All help topics

Getting started

Your lab is prepared for you by the lecturer or a teaching administrator. You do not need to create an account or install anything — a current browser is enough.

1. When your environment is ready you receive an email with a link to your personal access page. If it has not arrived, check your spam folder or ask your lecturer to resend the invitation.
2. If your institution signs you in to CloudLabs with its own account (a Sign in with … button on the sign-in page), you can also sign in with the email address the lab was prepared for and see the My labs list.
3. In some organisations the link in the email works only after signing in. The page then asks you to sign in first and takes you back to your lab. Sign in with the account that has the address the invitation was sent to.

The access page link is personal. Do not pass it on — whoever has the link can work on your desktop.

My labs

My labs lists the current and upcoming labs prepared for your email address. Labs that have ended drop off the list.

Open opens the lab's access page in a new tab.

The lab access page

The page Your lab environment holds everything you need to work:

• Remote desktop — Connect opens the lab's desktop in this window. If the lab offers several machines, each has its own button with its name.
• Time remaining — a countdown to the end of the lab and its exact end date; if you have a working-time limit, also what is left of it.
• Lab instructions — exercises and steps to print or save as PDF (when the lab has instructions).
• Lab provided by — the organisation that prepared the lab.
• Allowed login hours — only when the lab can be used at set hours.

There is no user name or password on the page — you are signed in to the desktop automatically. If you see Lab environment unavailable instead, the lab has ended, its time limit has been used up, or it has been removed. Only your lecturer or the organiser can extend it.

Working on the remote desktop

1. Press Connect. After a moment (Connecting…) the desktop appears on the page.
2. Click into the desktop to start typing. From then on it receives every key, including Tab.
3. To get back to the page, press Ctrl + Alt + Shift or click outside the desktop.

• Full screen fills the screen with the desktop. The desktop adjusts to the size of the window by itself.
• Clipboard: text copied on the page reaches the desktop, and text copied in the desktop reaches your clipboard while the page is active. The browser may ask for permission to use the clipboard. Only text is transferred, not files. Your organisation may have switched copying off.
• Disconnect closes the connection. The machines and your work stay — you can connect again.
• Reloading the page (F5) closes the connection, but the page reconnects to the same machine by itself.
• A desktop can be open in one place only. Opening it in another tab or on another device closes the earlier connection.

The desktop works in current versions of Chrome, Edge and Firefox. JavaScript must be enabled. If connecting fails, see Troubleshooting.

The CloudLabs panel inside the desktop

The lab's desktop runs the CloudLabs panel. It has several tabs:

• Info — when the lab ends, what is left of your time limit (if you have one), and how much memory the machines use.
• Instructions — modules, exercises and steps, one by one, while you work.
• Assistance — ask your lecturer for help (see Asking for help).

The switch Allow trainer to monitor my screen is off by default. When you turn it on, your lecturer sees a thumbnail of your screen in their tool (the Trainer Tool), refreshed every few seconds. Nothing is recorded, and the thumbnail is deleted when you turn the switch off or your session ends. At your next sign-in the switch is off again.

The power button in the panel signs you out of the desktop. Your machines and data stay until the lab ends. A language change in the panel applies at your next sign-in.

Lab instructions and PDF

When the lab has instructions, the access page shows a Lab instructions card. Open instructions shows every module, exercise and step on one page. Print or save as PDF opens the browser's print dialog — choose a printer or "Save as PDF". The same instructions are in the Instructions tab of the panel on the desktop.

Working time, login hours and the end of the lab

• End of the lab. When the Time remaining clock reaches zero, the lab is deleted with everything on its machines. Save anything you want to keep somewhere else before then. With less than a day left, the page reminds you.
• Working-time limit. A lab can limit your working hours. The time you are connected to the desktop counts. The panel warns you before the limit runs out; once it has, you are signed out and cannot reconnect. To get more time, contact your lecturer.
• Login hours. Some labs can be used only during set hours, listed on the access page. Outside them, instead of Connect you see when the next window opens. When a window ends, the desktop signs you out.
• Disable date. The organiser can end your access early (for example after a submission deadline) while keeping the environment for your lecturer to review.

Asking for help and reporting problems

• During a class: open the Assistance tab of the panel on the desktop and ask for help. Your lecturer receives the request in their tool and can connect to your desktop to see it and help — only at your request.
• A problem with connecting or the page: start with Troubleshooting.
• Still stuck: contact your lecturer or the organiser of the lab (see the Lab provided by card). Give the lab's name, your email address and the time the problem started. If needed, the organiser passes it on to technical support.

Accessibility and language

The Accessibility button in the header of every page changes the display mode (light, dark, high contrast), text size, font (including fonts for readers with dyslexia), line spacing and animations. Changes apply immediately and are remembered in this browser. The whole portal can be used with the keyboard.

Choose the language at the bottom of the page (Polski / English). The access page opens in the language your invitation was sent in until you choose another.

More help

If something does not work as described here, see: Troubleshooting.