AWS self-paced labs FAQs

Getting Started

Q: What is a qwikLAB?

A qwikLAB is an online learning environment along with a set of instructions to walk you through a live, real world and scenario-based use case. In a Lab you will have access to the actual environment you want to learn about, not a simulation or demo environment. You can access the Lab environment from anywhere on the Internet using a standard browser. Most Labs require credits to access (see below for credits details), but we do have variety of free Introductory Labs available as well.

Q: How do I take a lab?

• Get started by either creating an account or signing in.
• Find Labs by browsing the qwikLABS Quests, searching, or clicking on the Lab Catalogue and then the lab tab. The lab tab allows you to scroll through all of the available labs.
• Read more about a Lab by clicking on the lab of your choice
  • Duration is the estimated time to complete the Lab.
  • Access time is the total time resources are made available to take the Lab.
  • The Lab will automatically end after the access time is complete.
• To begin a Lab click on the 'Select' button. The Lab will not start until you have selected the 'Start' button and entered the appropriate credits or Token code (if credits are required).
• The cost of a Lab is indicated in Credits. Some Labs are Free and require no credits. Each dollar spent buys 1 credit. Labs vary in the number of credits required. For more information about the prices please see the pricing page.
• When you are finished with the Lab, click the 'End' button and leave a review.

Quests

Q: What are qwikLABS Quests?

qwikLABS Quests are introductory and advanced learning paths that consist of a collection of labs organized by technologies, specific services (e.g. Amazon Web Services) and practical use cases.

Q: What is a qwikLABS Quest badge?

Completion of the required labs that are part of qwikLABS Quests will earn you badges that recognize your hands-on expertise. In order to receive your badge, all required labs in the Quest must be completed.

Q: Do all qwikLABS Quests lead to a badge?

Yes, the successful completion of a Quest leads to a badge. We encourage you to visit our website periodically as we continue to add and update labs and Quests.

Q: If I complete a lab that is repeated in multiple qwik LABS Quests, does my credit count in both?

Yes, lab completion recognition is granted across all qwik LABS Quests. For example, if you complete “Creating Amazon EC2 Instances for Windows” in one Quest, you will receive lab completion recognition for that same lab across all qwikLABS Quests that contain the "Creating Amazon EC2 Instances for Windows" lab.

Q: What can I do with my qwikLABS Quest badges?

Your qwikLABS Quest badges will be a permanent part of your qwikLABS account and profile. Referencing your accomplishments can be a positive mark of distinction. You are encouraged to share your achievements on social media. You can do this by adding a link on, (for instance), your LinkedIn profile, pointing to your badge.

Credit Usage

Q: What are qwikLABS credits?

qwikLABS credits are purchased to gain access to a lab. Each dollar spent adds 1 credit to your qwikLABS account. For example, $8 equals 8 credits. Labs require different amounts of credits. Once purchased, qwikLABS credits are held in your qwikLABS wallet (found in your Account details page) and are used each time you take a lab. When selecting a lab, credits will be taken from your account to authorize one-time access to the lab you have selected.

Q: How do I use qwikLABS credits?

Log into run.qwiklab.com, select the lab you want to take, and then click Start Lab. You will see a pop-up screen showing you the number of qwikLABS credits required to take the lab, the number of qwikLABS credits already available in your wallet or the number of qwikLABS credits you need to purchase for the lab. If you have enough qwikLABS credits in your wallet you can choose to launch the lab. If you do not have enough qwikLABS credits, you will be prompted to buy the required amount.

Q: What happened to purchased tokens?

Purchased tokens are replaced by qwikLABS credits. You will no longer be able to purchase tokens.

Q: What happens to tokens that I have already purchased?

At the time we launch qwikLABS credits if you had unused purchased tokens that were not expired, we will automatically convert them to qwikLABS credits. Each purchased token has been replaced with 1x its purchase price in credits. For example if you bought one token for $29.99 you will receive 30 credits.

Q: What about event tokens, will they still be used?

You might be given tokens/access codes in certain cases, for example at an event like AWS re:Invent or NVIDIA GTC. These tokens will work the same as they have in the past as one-time use on any lab. With an event token you will be able to start any lab regardless of how many credits that lab requires. When you start a lab, in the pop-up screen, select whether you want to use tokens/access codes instead of your credits to get access to the lab.

