Use the CloudShare Viewer

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Updated
November 16, 2023 13:50

Welcome to CloudShare! Our browser-based Viewer brings many powerful and productive features to your virtual lab, class or POC experience. Here's a guide to help you start using it quickly.

Minimum Hardware Specification:

To use CloudShare, all you need isa computer that can handle a modern web browser and an internet connection. Even low-powered laptops, like Chromebooks, work well because CloudShare manages all the heavy computing work on its own systems.

Make sure your internet connection speed is at least 150 kbps. If you're having trouble connecting to your CloudShare environment, use the connection tester. (See Difficulty in Connecting? for more information.)

Logging In to the CloudShare Viewer

Click on the web link for your virtual lab, class or POC in the email that you received. The CloudShare Viewer will open in its own browser tab.
From your browser, log in to the Viewer using your email address and the passphrase that you received. Here's an example class Login page:

Note

The login dialog you see may be different if you access the Viewer from another platform using a single sign-on (SSO) provider.

After login, you'll be directed to your private environment, which you will see being prepared in the CloudShare Viewer.

Viewer Overview

CloudShare's Viewer provides a full-featured, intuitive way to interact with your environment. It enables you to simultaneously access:

Virtual Machines (VMs) and external resources (e.g, public clouds) that have been set up for you;
additional content and resources, when provided;
built-in video conferencing features;
tools for collaboration, including chat and personal assistance features, when available.

Our Viewer design makes it simple for you to use these components simultaneously, and in any combination.

Top Tabs	The tabs above the workspace provide an overview of the environment. Each VM or resource is represented by a separate tab. Just click a tab to show its content in the active workspace. The active tab is highlighted. If a VM fails to load, or has errors, a notification will appear in the active workspace.
Active Workspace	Here is where you work with the components that are available in your environment. The active workspace will change whenever you select a different tab.
Left Side Menu	Content and resources, such as an overview, user or course materials, external web links, and more, can be found in the panel to the left of the workspace. They can be activated even while a VM or other tab is being displayed. Clicking on the menu icon at the top of this menu expands (or retracts) the panel to show (or hide) the names of each available resource. Click a menu item to display its panel. To close the panel, click on its menu item again. Note A VM cannot be displayed in the Left Side Menu. It can only appear among the Top Tabs.
Content Panels	You can view a Content Panel while accessing other active workspace components, like VMs. To open a panel, click its name in the Left Side Menu. To close a panel, click on its menu name again. While it is open, a Content Panel can be adjusted to provide the optimum viewing experience for your current activity. Just drag the adjustment handle on the panel to the ideal width.
Collaboration Options	When using the Viewer for training, you can easily communicate and work with an Instructor, or chat with the whole class using the options located at the right side of the Viewer. The options displayed here will differ, depending on how the Viewer is being used. They can include: Class Chat Instructor Chat 'Assist Me' request to the Instructor Click an icon to use a collaboration option. To close, click on the icon again.
Video Conferencing	When using the Viewer for training, you can instantly join a CloudShare video conference that has been configured for the class. For more details, click here.
Environment Details	At the upper left of the Viewer you can see key details about your current environment, like its name, remaining runtime and end time. You can also access any Environment Actions that are currently available to you, including: Revert - Returns the session to its original state. This effectively starts the entire session over, removing all of your work. If the environment has external cloud resources configured, these will be reverted as well. Suspend - Stops any activity, stores the environment in its current state and shuts down all of its resources. Show the Cloud Folder - Makes your Cloud Folders available on a VM in the environment.
Viewer Info	This area provides access to recent CloudShare notifications, the Viewer language selector, Help links, and your user account details.
Settings and Tools	CloudShare provides all the settings you need for full control over your Viewer experience. More details on each function are provided below.

Viewer Settings and Tools

While using the CloudShare Viewer, you can make various settings and adjustments, transfer text, get credentials, upload files and more.

The settings and tools available to you will vary according to the resource you are currently using. For example, if a VM is currently active, you'll see options for displaying its connection details.

