• Course Manager by Skytap overview
  • Instructor-led training overview
  • On-demand labs overview
• Preparing a template
  • Installing CMHelper on a VM
  • Installing CMSysHelper on a VM
• Creating a course
  • Adding learning content to a course
    • Editing a Manual
  • Adding lab actions to a course
  • Adding script packages to a course
  • Adding lifecycle scripts to a course
  • Editing a course
  • Deleting a course
  • Previewing the Learning Console
• Creating and managing instructor-led training events
  • Creating and scheduling an event
    • Adding learning content to an event
    • Customizing email messages for an event
    • Editing an event
    • Deleting an event
  • Preparing for the event
  • Delivering the event
  • Viewing the event activity summary
  • Using event scheduling
    • Scheduling a recurrent event
    • Scheduling a non-recurrent event
    • Viewing event schedules
    • Using delayed provisioning
• Creating and managing on-demand labs
  • Using consumption control measures
  • Creating a lab
    • Adding learning content to a lab
    • Deleting a lab
  • Managing labs
  • Using the request portal – a guide for Lab and Event Manager users
• Using the Learning Console – a guide for lab end users
  • Using the Manual in the Learning Console
  • Using Resources in the Learning Console
  • Using File Drop in the Learning Console
• Viewing Learning Console activity
• Managing your user account
• Administering Course Manager by Skytap
  • Managing users
  • Managing account settings
    • Editing an email body
  • Using tags with Course Manager
  • Using commands, scripts, and the Virtual Browser
  • Using custom data attributes
  • Using metadata attributes
  • Using the Course Manager API
  • Course Manager Reporting
  • Using Course Manager fields for Skytap reporting
• Course Manager FAQ

Creating and managing on-demand labs with Course Manager by Skytap

After you prepare one or more templates in Skytap, set up consumption control measures in Course Manager, and create a course in Course Manager, you’re ready to request and manage on-demand labs with Course Manager.

If you use the Course Manager request portal workflow without a single sign-on (SSO) integration, you must invite request portal users to Course Manager before they can request and manage labs. For more information, see Managing users.

On-demand lab request workflows

Course Manager provides various on-demand lab request workflows, depending on your specific needs. Workflows include:

• Integration with an LTI-compliant LMS – Course Manager is integrated with a learning management system (LMS) that complies with the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) standard. Each course in the LMS that contains a Skytap lab is mapped to a course in Course Manager using the course identifier. When an end user receives access to a course in the LMS that contains a Skytap lab, the user requests and launches the lab directly from the LMS. The LTI-compliant LMS integration uses lazy provisioning, and geolocation can be used to find the nearest template to the lab end user.

• The Course Manager request portal – Lab end users sign in to Course Manager to request and manage lab environments but have limited access to other Course Manager features. You control which courses each request portal user can access to request labs, how many labs and snapshots they can have at a time, and how many times they can extend the lab sharing portal runtime limit and expiration.

  When you use the request portal workflow with a single sign-on (SSO) integration:

  • User accounts and content entitlements can be managed automatically.
  • User and organizational metadata can be passed into Course Manager and included in usage reports.

  For information about how request portal users can request a lab, see Using the request portal.

• The one-click workflow – The one-click workflow simulates an integration between Course Manager and an external system, such as an LMS that doesn’t comply with the LTI standard. It combines the Course Manager request portal workflow, an SSO integration, and a course-specific deep link that is embedded in the external system.

  To request a lab, the lab end user clicks the deep link in the external system, and the lab displays. On the back end, when the link is clicked:

  1. The user is automatically signed in to the Course Manager request portal through SSO if they aren’t already signed in. If the user doesn’t have a request portal account, one is dynamically created.
  2. Course Manager provisions a lab for the end user from the course with the identifier in the deep link. If the course is mapped to multiple templates, geolocation can be used to find the nearest template to the end user.

• The concierge workflow – A Course Manager Admin or Staff user requests a lab for the lab end user.

  For information about how Admin or Staff users can request a lab, see Creating a lab.

• The subscriber workflow – Lab end users allowlisted by domain or email address request a lab from the Course Manager home page. After a lab is requested, the end user receives an email with the lab access link. The subscriber workflow uses lazy provisioning.

Managing on-demand labs

Admin and Staff users can manage all on-demand labs in their Course Manager account, and request portal users can manage labs that they request through the portal.