vCloud Director vApps can also be deleted from the platform, putting more aspects of capacity management at your fingertips. Navigate to Cloud Management > Clouds and select Sync cloud vApps from the ellipsis menu next to the relevant org.
API additions
Instructors can now be added, removed or changed in the same way as students via API.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
PDF lab manuals
VMware Lab Platform now supports the PDF document format for student lab manuals. This feature enables content creators to use external authoring tools to develop lab manuals for use in VMware Lab Platform. In addition, it provides customers who have preexisting content an additional import option. Navigate to Lab Management > Lab Resources > Create Lab Resource.
Detailed billing
The new billing dashboard provides granular usage metering of on-demand service usage. This dashboard enables administrators to optimize usage of the service to help control cost. The new billing dashboard is available in the Tenant Management module > Billing.
Lab replication
With replicas, an administrator can easily and reliably replicate lab templates within the same region or to other geographical regions throughout the cloud. This feature helps enable several key use cases including distributing templates for high availability, remote backups, and improving performance for students by providing labs in-region.
Create user during entitlement creation
This functionality enables you to create a user during the entitlement creation process, without the need for the user to register for or create an account in VMware Lab Platform. This feature can be useful in one-time lab use situations, or to provide a quick hands-on demo without having the user go through the standard registration process.
Class self-registration
Instructors now have the capability to enable a class for student self-registration. This feature is advantageous in scenarios where an instructor may not have the student roster well in advance of a scheduled class. During class creation the instructor simply configures the number of seats the class is intended to support, and then provides their students with a self-registration URL. No account creation is required beforehand.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
A new option called Send Mail to User on Entitlement Creation is included with this update. An administrator can use the option to send an email that notifies a user that their entitlement has been created. Parameter values for the option are set from the Portal Settings>Configuration page on the admin user interface.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
You can now import Microsoft Word manuals directly into VMware Lab Platform, by using a process similar to the one used for ScreenSteps.
For more information, see the Upload and convert Word documents topic in the VMware Lab Platform Content Engine guide .
Administrators can now include a quick launch link when sending email to a user from the manual entitlement option.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Correction to the feature announcement for Quick Launch URL: administrators do not generate a quick launch URL. Instead, they access the Quick Launch URL that is automatically generated when a lab is assigned.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Additional pages of the Admin UI are available in an updated UI style, including Survey Configurations, Entitlement Callbacks, Tags, Products, Network Topology, and Badges.
A new interface for options controlled by administrators is available along with several new options. See Portal Settings>Configuration in the VMWare Lab Platform Administrators guide.
Administrators can access a Quick Launch URL containing an access token directly from the Entitlements page on the Admin UI. This is in addition to using the API to generate a token.
You can create an entitlement for a user from the Admin UI at Entitlements>User Entitlements>Create Entitlement.
You can install VM tools from Lab Builder.
The start and stop order and boot delay of VMs can now be modified in Lab Builder.
You can resize the console window in Lab Builder.
The Configuration Settings page replaces the Tenant Options form. You can display settings organized by function or with detailed information and enable or deactivate settings from either view. Searching on settings and filtering on fields is supported.
You can bulk upload users by class from the Admin UI at Security>User Control>Account Bulk Upload.
The tenant user interface includes an enhancement to notify users when prepops are not available.
VMware Lab Platform supports LTI 1.3 integration.
The following new features and improvements are included in this update:
Customize completion criteria for labs. Additional features for setting completion criteria for labs are included with the latest update.
For more information, see: Setting completion criteria for a lab in the VMware Lab Platform Administrator Guide. As an administrator, you can set values for the following settings.
Set a minimum time a student must spend on a lab before it can be considered completed.
Set the percentage of steps in a lab that a student must complete before the course can be considered completed.
Set tenancy-wide behavior to link End button availability to lab completion criteria.
Pre-provisioning ‘prepop’ values are now configured on the Update vApps Template screen.
