For Admins
Vocareum Virtual Machine (VM) Labs give learners on-demand access to cloud-hosted virtual machine environments directly in their browser, with no software installation required on their local device. Common use cases include:
Cyber range and network labs: give learners an isolated, networked set of virtual machines for cybersecurity exercises such as red team/blue team scenarios or network configuration courses
Equal access to applications: provide learners with access to software that requires a specific operating system, regardless of what device they are using
Uniform pre-configured desktop: give learners a virtual desktop environment pre-configured with the tools and applications for their curriculum
Key Concepts
As an org admin, you are responsible for setting up the infrastructure that teachers use to deploy VM Labs in their courses. The setup process involves three key concepts:
VM Image: a template that Vocareum uses to create each learner's virtual machine when they start a lab. It defines the operating system, software, and configurations that come pre-installed. Every VM in a student's lab is created fresh from a VM Image at the start of each session.
VM Lab: a lab environment configuration made up of one or more VM Images. A VM Lab can include a single virtual machine or a network of multiple machines, depending on the learning objectives.
Virtual Machine Assignment: the assignment a teacher creates in a course using a VM Lab configuration. When a student opens the assignment, Vocareum launches their personal VM environment built from the VM Lab's images.
Before you begin, Virtual Machine Labs must be enabled for your Vocareum organization by Vocareum support. Contact support@vocareum.com if this has not yet been set up for your org.
Setting Up VM Labs
The sections below describe the full setup process from initial configuration to a deployable lab.
Connect an AWS Account
VM Labs run on AWS infrastructure. Vocareum can either provide and manage an AWS account on your behalf — billing AWS usage to you at cost with no markup — or you can connect your own AWS account if you prefer to manage it directly. In both cases, account connection is a one-time process.
If Vocareum is providing your AWS account, contact support@vocareum.com to have the account set up. You can then skip ahead to Set Up a VM Image.
If you are connecting your own AWS account, complete the following steps:
Connect your AWS account to Vocareum — establish a trust relationship between your AWS account and your Vocareum organization. Refer to the article on Connecting a Customer AWS Account to Vocareum.
Grant VM Labs permissions — configure the permissions Vocareum needs to manage VM resources in your AWS account. Refer to the VM Labs section of the Connecting a Customer AWS Account to Vocareum article.
Set Up a VM Image
A VM Image is the template Vocareum uses to create student VMs. Choose the option that best fits your needs:
Use a Vocareum base image as-is: Vocareum provides pre-configured base images for common use cases. Contact support@vocareum.com to request one. No AWS setup required.
Update an existing image: launch a registered VM Image, make changes to the environment, and save the updated version as a new image. Refer to Updating a VM Image.
Create a custom image: build an image from scratch in AWS and register it in Vocareum. Refer to Adding a Custom AWS AMI for VM Labs and Registering a VM Image.
Configure and Enable a VM Lab
Once a VM Image is available in your organization, complete the following steps:
Configure a VM Lab — define a lab environment using one or more VM Images. Refer to Configuring a VM Lab.
Enable VM Labs for a course — turn on VM Labs access for each course where Virtual Machine assignments will be used. Refer to Configuring a VM Lab.
Create Virtual Machine Assignments
Once VM Labs are enabled for a course, Teachers and Admins can create Virtual Machine assignments using the configured lab environments. Refer to Creating a Virtual Machine Assignment.