Introduction to the Virtual Lab

Some UWEX degree programs use the Virtual Lab Infrastructure to create a secure connection between your computer and a virtual Windows desktop in which your program software is installed. This infrastructure uses a non-persistent environment, similar to an in-person computer lab. You can access the Lab through a web browser or a downloaded client to work on class assignments and projects that require specialized software applications.

Important things to remember when using the Virtual Lab:

• The Virtual Lab System Requirements are posted in the Virtual Lab Documentation. Check to be sure your machine will be able to download and use the Lab.
• Saving your work will require you to save to your local hard drive, an external drive (such as a USB drive) or cloud storage. See the saving instructions above for details.
• There is a 3-hour inactive time-out in place. If you are inactive in a session for three hours, your session will time out and you will lose any unsaved work.
• You will see a new, clean desktop each time you log in. Items saved on the desktop will not roll over onto a new session.

There are two ways to access the Virtual Lab: by downloading the VMware Horizon client, or by logging in through your web browser.

Which method should I use?

NOTE! These instructions relate to downloading the client. If you plan to use a web browser to access the Lab, move to the Access and Navigation tab above.

Click on your operating system:

Windows Installation

1. Begin by going to Virtual Lab start page. Click on the Download the Horizon Client for Windows link located near the bottom of the page. Do not enter your credentials to attempt to log in.

2. Now identify the product for your specific operating system (Windows), and select Go to downloads

3. Upon selecting your client, the product and download file details will be displayed (64-bit Windows used here as an example). Click on Download Now

4. From within the Windows File Explorer, double click on the Horizon Client application file located in the Downloads folder to launch the installer

5. You may be prompted to allow changes to be made to your computer, click Allow

6. A new dialogue box will appear asking you if you agree to the VMware terms and conditions. Once you have read through them, click on Agree & Install or Upgrade if you've previously installed the Horizon Client. Statuses will then be displayed while the installer works

7. When the installer has completed you will receive a Success! message, click on Finish to close the installer

8. You will then be prompted to restart your computer, click on Restart Now to finalize installation

Mac Installation

1. Begin by going to Virtual Lab start page. Click on the Download the Horizon Client for Mac OS X link located near the bottom of the page. Do not enter your credentials to attempt to log in.

2. Now identify the product for your specific operating system (macOS), and select Go to downloads

3. Next the horizon client and download file details will be displayed (macOS used here as an example). Click on Download Now

4. Depending on your web browser you may be prompted to allow downloads from "customerconect.vmware.com". Click Allow

5. Next you may see the download progress, and then the completed download of the DMG file notification within the browser window

6. Double click on the DMG file (either from the web browser download notification or the Downloads folder within the Finder) to begin installation. You will then be shown the VMware User Agreement. Once you have read through the terms and conditions, click Agree

7. A new window will appear prompting you to click and drag the Horizon Client application into the Applications folder

8. You should now see the VMWare Horizon Client application icon within your Applications folder

Accessing the Lab

Choose your preferred method below:

Accessing the Lab in Windows

1. First, find the VMware Horizon icon on your desktop or search from installed Applications

2. The first time you launch the VMware Horizon client, you will have to add the UW-Extended Campus server. Click on + New Server, or double-click on the Add Server icon

3. Enter in virtuallab.wisconsin.edu into the "Enter name of connection server" field, and click Connect

4. You will then be prompted for your UWEX-provided Lab credentials, which were sent to you via email at the start of Preview Week. Click Login

NOTE! Subsequent attempts of launching the VMware Horizon client will show a cloud icon with the newly added server name. Double clicking will launch the server

5. Double click on the desktop icon labeled with your program name to launch a connection to your VM desktop machine. You will see a status message informing you that the Virtual Desktop is being prepared

Please Note that the first time you log into the Virtual Lab, you may need to wait for your account to be provisioned. This usually takes less that five minutes

6. Once you are fully logged in, you should see something that looks like a normal desktop. Best practice is to ensure you see your VM's information displaying near the top right-hand corner of the screen, as this ensures your profile has fully loaded and is ready to use

7. Navigating in the Virtual Lab should be very similar to a normal desktop. Click the "Windows Flag" icon in the bottom left corner to find a list of commonly used applications for your program. The below is an example of what it looks like for Datascience

8. The Virtual Lab toolbar is located at the top of the screen and allows you to adjust a couple of settings. You may need to hover your mouse at the top of the screen if the toolbar is not "pinned"

