Merge pull request #108267 from nicolehaugen/AzLabAcceleratedSetup

Added accelerated setup guides for lab accounts and labs

Author: GitHubber17

articles/lab-services/classroom-labs/TOC.yml

@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@
   items:
   - name: Administrator guide
     href: administrator-guide.md
+  - name: Accelerated lab account set up guide
+    href: account-setup-guide.md
+  - name: Accelerated lab set up guide
+    href: setup-guide.md
   - name: Classroom labs - class types
     items:
     - name: Class types overview

articles/lab-services/classroom-labs/account-setup-guide.md

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+---
+title: Accelerated lab account setup guide for Azure Lab Services
+description: This guide helps administrators quickly set up a lab account for use within their school.
+services: lab-services
+documentationcenter: na
+author: spelluru
+manager: 
+editor: ''
+
+ms.service: lab-services
+ms.workload: na
+ms.tgt_pltfrm: na
+ms.devlang: na
+ms.topic: article
+ms.date: 3/18/2020
+ms.author: spelluru
+
+---
+
+# Lab account setup guide
+
+The first step that needs to be completed by administrators is to set up a lab account within your Azure subscription.  A lab account is a container for your classroom labs and only takes a few minutes to set up.
+
+## Understand your school's lab account requirements
+
+To understand how to configure your lab account based on your school's needs, you should consider the following questions:
+
+**Do I have access to an Azure subscription?**
+
+To create a lab account, you will need access to an Azure subscription that is configured for your school; your school may have one or more subscriptions.  A subscription is used to manage billing and security for all your Azure resources\services that are used within it, including Lab Accounts.  If you don't have a subscription, you should contact your account specialist to help with setting this up.
+
+**How many lab accounts need to be created?**
+
+To get started quickly, a reasonable approach is to create a single lab account and then later create additional Lab Accounts as needed.  For example, you may eventually evolve to having one lab account per department.
+
+**Who should be owners and contributors of the lab account?**
+
+Your administrators are typically the owners\contributors for a lab account since they are responsible for managing the policies that apply to all the labs contained within the lab account.  The person that creates the lab account is automatically an owner.  You can add additional owners\contributors (typically from the AAD tenant associated with your subscription) to help manage a lab account by assigning either the Owner\Contributor role at the lab account level.
+
+**Who will be allowed to create\manage labs?**
+
+You may choose to have your administrators and\or faculty members create and manage labs; these users (typically from the AAD tenant associated with your subscription) are assigned to the Lab Creator role within the lab account.
+
+**Do you want to give lab creators the ability to save images that can be shared across labs?**
+
+A Shared Image Gallery is a repository that you can use for saving and sharing images.  The benefit of this is that if you have several classes that need the same images, lab creators can create the image once and share it across labs.  However, to get started, it's perfectly reasonable to start without a Shared Image Gallery; and, you can always choose to add one later.
+
+If you answered 'Yes' to this question, then you will need to create and\or attach a Shared Image Gallery to your lab account.  If you answered, 'I don't know', then you can postpone this decision until later.
+
+When you have a Shared Image Gallery attached to your lab account
+
+**Which images in the Azure Marketplace will your classroom labs use?**
+
+The Azure Marketplace provides hundreds of images that you can enable so that lab creators can use the image for creating their lab.  Some images may include everything that a lab already needs.  In other cases, you may use an image as a starting point and then the lab creator may customize it by installing additional applications, tools, etc.
+
+If you don't know which images you will need to use, you can always come back to this later to enable them.  Also, the best way to see which images are available is to first create a lab account – this will give you access so that you can review the list of available images and their contents.  More information is provided below.
+  
+**Do the lab's virtual machines (VMs) need to have access to other Azure or on-prem resources?**
+
+When you set up a lab account, you also have the option to peer with a virtual network (VNet).  To decide whether you need to peer with a VNet, consider the following questions:
+
+- **Do you need to provide access to a licensing server?**
+  
+   If you plan to use Azure Marketplace images, the cost of the OS license is bundled into the pricing for Lab Services, so you do *not* need to provide licenses for the OS itself.  However, for additional software\applications that are installed, you will need to provide a license as appropriate.
+
+- **Do the lab VMs need access to other on-prem resources, such as a file share, database, etc.?**
+
+   A VNet needs to be created to provide access to on-prem resources, typically using a site-to-site Virtual Network Gateway.  If you don't have a VNet configured, additional time will need to be invested for this.  More information on how to set this up is provided below.
+
+- **Do the lab VMs need access to other Azure resources that are located within a VNet?**
+
+    If you need access to Azure resources that are *not* secured within a VNet, then you can access these resources via the public internet without doing any peering.
+
+    If you answered 'Yes' to one or more questions, then you will need to peer the lab account to a VNet.  If you answered, 'I don't know', then you can postpone this decision until later since you can always choose to peer a VNet after creating the lab account.
+
+## Set up your lab account
+
+Once you understand the requirements for your lab account, you are ready to set it up.  Follow the links in this section to see how to set up your lab account:
+
+1. **Create your lab account**
+
+   Refer to the tutorial on [creating a lab account](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/tutorial-setup-lab-account#create-a-lab-account) for instructions.
+
+   When creating a lab account, you may find it helpful to familiarize yourself with the Azure resources involved; refer to the following list for more information and guidance on creating these resources:
+
+   - [Subscription](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#subscription)
+   - [Resource Group](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#resource-group)
+   - [Lab Account](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#lab-account)
+   - [Classroom Lab](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#classroom-lab)
+   - [Selecting a Region\Location](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#regions-or-locations)
+   - [Naming Guidance for Resources](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#naming)
+
+2. **Add users to the Lab Creator role**
+
+   Refer to the tutorial on [adding users to the Lab Creator role](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/tutorial-setup-lab-account#add-a-user-to-the-lab-creator-role) for instructions.
+
+   Also, for more information on the different roles that can be assigned to users that will manage lab lab accounts and labs, see the [guide on managing identity](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#manage-identity).
+
+3. **Connect to a peer VNet**
+
+   Refer to the how-to guide on [connecting your lab's network with a peer VNet](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-connect-peer-virtual-network) for instructions.
+
+   You may also need to refer to instructions on [configuring the lab VMs address range](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-configure-lab-accounts#specify-an-address-range-for-vms-in-the-lab).
+
+4. **Enable and review images**
+
+    Refer to the how-to guide on [enabling Marketplace images for lab creators](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/specify-marketplace-images) for instructions.
+
+    To review contents of each Marketplace image, click on the image name.  For example, refer to the following screenshot which shows the details for the Ubuntu Data Science VM image:
+
+    ![Review Marketplace images](../media/setup-guide/review-marketplace-images.png)
+
+    If you have a Shared Image Gallery attached to your lab account and you want to enable custom images to be shared by lab creators, you will need to complete similar steps as shown in the following screenshot:
+
+    ![Enabling custom images in Shared Image Gallery](../media/setup-guide/enable-sig-custom-images.png)
+
+## Next steps
+
+See the following articles:
+
+- [Manage lab accounts](how-to-manage-lab-accounts.md)
+
+- [Classroom lab setup guide](setup-guide.md)

