• 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

Scheduling a recurrent event with Course Manager

Course Manager schedules environments for recurrent events to stop at the end of each class day and start again at the beginning of the following class day. You can configure environments to start each day of the week, or only on the days of the week when class is in session. When scheduling a recurrent event environment, Course Manager selects an initial start time, recurrent stop and next class day start times, and a final delete time.

How Course Manager schedules initial start times for recurrent event environments

• Course Manager adds at least one hour of buffer (configurable for your account) before the event start time.
• Course Manager groups the environments for your event into batches based on their Metered RAM value, the initial template power state (shut down or suspended), and Skytap region.
• Course Manager schedules the batches to start in five-minute intervals, working backward from the beginning of the buffer before the event start time.
  • For example, you create Class to begin at 8:00 AM on Monday and end at 5:00 PM on Friday (and don’t disable recurrent scheduling on any days of the week) and add 15 participants to the event. Based on the workload size, Course Manager determines that it’s safe to schedule three batches of five participant environments to start at a time. Working backwards from the beginning of the buffer, Course Manager schedules three batches to start in five-minute intervals so that the final batch starts at 7:00 AM, the middle batch starts at 6:55 AM, and the first batch starts at 6:50 AM on Monday.
• If another event already occupies a time slot in the same Skytap region, Course Manager picks the next available time slot.
• If no time slots are available between the time you create the event and the beginning of the buffer, Course Manager schedules environments to start at the next available time slot after the beginning of the buffer.
• Participants provisioned in different Skytap regions may receive overlapping start time slots.
• If no time slots are available between the time you create the environment and the time the event begins on the first day, Course Manager schedules environments to start at the next available time after the event begins.
• If no time slots are available between the time you create the environment and the time the event ends on the first day, Course Manager doesn’t schedule environments to start (no start action is set on the Skytap schedule). You can start environments manually.
• If an event has already started and you add participants to it, Course Manager starts the participant environments at the next available time slot, based on the schedule of the event.
  • If you add a participant after class has ended for the day, Course Manager schedules the participant environment to start before class begins on the following class day.
  • If you add a participant while class is in session, Course Manager schedules the participant environment to start at the next available time slot that day. If no time slots are available before class ends that day, you must start the environment manually.

How Course Manager schedules recurrent stop and start times for recurrent event environments

• When you create an event, Course Manager uses the start and end times you select as the times the event begins and ends on each class day.
  • For example, when you created Class you selected its start time as 8:00 AM on Monday and end time as 5:00 PM on Friday. Course Manager understands this to mean that Class begins at 8:00 AM on Monday, ends at 5:00 PM on Monday, begins again at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, ends at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, and so on.
• Course Manager chooses recurrent stop and start times between when the event ends on the current class day and when it begins on the following class day.
  • For example, Course Manager schedules environments belonging to Class to stop after 5:00 PM on Monday and start again before 8:00 AM on Tuesday. It then schedules them to stop after 5:00 PM on Tuesday and then start before 8:00 AM on Wednesday, and so on.

• You can choose to either suspend your environments at the end of the day and resume them the following class day, or shut down your environments at the end of the day and run them the following class day. The type of power state change can be set at the account level or configured per event through the use of Course Manager tags.

  Notes

  Power VMs and x86 VMs with more than 256 GB of RAM can’t be suspended. If a participant environment contains both Power and x86 VMs and is scheduled to suspend at the end of the day, only x86 VMs with 256 GB of RAM or less will suspend.

  
  

  When a participant's environment contains Power VMs or x86 VMs with more than 256 GB of RAM:

  • (Info) displays next to the participant name on the Course Manager event page.
  • If you point to (Info), Course Manager displays the message: Certain VMs in this environment cannot be suspended.

Scheduling recurrent stops

• Course Manager adds at least one hour of buffer (configurable for your account) after the event end time that day to make sure that the event has concluded for the day.
• Course Manager groups the environments for your event into batches, based on their Metered RAM value, the scheduling action (suspend or shut down), and Skytap region.
• Course Manager schedules the batches to stop (suspend or shut down) in five-minute intervals, working forward from the end of the buffer after the event end time that day.
  • For example, because Class ends at 5:00 PM on Monday, Course Manager schedules the first batch of five environments to stop at 6:00 PM, the next batch of five at 6:05 PM, and the final five at 6:10 PM on Monday.
  • Course Manager chooses similar recurrent stop times for all 15 environments for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

  

• If a time slot is already fully occupied by other participant environments from any event, Course Manager picks a later time slot.
• Participants provisioned in different Skytap regions may receive overlapping stop time slots.
• If no stop time slots are available before the event begins the following class day, Course Manager doesn’t schedule recurrent times, and environments run for the duration of the event.

Scheduling (next class day) recurrent starts

• Course Manager adds at least one hour of buffer (configurable for your account) before the event start time on the following class day.
• Course Manager groups the environments for your event into batches, based on their Metered RAM, the scheduling action (run or resume), and Skytap region.
• Course Manager schedules the batches to start (run or resume) in five-minute intervals, working backward from the beginning of the buffer before the event start time that day.
  • For example, because Class begins at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, Course Manager schedules the first batch of five environments to start at 6:50 AM, the next batch of five at 6:55 AM, and the final five at 7:00 AM on Tuesday.
  • Course Manager chooses similar recurrent start times for all 15 participant environments for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
• If a time slot is already fully occupied by other participant environments from any event, Course Manager picks an earlier time slot.
• Participants provisioned in different Skytap regions may receive overlapping start time slots.
• If no time slots are available after the event ends on the previous class day, Course Manager doesn’t schedule recurrent times, and environments run for the duration of the event.

How Course Manager schedules final delete times for recurrent event environments

• Course Manager adds at least one hour of buffer (configurable for your account) after the event end time to make sure that the event has concluded.
• Course Manager groups the environments for your event into batches, based on their Metered RAM value and Skytap region.
• Course Manager schedules the batches for deletion in five-minute intervals, working forward from the end of the buffer after the event end time.
  • For example, Class, with 15 participants, is scheduled to end at 5:00 PM on Friday. The first batch of five environments is scheduled for deletion at 6:00 PM on Friday. The next batch of five environments is scheduled for deletion at 6:05 PM, and the final five environments are scheduled for deletion at 6:10 PM.
• If a time slot is already fully occupied by other participant environments from any event, Course Manager picks a later time slot.
• Participants provisioned in different Skytap regions may receive overlapping delete time slots.