Clicking on the 3-dot icon will bring up the Settings sub-menu

9. Within the settings menu the options you most likely will interact with are Drive Sharing (check out the Saving tab for more information about this option) or any of the Display settings

10. When you are finished working in the lab and have backed up all of your work, it is best practice to close out of it by one of two ways:

      1. From the lab toolbar and selecting Disconnect

      2. From the VM desktop double-click on the Sign Out ion

Accessing the Lab in macOS

1. First, find the VMware Horizon icon in your dock or search from installed Applications

2. The first time you launch the VMware Horizon client, you will be shown a warning about opening applications from the internet. Click on Open

3. Additionally on the first time you launch the VMware Horizon client, you will have to add the UW-Extended Campus server. Double-click on the New Server button

4. Enter in virtuallab.wisconsin.edu into the "Enter name of connection server" field, and click Connect

5. You will then be prompted for your UWEX-provided Lab credentials, which were sent to you via email at the start of Preview Week. Click Login

NOTE! Subsequent attempts of launching the VMware Horizon client will show a cloud icon with the newly added server name. Double clicking will launch the server

5. Double click on the desktop icon labeled with your program name to launch a connection to your VM desktop machine. You will see a status message informing you that the Virtual Desktop is being prepared

Please Note that the first time you log into the Virtual Lab, you may need to wait for your account to be provisioned. This usually takes less that five minutes

6. Once you are fully logged in, you should see something that looks like a normal desktop. Best practice is to ensure you see your VM's information displaying near the top right-hand corner of the screen, as this ensures your profile has fully loaded and is ready to use

7. Navigating in the Virtual Lab should be very similar to a normal desktop. Click the "Windows Flag" icon in the bottom left corner to find a list of commonly used applications for your program. The below is an example of what it looks like for Datascience

8. The Virtual Lab toolbar is located at the top of the screen and allows you to adjust a couple of settings

Clicking Connection and then Settings will bring up the settings sub-menus

9. Within the settings menu the options you most likely will interact with are under the Display tab

10. When you are finished working in the lab and have backed up all of your work, it is best practice to close out of it by one of two ways:

      1. From the lab toolbar and selecting the Disconnect button

      2. From the VM desktop double-click on the Sign Out ion

Accessing the Lab through a Web Browser

1. Begin by going to the Virtual Lab log-in page

2. Enter in your lab credentials and click Login

3. Click on your program tile to launch a connection to the Lab

4. Once you are fully logged in, you should see something that looks like a normal desktop. Best practice is to ensure you see your VM's information displaying near the top right-hand corner of the screen, as this ensures your profile has fully loaded and is ready to use

5. Navigating in the Virtual Lab should be very similar to a normal desktop. Click the "Windows Flag" icon in the bottom left corner to find a list of commonly used applications for your program. The below is an example of what it looks like for Datascience

6. The Virtual Lab toolbar is located alongsisde the left part of the screen and allows you to adjust a couple of settings

7. The settings you might use the most are opening up the file transfer (more about this within the Saving tab) and selecting the option to go full screen

8. When you are finished working in the lab and have backed up all of your work, it is best practice to close out of it by one of two ways:

      1. From the lab toolbar and selecting the Log out button

      2. From the VM desktop double-click on the Sign Out ion

Saving in the Virtual Lab

Click on your Lab access method:

Because your Virtual Lab exists in a non-persistent environment, it is recommended that you save your work on your local computer or a drive such as an external hard drive or flash drive, rather than in the Lab environent.

1. In the Virtual Lab, click on the 3-dot settings icon in the taskbar and select Drive Sharing. Confirm that the options for Share your local files and Allow auto access to removable storage are toggled on. You should see listed within the Folder/Drive area a connection to your local C: drive.

2. When you are working on a document or project, to save your progess, you will need to select the appropriate location in which to save it. The below example will use a Word document, but the process will be similar for other types of files

3. Choosing File, Save As and then Browse to select a file destination

4. Within the File Explorer you will want to select Network Drive (Z:) and then wherever you'd like to save your file. In this example we have made a Virtual Lab saved work folder on our local desktop where we will keep all of our files

5. To move something from your local computer into the Lab environment just open up the File Explorer and from within the Network (Z:) drive browse to the location where your file is

Because your Virtual Lab exists in a non-persistent environment, it is recommended that you save your work on your local computer or a drive such as an external hard drive or flash drive, rather than in the Lab environent.