articles/lab-services/classroom-labs/setup-guide.md

@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+---
+title: Accelerated classroom lab setup guide for Azure Lab Services
+description: This guide helps lab creators quickly set up a lab account for use within their school.
+services: lab-services
+documentationcenter: na
+author: spelluru
+manager: 
+editor: ''
+
+ms.service: lab-services
+ms.workload: na
+ms.tgt_pltfrm: na
+ms.devlang: na
+ms.topic: article
+ms.date: 3/18/2020
+ms.author: spelluru
+
+---
+
+# Classroom lab setup guide
+
+The process for publishing a lab to your students can take up to several hours depending on the number of virtual machines (VMs) that will be created in your lab.  You should give yourself at least a day to set up a lab to ensure that it's working properly and to allow enough time to publish students' VMs.
+
+## Understand your class's lab requirements
+
+Before you set up a new lab, you should consider the following questions:
+
+**What software requirements does the class have?**
+
+Based on your class's learning objectives, you should decide which OS, applications, tools, etc. need to be installed on the lab's VMs.   To set up lab VMs, you have three options:
+
+- **Use an Azure Marketplace image** – The Marketplace provides hundreds of images that you can use when creating a lab.  For some classes, a marketplace image may already contain everything that you need for your class.
+
+- **Create a new custom image** - You may create your own custom image by using a marketplace image as a starting point and customizing it by installing additional software, making configuration changes, etc.
+
+- **Use an existing custom image** - You may reuse existing custom images that you previously created or that were created by other administrators or faculty at your school; this requires your administrators to have configured a Shared Image Gallery which is a repository for saving custom images.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Your administrators are responsible for enabling Marketplace and custom images so that you can use them; you will need to coordinate with your IT department to ensure that images that you need are enabled.  Custom images that you create are automatically enabled for use within labs that you own.
+
+**What hardware requirements does the class have?**
+
+There are a variety of compute sizes that you can choose from that includes:
+
+- Nested virtualization sizes so that you can give access to students to a VM that is capable of hosting multiple nested VMs; for example, this compute size is often used for Networking courses.
+
+- GPU sizes so that your students can use computer-intensive types of applications, such as for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
+
+Refer to the guide on [VM sizing](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/administrator-guide#vm-sizing) to see the complete list of available compute sizes.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Depending on the region you select for your lab, you may see fewer compute sizes available since this varies by region.  If you need to create a lab using a large number of GPU VMs, you should coordinate with your account specialist to submit a request to ensure that the number VMs are available within your region.  Our general recommendation is to select the smallest compute size that is closest to your needs.  With Lab Services, you can easily set up a new lab with a different compute capacity later if needed.
+
+**What dependencies does the class have on external Azure or network resources?**
+
+If your lab VMs need to use external resources, such as a database, file share, licensing server, etc. you will need to coordinate with your administrators to ensure that your lab has access to these resources.
+
+For access to Azure resources that are *not* secured by a virtual network, then you can access these resources via the public internet without any additional configuration by your administrators.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> You should consider whether you can reduce your lab's dependencies to external resources by providing the resource directly on the VM.  For example, to eliminate the need to read data from an external database, you could install the database directly on the VM.  
+
+**How will costs be controlled?**
+
+Lab Services uses a pay-as-you go pricing model which means that you only pay for the time that a lab VM is running.  To control costs, you have three options that are typically used in conjunction with one another:
+
+- **Schedule** - A schedule allows you to automatically control when your labs' VMs are started and shut down.
+- **Quota** - The quota controls the number of hours that students will have access to a VM outside of the scheduled hours.  If the quota is reached while a student is using it, the VM is automatically shut down and the student is not able to restart the VM unless the quota is increased.
+- **Auto-shutdown** - When enabled, the auto-shutdown setting causes Windows VMs to automatically shut down after a certain length of time once a student has disconnected from their RDP session.  By default, this setting is disabled.  
