Student User Guide for ICT233 Virtual Lab Infrastructure (VLI) Workspace
Student User Guide for
Virtual Lab Infrastructure (VLI) Workspace
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Student User Guide for ICT233 Virtual Lab Infrastructure (VLI) Workspace
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
LOGIN ACCESS TO VOCAREUM LAB ....................................................................................... 2
2.
LAB RESOURCES ......................................................................................................................... 2
3.
LAB ENVIRONMENT ................................................................................................................... 2
4.
ACCESS TO WORK WORKSPACE ............................................................................................. 3
5.
INTERACTING WITH JUPYTER LAB IDE.................................................................................. 4
6.
INTERACTING WITH LABGUIDE ............................................................................................... 6
7.
INTERACTING WITH VIRTUAL DESKTOP ............................................................................... 8
8.
VIRTUAL DESKTOP APPLICATION [MONGODB COMPASS] ............................................... 8
9.
CONFIGURATION OF VIRTUAL DESKTOP SCREEN ............................................................... 9
10.
END LAB SESSION ................................................................................................................ 11
11.
SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENT ......................................................................................... 12
12.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO TAKE NOTE ............................................................................... 15
13.
IT SUPPORT ........................................................................................................................... 15
FAQ A-1 [BROWSER REQUIREMENTS AND CONFIGURATIONS] ............................................... 16
FAQ A-2 [DOWNLOADING FILE(S) FROM JUPYTERLAB IDE] ..................................................... 17
FAQ A-3 [UPLOADING OF FILE(S) TO JUPYTERLAB IDE] ........................................................... 18
FAQ A-4 [DESKTOP SCREENSAVER PASSWORD]........................................................................ 20
FAQ A-5 [BLACK BOX ON VIRTUAL DESKTOP] ............................................................................ 20
FAQ A-6 [VIRTUAL DESKTOP CONNECTION LOST] .................................................................... 21
FAQ A-7 [BLANK SCREEN ON SAFARI BROWSER WHILE ACCESSING VOCAREUM]............. 21
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Student User Guide for ICT233 Virtual Lab Infrastructure (VLI) Workspace
1. LOGIN ACCESS TO VOCAREUM LAB
1. Access Canvas LMS at https://canvas.suss.edu.sg
2. Login to Canvas and navigate to your T group course site.
3. Click on Vocareum Labs at the left menu.
4. For first-time users, you will encounter the Vocareum Terms and Conditions, please
scroll down to indicate that you agree with the terms and conditions.
5. Subsequently, the platform will automatically show the lab that is relevant to your
course.
2. LAB RESOURCES
For this course, you will be assigned with a single lab. It is named ICT233-Work
Workspace.
3. LAB ENVIRONMENT
1. There is a time limit of 5 hours of each session when you start the lab.
2. The session will be automatically disconnected once the 5 hours is up.
3. You can find the session timer just beside the “Start Lab” button.
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Student User Guide for ICT233 Virtual Lab Infrastructure (VLI) Workspace
4. ACCESS TO WORK WORKSPACE
NOTE: This workspace contains JupyterLab, LabGuide and a virtual desktop. It allows
you to:
•
•
•
•
•
Access JupyterIDE for your seminars, virtual classes, and free practice sessions
to work on your assignment
Access the virtual desktop to
o access MongoDB Compass application
o organize your files for submission
Submit your assignments.
Access Jupyter for interactive lab guide (LabGuide)
Practice the questions in LabGuide at your own time and pace.
a. Click on ICT233-Work Workspace lab.
b. Click on My Work button to access Work workspace.
c. While loading, you will notice a file tree browser on the left and a blank white space
on the right.
d. Once the lab is loaded, a new browser tab with JupyterLab IDE will be automatically
opened. For those who are using pop-up blocker, please ensure that you allow popups from Vocareum.
e. To access desktop, switch to Work Workspace and click on the localhost link.
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f.
A new browser with noVNC logo will automatically opened. Click Connect to connect
to the virtual desktop.
g. You will be accessing to a desktop just like the sample below.
5. INTERACTING WITH JUPYTER LAB IDE
a. In the file browser, you will find a few pre-created folders. Please do not delete the
folders especially the dbfiles folder as it contains your mongoDB database files.
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b. To create a new file in the file browser, right-click on the empty white space and
select New File.
c. To create a new folder, right-click on the empty white space and select New Folder.
d. To view more options that are available for a file/folder, do a right-click on the
file/folder to view the available options from the context menu.
e. To refresh the file browser, click on the refresh icon on the menu bar.
f.
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To upload file(s) to the file browser, click on the Upload button on the menu bar.
