VCI Prep Cloud Details

What’s a Prep Kit?

A prep kit is the term used to refer to practice labs for VCIs as they prepare and ramp-up on new VMware courses.

What’s Changed?

Traditionally, prep kits would need to be booked by a VCI the Wednesday of the week prior to consumption; this process meant that there were sometimes some missed prep opportunities for VCIs as assignments ebbed and flowed.

The new Prep Cloud approach replaces the current prep kit request process and provides instructors with flexible on-demand access to all of the currently delivered training courses for preparation purposes.  Having successfully run a beta of the Prep Cloud, we can now make this available to all VCIs.

When Should I Use a Prep Kit and the Prep Cloud?

You should use prep kits to prepare for delivery of new VMware courses only.

You should NOT use prep kits for any other purpose, such as providing yourself with a lab instance when delivering a live ILT course; we will be closely monitoring consumption of prep kits to ensure compliance with this policy.

How Do I Gain Access to the Prep Cloud?

Submit a support ticket for your account to be created in the Prep Cloud.
Make sure you add a note with your VCI registered email so that we can confirm eligibility and grant access.

Click here to open the support request
Please use the normal support process credentials on this page.

Once you have an account you can login via the following URL:
https://vmwarelearningplatform.com/eduprep

Notes:

• This Prep Cloud account is separate from your EDUILT Instructor account in VLP. This means that you could have the same username (email address), but the passwords are not global and each tenant account is managed individually.
• VLP does not handle multiple account logins across different tenants well. If you need to use this account at the same time as another VLP login (e.g. EDUILT Instructor account) use a separate browser.

Prep Cloud Usage & Limitations

• You can have one concurrent lab deployed at a time.
• To prevent the Prep Cloud from becoming saturated, some of the larger labs (e.g. vCF) have a global concurrency limit applied to cap those specific lab deployments and limit their impact on the Prep Cloud resources as a whole.
• Labs will be deployed with an expiry of 3-5 days by default based on the course duration. If you need more time, then request an extension or re-enroll if you don’t mind losing progress.
• Prep labs are spun up on-demand; as a result, it can take up to 60 minutes for a large & complex labs to start fully.
• If you do not see a lab in the catalog, please create a support request and the team will add it as soon as possible.

Interface Walkthrough

The interface is the same as the student interface in VLP with the addition of a catalog listing where you choose the lab you would like to enroll. You may enroll in one lab at a time; you can also re-enroll as many times as you need. See a screenshot below.

Enrolling in a Lab

To enroll in a lab, either search for the course name or select it from the appropriate category and click “ENROLL”.

Starting a Lab or Unenrolling from a Lab

Once you are enrolled the lab will show up in the ENROLLMENTS section in the left menu. You will need to start the lab by clicking the START THIS LAB button. 

NOTE: If you need to access another lab and still have an active enrollment, you must first select “UNENROLL” for the active lab; the active lab will be destroyed and you can start a new lab enrollment.

If there is a special case where you need more than one lab available concurrently in order to prep and absolutely cannot work through the labs in sequence, please contact support and we will review your request. A valid justification will be required.

Feedback or Other Topics

Please feel free to provide feedback directly to Drew LaBonne via dlabonne@vmware.com.
If there is an urgent issue or you need assistance with topics that are not listed here, please open a support request and an engineer will be happy to assist.