Overview
An overview of Instruqt's virtual IT lab platform. And its usage.
The Instruqt environment
Instruqt is a hands-on virtual IT Lab Platform for interactive learning. Virtual IT labs provide learners with hands-on sandbox environments. In which they can learn about products and technology.
Instruqt instantiates a running version of your software in a protected lab environment. With the lab environment, you can create product tutorials, demos, and training with Instruqt using real-world scenarios, infrastructure, and technology. Because Instruqt is a browser-based solution, Instruqt takes away the hassle with firewalls, configuring laptops, or virtual machines.
Sandbox with a virtual machine or container
A sandbox is a self-contained environment created using actual products to match real-world scenarios. Learners can access these sandboxes using only a web browser. And with these sandboxes, learners can experiment and learn without setting up anything themselves and worrying about breaking things.
An Instruqt sandbox is set up like this:
Where the sandbox can contain:
- Virtual machines
- Containers
- Cloud accounts
Furthermore, you can install any web app in an Instruqt sandbox. For example, PostgreSQL, Grafana, and GitLab.
Learners only need a web browser
Learners start the Instruqt web console in their browser to work with Instruqt. From the web console learners can do actions like:
Integrate Instruqt with external systems
You can use Instruqt as a self-contained virtual IT Lab. But you can also integrate Instruqt with your systems—for example, a Learning Management System (LMS). Integration can be done in the following ways:
- Embed Instruqt in your web pagesIn this setup, the virtual IT lab becomes an integral part of your web page.
- Connect your system to Instruqt through an Application Programming Interface (API)In this setup, your system exchanges data with Instruqt.
Basic parts: track, challenge, and script
Instruqt provides interactive learning using the following basic parts:
- Track
- Challenge
- Script
A track is a series of challenges that a learner has to solve. Where a challenge is a task the learner has to do:
In practice, learning content alternates challenges to guide the learner through a track:
Furthermore, you can use scripts to check if the learner has solved a challenge. Or to guide the learner when struggling.
Instruqt example
The following example shows a track with three challenges. In this track, you will learn how to navigate between tabs. To play the track, follow these steps:
1. Click the following link to open the example:
Instruqt
Instruqt
↳ The Track overview page opens:
2. Click Start track.
↳ Instruqt creates the sandbox environment for you, which takes some time. Your sandbox is ready when the
Start button appears.3. Click Start to begin your first challenge.
↳A terminal window opens, and at the right, you see your challenge:
4. Follow along the track instructions to solve the challenges.
↳ And finally, you will receive this Well done message:
5. Click Finish to close the track.
What you need before you start building
You need the following to start building tracks in Instruqt:
- A building tool You can use these two tools to build tracks:
- Web User Interface (Web UI) A web app that runs in all major browsers.
- Instruqt Command-Line Interface (Instruqt CLI) A CLI on your local Windows, Mac, or Linux machine.
You are free to choose your building tool. And can even use both tools side by side. Trainers and marketers lean towards the Web UI; developers and sales engineers towards the Instruqt CLI. See Set up for starting with the Web UI or installing the Instruqt CLI. If you choose the Instruqt CLI, you should also have a code editor installed. For example, Visual Studio Code (VS Code). VS Code is free and available for Windows, Linux, and Mac.
How to build tracks
To build a track, you take the following main steps:
And progressive learning is the best way to master building tracks:
- 1.Start with the Getting Started documents Set up and Quickstart. These documents will get you up and running quickly.
- 2.Progress with the How-to guides. These guides explain all aspects of building tracks, from creating a basic track from a template to creating a complex multi-cloud track.
Where to find detailed information
You will find detailed information—like settings and CLI commands—in the following sections:
You can also search for keywords in the complete documentation:
- 1.Click Search... on any documentation page to open the Search window.
- 2.In the Search field, enter your keyword. For example,
track. The Search window shows a list of items with documentation pages that contain "track". - 3.Click an item of your interest to open the underlying documentation page.
- 4.To reopen the Search window with the earlier results, click Search... again.
Join our Slack for more information
You can also join our Slack where you can browse questions and answers by other Instruqt users. Or drop your own question.
Last modified 28d ago
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