Online VM Labs for CompTIA Certs

[Stephen P]

Peeps, I'm having a tough time finding a place where I can create some online labs for CompTIA certs. It seems I can get free VMs in the cloud for a 12-month trial period from all of the big names, but I need a place that will never charge my students any money. I very often am teaching people who made it into an income-based program, so I cannot reasonably ask them to spend more money than they have.

It would seem simple enough to get people to do the labs locally through Oracle VirtualBox or through Hyper-V (if available), but we also run into the issue of having classroom computers that simply are not robust enough (typically lacking RAM) to do the job right. We also have the ongoing problem of labs in the books that require Windows Server 2012, Windows 10, and such, which are not free, although we can ask students to download trial versions.

I'm finding myself very frustrated by the books that came from the LOChoice acquisition, as they ask us to do labs that we cannot do, and the online downloads do not even include the instructor setup files. I'm hoping someone here can help me help my students.

 

[Shane Walker]

Hey Stephen, I really like the Instructor Slides, and the searchable eBook PDF's that come with the latest CompTIA/LocChoice content. But I agree, you need enough horsepower to run the VM's in a lab. Currently at Collin College, I used the CompTIA/LOChoice books and slides, but use the NISGTC Virtual Labs (provided to the College via a Govt grant I believe).

I would eventually like to use the CompTIA/LoChoice labs, but have not looked into the hardware/software requirements enough to tackle that transition yet.
Which class are you currently teaching using the LOCHoice books? What are you doing for a workaround?

 

[Stephen Schneiter]

Hi Stephen and Shane, could not agree more that labs are always important. The hands on experience is critical for student success in the workforce and industry certification.

The CompTIA Virtual Labs is something I think worth looking at. The labs are browser based so you just need an Internet connection. They can be accessed from classroom, home or on the road. The student logs into the virtual environment and performs modular labs based on exam objectives directly on the virtual machine. There is an instructor module that allows the instructor to monitor the student progress in labs, active labs, send notifications to students and even take over access of labs to assist students.

I am attaching an information sheet on CompTIA Lab offerings so you can get an idea of what is out there.

 

[Glenn Hobbs]

One thing that I noticed about the LO labs is the Windows evaluation licensing. About 3 weeks into the class, my students started noticing that their servers would start shutting down after an hour in Hyper-V. As you probably know, Hyper-V Keeps the VM’s in a suspended state when it is not running, and this state will also survive a reboot. After investigating the issue, I discovered that the Server evaluation license has expired. The problem was resolved by running the “rearm” script. I’m concerned why we don’t have the full 180 days. This also brings up the question; does Logical Operations modify the images before they put them up for download or is the ISO “as-is" from Microsoft?

 

[Stephen P]

Hi Stephen and Shane, could not agree more that labs are always important. The hands on experience is critical for student success in the workforce and industry certification.

The CompTIA Virtual Labs is something I think worth looking at. The labs are browser based so you just need an Internet connection. They can be accessed from classroom, home or on the road. The student logs into the virtual environment and performs modular labs based on exam objectives directly on the virtual machine. There is an instructor module that allows the instructor to monitor the student progress in labs, active labs, send notifications to students and even take over access of labs to assist students.

I am attaching an information sheet on CompTIA Lab offerings so you can get an idea of what is out there.

I would love to have these included, but they are a separate purchase, not included with the LOChoice materials.

 

[robincm]

Trying to get what's some moderately serious cloud-based compute is not going to be free. It's not going to be expensive either, but expecting to find it for free isn't realistic.
Personally, I've built the labs in Azure, which works well for me and works out pretty cheap. The build scripts and setup guide comes with the new Net+/Sec+ Instructor guides.

 

[Stephen P]

Trying to get what's some moderately serious cloud-based compute is not going to be free. It's not going to be expensive either, but expecting to find it for free isn't realistic.
Personally, I've built the labs in Azure, which works well for me and works out pretty cheap. The build scripts and setup guide comes with the new Net+/Sec+ Instructor guides.

Thank you for posting something helpful!

 

[SEASC]

Hello All:
Attempting to set up labs for A+ and I am getting this error


PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> import-module comptia-labs-mups import-module : The specified module 'comptia-labs-mups' was not loaded because no valid module file was found in any
module directory.
At line:1 char:1
+ import-module comptia-labs-mups
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : ResourceUnavailable: (comptia-labs-mups:String) [Import-Module], FileNotFoundException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : Modules_ModuleNotFound,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ImportModuleCommand


Can someone please help me?

 

[Stephen Schneiter]

Hello @SEASC, the best and fastest way to get support for CompTIA Learn products is to contact support.

Submit a request – CompTIA

Use our Help, FAQ and Support topics to find information on various CompTIA programs & services, profile management, registration & customer support.

help.comptia.org

Or call 866.835.8020or 630.678.8300 (Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central)

They will be able to help resolve your issues.

 

[SEASC]

Support a wonderful feature has so far not been able to provide a solution. Can someone jump in here and get me across the goal line.