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Student User Guide for ICT233 Virtual Lab Infrastructure (VLI) Workspace
NOTE: You may upload multiple file(s) by holding on your Ctrl button on the keyboard
when selecting the files to upload.
g. To delete multiple file(s), please hold on the Ctrl button on your keyboard when
selecting the files, perform a right-click and click Delete.
h. To download your file(s), please hold on the Ctrl button on your keyboard when
selecting the files, perform a right-click and click Download.
6. INTERACTING WITH LABGUIDE
a. On the home page, navigate to the labguide folder.
b. Browse into the labguide folder and you will find a list of jupyter lab notebooks.
c. Click on the respective jupyter notebook file to access the lab questions.
d. Once the notebook is loaded, you should be able to see the same screen as follows:
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e. To get started, run the codes under the Getting started section to import the
necessary libraries. DO NOT MISS this step otherwise the rest of the steps will fail as
well.
f.
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Each question contains self-explanatory functions that you can use to enhance your
learning journey.
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7. INTERACTING WITH VIRTUAL DESKTOP
a. On the virtual desktop, you will notice a pre-installed MongoDB Compass for your
course. With the virtual desktop, you can also use it to organize your files and folders
for submissions.
8. VIRTUAL DESKTOP APPLICATION [MONGODB COMPASS]
a. Click on the MongoDB Compass shortcut that is located on the desktop.
b. In this keyring prompt, click Continue.
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c. Click Continue to proceed.
d. Accept the default setting and click Connect.
9. CONFIGURATION OF VIRTUAL DESKTOP SCREEN
You can adjust the screen resolution to fit your entire browser by the following steps:
a. Click on the arrow to show the noVNC control panel.
b. Click the Settings button on the noVNC control panel.
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c. Select Remote Resizing under Scaling Mode option. The option will allow the virtual
desktop to automatically fit into any custom sizing of the browser tab.
d. Once this setting is done, you can drag and pull the browser frame.
e. You can also enter the full screen mode by clicking on the Fullscreen icon.
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10. END LAB SESSION
Navigate to Workspace and click on End Lab link to end your lab session as shown in the
screenshot below. 1
1
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Do remember to save your work first before ending the lab session.
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11. SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENT
You are required to complete both Part (1) & (2) for submission.
Part (1) – Submission of Jupyter Notebook file in Vocareum
a. Click on the localhost hyperlink in Work Workspace folder to organize your files for
submission.
b. Copy the final version of your jupyter notebook from MyWork 2 into (1)
TMASubmission folder for TMA assignment OR (2) ECASubmission folder for ECA
assignment. To illustrate the submission for TMA assignment, see the example
below.
NOTE: Failure to copy or place the files into the respective submission folder will
result in your work not being received and graded by the grader.
c. Navigate to Work WorkSpace and click Submit button to submit your assignment.
d. Click on Yes button to proceed.
e. A Submission recorded message will flash on the bottom right corner of screen.
MyWork is a standard folder created for student’s working. You can replace this folder if you prefer to create
your own.
2
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f.
To check whether the files you have submitted is correct, expand the Submissions
folder on the file tree browser.
NOTE: This folder is read-only, no editing or upload is allowed.
g. Once you have verified that the files are correct, proceed to Part (2).
Part (2) – Submission of Word Report and Jupyter Notebook file in Canvas
a. Click on Vocareum Labs from the left menu in Canvas.
b. Do a print screen of the Vocareum submission details as shown in the sample
below.
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c. Insert this Vocareum submission detail screenshot into your word report.
Important – Please note the following:
The submitted date and time stamp of the final version of your jupyter notebook will
serve as your proof of submission in Vocareum. Thereafter, grader will grade based
on your final submission. Do NOT attempt to submit again in Vocareum after you have
submitted your report on Canvas. You are allowed to make multiple submissions
before the assignment due date. However, you need to repeat the above steps for each
submission.
d. Navigate to Canvas and select either TMA01 or ECA link under Assignments to
submit word document report for the respective TMA and ECA assignments.
For further instructions on submission of assignment, please download
Canvas User Guide for Students from Learning Services (LS) Support Portal
via the link below:
https://d2jifwt31jjehd.cloudfront.net/LSA101/others/LSA101_Canvas_Studen
t_Guide.pdf
e. Please note that you are required to submit your jupyter notebook file under TMA.ipynb or -ECA.ipynb respectively for your assignments.
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12. IMPORTANT POINTS TO TAKE NOTE
a. Students’ final version of solution code must be deposited in the submission folder.
For those who choose to develop their work locally, they are responsible for
troubleshooting the issues encountered on the local platform and for uploading their
files to the default Vocareum platform so that instructor can run the source code.
b. The solution code will ONLY be accepted on Vocareum when the word document
report for Turnitin is also submitted. Otherwise, it will be considered as invalid.
c. Vocareum Submission deadline rules:
a. Before deadline
i. Students can submit multiple attempts before the assignment
deadline. The grader will grade based on the last submission attempt.
b. After deadline
i. For students who have at least 1 submission before the deadline
cannot submit again.
ii. For students who have no submission before the deadline will only have
1 attempt to submit.