1. Click on VMWare Horizon Client and then select Preferences.

2. Select Drive Sharing to confirm that the options for Allow access to home folder and Allow access to removable storage are toggled on. You should see listed within the Folder area a connection to your Mac's local home folder.

3. When you are working on a document or project, to save your progess, you will need to select the appropriate location in which to save it. The below example will use a Word document, but the process will be similar for other types of files

4. Choosing File, Save As and then Browse to select a file destination

5. Within the File Explorer you will want to select Network Drive (Z:) and then wherever you'd like to save your file. In this example we have made a Virtual Lab saved work folder on our local desktop where we will keep all of our files

6. To move something from your local computer into the Lab environment just open up the File Explorer and from within the Network (Z:) drive browse to the location where your file is

Because your Virutal Lab exists in a non-persistent environment, it is recommended that you save your work on your local computer or a drive such as an external hard drive or flash drive, rather than in the Lab environment.

1. When you have a document that you will want to save from the Virtual Lab to your home computer or external drive from within the browser version of the Virtual Lab, click the three lines that appear to the left-hand side of the Lab window to open the taskbar

2. From here, click the File Transfer button. This button is toward the top of the panel on the left

3. A new window will open up on the right side of the browser window with instructions on how to download something from the Virtual Lab onto your machine or external hard drive

4. Click on the file you'd like to transfer in the file finder or on the desktop (wherever you saved it) in the Lab and click ctrl+c on your keyboard. You'll see the file name appear in the File Transfer Window. Click the download arrow on the right side of the File Transfer Window to begin the download process

5. The file will download like a normal file from the internet, and will appear in your local Downloads folder. Chrome and Firefox download windows are shown below:

Chrome

Firefox

Using Cloud-based Saving

1. When you save in the Virtual Lab, save to the Desktop or Documents section

2. To save this file into a cloud location, first open a web browser within the Virtual Lab itself and log into your cloud service. The example below will use OneDrive, a service through Office365 which you may have access to through your home campus

3. Next, upload the document as normal. For OneDrive, click "Upload."

4. From here, find the file you saved to the Lab Desktop or Documents section and click "Open."

5. You should see the file begin to upload; once it does, it will appear in your cloud service files section

Common Issues and Solutions

Below, find some common troublshooting tips by clicking the tabs.

Download Rights

First, make sure you are able to download applications onto the computer you plan to use to access the Lab. If you are using a work computer, you may need to to check out the "Using a Work Computer" tab above.

Turn Off HTML5

If your download is failing, you may want to turn off HTML5 in the process. Walk through the "Download and Installation" tab. When you see the option for "Custom Installation," click it and make sure that the "Support for HTML5" box is unchecked. Proceed through the rest of the download and installation.

Older Versions

Sometimes, it may be best to download a version or two older than the current one. You can select your version on the Download Product page (step 3 of the Download and Installation tab).

Internet Connection

Be sure your internet connection is steady. It may be best to connect to your router via an ethernet cable for the duration of the download process.

Common Password Issues

Your Virtual Lab log-in credentials are sent to you via e-mail on the first day of Preview Week of your first semester. If you no longer know your Virtual Lab credentials or need your password reset, please contact our office and we will be happy to help.

If you would like to change your Virtual Lab password, you can do so by clicking the "Send Ctrl+Alt+Del" button in the Virtual Lab once you have logged in. Once you have clicked that, you will be able to choose "Change a Password." Your new password will need to meet the below criteria:

• Cannot reuse a password from the past (24) used passwords.
• Minimum of 7 characters
• It is best to change your password every 90 days
• Password cannot contain any part of the username
• Password meets the minimum complexity requirements:
  • Uppercase letters of European languages (A through Z, with diacritic marks, Greek and Cyrillic characters)
  • Lowercase letters of European languages (a through z, sharp-s, with diacritic marks, Greek and Cyrillic characters)
  • Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
  • Non-alphanumeric characters (special characters): (~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;"'<>,.?/)

Are you using a work computer to access the Virtual Lab?

• Turn off your VPN. Sometimes, VPNs can interfere with the download and access to the Lab.
• Employer firewalls can interfere with download and access to the Lab as well. Talk to your employer about whether you will need to make any changes or if you will be able to access the Lab within your work network.
• Ensure that you have download rights on your computer. You may need to work with your employer to receive those rights.