Public Clouds	This menu item is displayed when external resources are being used in the environment. Provides access to the external Public Clouds log for the current session, and also displays any available credentials for the external cloud resources currently being used.
Connectivity	The active remote access Connection Type is always highlighted above the Settings and Tools menu: The connection types that are available to you will vary, depending on the OS being used by the VM. To change between connection types, simply click the desired type. The active VM will reconnect using the selected type. The Connectivity menu provides access to the following Viewer connection settings and functions: Reconnect - Issues a reconnect command to the active VM. (You can also reconnect by clicking on the desired Connection Type.) Download RDP (Windows OS only) - Downloads a Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) file for the active VM to your local machine. For more details, click here. Connectivity Test - Runs a standard websocket and speed test for the active environment. If you are experiencing difficulty connecting to a resource, or your connection is running slowly, this function can provide relevant information from inside the Viewer. For help in understanding test results, click here. Connection Details - Shows key information about the connection to the current VM, including login credentials, IP address, and resources allotted. Whenever needed, you can copy this information for use elsewhere.
Display	Provides access to the following Viewer display settings: Resolution (Windows OS only) - Enables you to select the display resolution used for the active resource from a dropdown list. The resolutions shown will depend on your resource characteristics. Color Depth - Enables you to select a display color depth of 8, 16 or 32 bits for the active resource. Sound Configuration - Provides a popup menu that allows you to enable or disable audio functionality for the active resource. When available, a High Quality option will be shown to provide audio sampling frequency and/or bit depth that is greater than 44.1 kHz/16 bit. Full Screen - Displays the active resource in full screen mode. In this mode, no Viewer menus or functionality are available, however a popup menu is provided with relevant functions to enable work with the resource. To exit this mode, press Esc or click Exit from the popup menu.
Keyboard	Provides access to various Viewer keyboard settings. The settings available will vary, depending on the VM type (e.g., Linux or Windows) that is currently active: VM Clipboard (Windows OS only) - Enables you to transfer a clipboard of text between the local computer and a VM. For more details, click here. Send Text (Non-Windows OS) - Enables you to transfer a buffer of text between the local computer and a VM. For more details, click here. Control-V Function - Enables you to configure Control-V or Command-V functionality for a VM. For more details, click here. Send Username - Transmits the current username for the active VM as plain text. Send Password - Transmits the current password for the active VM as plain text. Send Ctrl-Alt-Del - Simulates sending the Ctrl-Alt-Del key combination to the active VM in order to 'reboot' it. Send Windows Key (Windows OS only) - Simulates sending the Windows key to the active VM in order to invoke a Windows-related or other special function. Send Ctrl-W - Simulates sending the Ctrl-W key combination to the active VM. Back, Forward, Home (Internet pages only) - Sends the associated page command to the active resource. Keyboard Language - Displays a dropdown list that enables you to select the language that the keyboard uses and transmits to the active VM. For more details, click here.
File Upload	Provides a file browser dialog box that enables you to transfer local files to the active VM. Files are transferred to the Uploads folder. This location of this folder will vary depending on the operating system of the active VM.

Testing Your Connection from the Viewer

If you experience any difficulty connecting to VMs or your connection seems to be running slowly, you can test your connectivity.

On the left side of the Viewer, from the Connectivity menu, select Connectivity Test.

Extending the CloudShare Viewer

This capability offers additional flexibility when extending your environments. It provides you with additional ways to manage your resource consumption and increase the use of environment extension. You can extend your policy and manage the usage of the environment as you see fit.

To get started, go to Environment Actions, and select Extend from the drop-down list.

Note

Whether or not end users have permissions to extend their environment depends on the project. Not all end users will have permissions to extend.

Here you can extend the environment(s) selected. Note that by default, the Runtime Lease and Storage Lease options will be pre-populated with the selected policy’s Runtime and Storage Lease values. The runtime cannot be longer than the storage time.

Once you’ve entered the requested lease times, click Extend. You can repeat this action as many times as needed.

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