13. IT SUPPORT
Should you have any query or issues encountered, please use the discussion forum in
Canvas for clarification. Alternatively, you may contact the administrator via email at
vlisupport@suss.edu.sg for further support.
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FAQ A-1 [BROWSER REQUIREMENTS AND CONFIGURATIONS]
Google Chrome
1. Update the web browser to the latest version.
2. System Requirements (Please refer here for the latest information):
i. Windows
1. Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 or later
2. An Intel Pentium 4 processor or later that’s SSE3 capable
ii. MAC OS
1. macOS Big Sur 11 and up
iii. Linux OS
1. 64-bit Ubuntu 18.04+, Debian 10+, openSUSE 15.5+, or Fedora
Linux 39+
2. An Intel Pentium 4 processor or later that's SSE3 capable
3. Configure browser to allow third-party cookies from Vocareum. The screenshots
provided at the time of writing is based on version 131.0.6778.205.
i. Open Chrome browser.
ii. On the URL bar, enter chrome://settings/cookies
iii. Scroll down the page until you see this section – Sites that can always
use cookies and click on the Add button.
iv. In the Add a site box, enter [*.]labs.vocareum.com into the Site prompt
and check Including third-party cookies on this site.
v. Click Add button to add and the prompt box will close.
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vi. You will notice that your entry is now displayed at this section.
vii. Restart your Chrome browser.
FAQ A-2 [DOWNLOADING FILE(S) FROM JUPYTERLAB IDE]
To download file(s) from JupyterLab IDE to your local computer, please follow the steps
below:
a. From the JupyterLab IDE explorer, select the file(s) that you wish to download.
b. To select multiple files, hold down on the Control button (for Windows) on keyboard
and select the files one by one. The selected file will be highlighted in blue.
c. Right click on the selected file(s) and click Download.
If there is a prompt appearing on your screen to ask for your permission, click Allow.
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d. Please verify that the file(s) have been downloaded to your computer.
FAQ A-3 [UPLOADING OF FILE(S) TO JUPYTERLAB IDE]
To upload file(s) from your local computer to JupyterLab IDE, please follow the steps
below:
a. For single or multiple files, it is important to zip up the file(s) before uploading. This
is to protect the timestamp of file. Warning: The file(s) will lose its original
timestamp if you upload the file directly without zip.
b. Navigate to the directory where you wish to upload your file(s).
c. Click on the Upload icon button.
d. Select the Zip file and click Open to upload.
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e. Once upload is completed, you can find the zipped file listed under the directory.
f.
On the desktop, right-click the zipped file and click Extract Here to extract the file(s).
g. Check the timestamp of unzipped file(s) to make sure the original date and time is
preserved.
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FAQ A-4 [DESKTOP SCREENSAVER PASSWORD]
For users who come across the virtual desktop screensaver and need the password to
unlock it, the password is labsuser.
FAQ A-5 [BLACK BOX ON VIRTUAL DESKTOP]
If you have selected “One empty panel” on the Panel Prompt as shown below, you will get a
black box on the desktop.
To resolve this issue:
1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop and click “Open Terminal Here” from
the menu.
2. Once the terminal appears, enter the following command:
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a. rm -rf ~/.config/xfce4/
3. Navigate back to Work Workspace and click End Lab
4. Click Start Lab to start the lab again.
5. Once the lab starts, remember to choose “Use default config”
FAQ A-6 [VIRTUAL DESKTOP CONNECTION LOST]
Scenarios:
1. Your virtual desktop connection suddenly gets lost, and you are not unable to reconnect to your virtual desktop.
A sample of the error is shown below:
2. The noVNC logo is stuck in the connecting loop indefinitely.
To resolve this issue:
1. Close the noVNC browser tab.
2. Navigate back to the Work Workspace and end the current session by clicking on End
Lab
3. Clear your browser cache.
4. Click on the Start Lab to obtain a new session.
FAQ A-7 [BLANK SCREEN ON SAFARI BROWSER WHILE ACCESSING VOCAREUM]
Students who are using Safari browser on their MAC may encounter this issue where a blank
screen will appear after clicking on Vocareum Labs on Canvas (see image below).
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To resolve this issue:
1. Click on Safari, then select Preferences.
2. From the Preferences window, click on Privacy.
3. Under Website tracking setting, uncheck the Prevent cross-site tracking option.
4. Close the prompt box.
5. Refresh the Safari browser page.
---END OF GUIDE---
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