+
+    > [!NOTE]
+    > This setting currently only exists for Windows.
+
+**How will students connect to their VM?**
+
+For RDP to Windows VMs, we recommend students use [Microsoft Remote Desktop client](https://docs.microsoft.com/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/clients/remote-desktop-clients).  Remote Desktop client supports Macs, Chromebooks, and Windows.
+
+For Linux VMs, students may use either SSH or RDP.   To connect using RDP, you are responsible for installing and configuring the necessary RDP and GUI packages.  More details on this is provided below.
+
+## Set up your lab
+
+Once you understand the requirements for your class's lab, you are ready to set it up.  Follow the links in this section to see how to set up your lab.
+
+1. **Create a lab**
+
+   Refer to the tutorial on [creating a classroom lab](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/tutorial-setup-classroom-lab#create-a-classroom-lab) for instructions.
+
+    > [!NOTE]
+    > If your class requires nested virtualization, refer to steps in the how-to guide that shows [enabling nested virtualization](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-enable-nested-virtualization-template-vm).
+
+1. **Customize images and publish lab VMs**
+
+    To customize images and publish VMs in your lab, you connect to a special VM called the template VM; refer to steps to the following guides:
+    - [Create and manage a template VM](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/tutorial-setup-classroom-lab#publish-the-template-vm)
+    - [Use a Shared Image Gallery](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-use-shared-image-gallery)
+
+    > [!NOTE]
+    > If you are using Windows, you should also refer to instructions in the how-to guide for [preparing a Windows template VM](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-prepare-windows-template).  These instructions include steps for setting up OneDrive and Office for your students to use.
+
+1. **Manage VM pool and capacity**
+
+   You can easily scale up or down VM capacity as needed by your class.  Keep in mind that increasing the VM capacity may take several hours since this involves setting up new VMs.  Refer to steps in the how-to guide for [setting up and managing a VM pool](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-set-virtual-machine-passwords).
+
+1. **Add and manage lab users**
+
+   To add users to your lab, refer to steps in the following tutorials:
+   - [Add users to the lab](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/tutorial-setup-classroom-lab#add-users-to-the-lab)
+   - [Send invitations to users](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/tutorial-setup-classroom-lab#send-invitation-emails-to-users)
+
+    Also, refer to the following article for information on the types of accounts that students can use:
+    - [Student accounts](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-configure-student-usage#student-accounts)
+  
+1. **Set cost controls**
+
+    To control the costs of your lab, set schedules, quotas, and auto-shutdown; refer to instructions in the following tutorials:
+
+   - [Set a schedule](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/tutorial-setup-classroom-lab#set-a-schedule-for-the-lab)
+        > [!NOTE]
+        > Depending on the type of OS you have installed, a VM may take several minutes to start.  To ensure that a lab VM is ready for use during your scheduled hours, we recommend that you start VMs 30 minutes in advance to ensure that VMs are running and ready for use.
+
+   - [Set quotas for users](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-configure-student-usage#set-quotas-for-users) and [set additional quota for a specific user](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-configure-student-usage#set-additional-quota-for-a-specific-user)
+  
+   - [Enable automatic shutdown on disconnect](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/how-to-enable-shutdown-disconnect)
+
+        > [!NOTE]
+        > Schedules, quotas, and automatic shutdown do *not* apply to the template VM.  As a result, you must ensure that you shut down the template VM when it's not being used otherwise it will continue to incur costs.  Also, by default, when you create a lab, the template VM is automatically started, so you'll want to make sure that you immediately finish setting up the lab and shutdown the template VM.
+
+1. **Use dashboard**
+
+    Refer to the how-to guide on [using the lab's dashboard](https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/lab-services/classroom-labs/use-dashboard) for instructions.
+
+    > [!NOTE]
+    > The estimated costs shown in the dashboard is the maximum cost that you can expect for students usage of the lab.  For example, you will *not* be charged for unused quota hours by your students.  The estimated costs do *not* reflect any charges for using the template VM or the Shared Image Gallery.
+
+## Next steps
+
+See the following articles:
+
+- [Track usage of a classroom lab](tutorial-track-usage.md)
+  
+- [Access a classroom lab](tutorial-connect-virtual-machine-classroom-lab.md)