Q: How do I buy qwikLABS credits?

You can buy qwikLABS credits one lab at a time as described in the "How do I use qwikLABS credits?" section. You can also buy preset qwikLABS credit bundles by clicking on the “buy qwikLABS credits” link in the qwikLABS banner. Purchasing qwikLABS credit bundles provide volume discounts. You also may enter any number of credits you want to purchase for your transaction by using the “*Number of Lab Credits” box.

Choose the Amazon “pay now” button or the Paypal “check out with paypal” button to purchase qwikLABS credits.

For Amazon Payments you will be directed to an Amazon Sign In page where you need to login with a valid Amazon account, or create a new account if you don’t already have one. Next, confirm your method of payment, and then wait until the Continue button appears to confirm your payment is processed. Click on the Continue button to return back to qwikLABS.

For PayPal you will be directed to the PayPal Sign in page where you will see your order summary and payment section, there you can choose to pay with your PayPal account or with a credit card of your choice. Click on the Continue button to return back to qwik LABS.

In both cases, once the payment transaction is complete you will then be directed to your qwikLABS Account details page where you will see available credits and payment history. You will also find the “share credits” bar where you are able to create Credit Sharing groups for the sharing of credits with your friends and colleagues.

Finally, click on the qwikLABS logo or the Dashboard link on banner to return to the main dashboard, select the Lab you want to take, and then click Start Lab. The pop-up screen will display your credits. Click on “launch with xx credits” to start the lab.

Q: How do I get a receipt?

Once your payment transaction is successful, qwikLABS will send you an email receipt.

Q: When do my qwikLABS credits get used?

Using qwikLABS credits provides you with one-time access to a lab. Once you start a lab, the qwikLABS credits apply for the duration of the lab. If you end the lab within less than 5 minutes (i.e., the “grace period”), or the lab has an error when starting, you will automatically be refunded your qwikLABS credits.

Q: If I take a break from my lab and come back later, what happens to my qwikLABS credits?

Your qwikLABS credits are valid for the duration of the lab once started. qwikLABS credits will expire when the lab is ended by the user or automatically at the end of posted lab access time. We recommend that you plan to have a block of time set aside to complete a lab before you hit Start Lab.

Q: Do I have to use new qwikLABS credits each time I start a lab, even if I have already done the lab before?

Yes, qwikLABS credits are required each time you start a lab. qwikLABS credits are good for single use.

Q: Can I use the same qwikLABS credits for multiple labs?

No, qwikLABS credits are consumed once you start a lab. You need additional credits to start additional labs.

Q: Do qwikLABS credits expire?

Unused qwikLABS credits expire 6 months after the date of purchase. qwikLABS will send you an email when your qwikLABS credits are about to expire.

Q: Can I reuse qwikLABS credits?

No. qwikLABS credits cannot be re-used.

Q: Can I get a refund if I cannot use all my qwikLABS credits before they expire?

No, refunds are not available for unused qwikLABS credits. We recommend you share qwikLABS credits with others before they expire.

Q: How do I share qwikLABS credits?

You can allocate qwikLABS credits to be shared with a person or with a group. To share qwikLABS credits, you must first create a Credit Sharing Group, and then assign users to the group. First, click your credit balance link displayed in the upper right hand corner of the main screen next to your gravatar. You will be directed to the Account Details page where you will see My Share Group. Click on the + button to create a new Credit Sharing Group. Add a Group Name for the new share group, provide a brief description, and then click the Update button. Next, click on your new group name to add qwikLABS credits and share group members. Users may be added individually using their qwikLABS user ID or by using the filters provided. All users within the group will share the total number of qwikLABS credits allocated to the group. Note that each user can potentially use all of the qwikLABS credits in a group. If you want to restrict credits by user you can create a separate share groups for each user.

Q: Will users be notified that they have been assigned to a group?

Users will not be notified they are assigned to a group. We recommend that you send them a notification. Users will however know how many qwikLABS credits are available to them, by looking at their credit balance link in the upper right hand corner of the qwikLABS banner.

Q: How do I know if I am part of a qwikLABS credit sharing group?

Users assigned to a share group will know how many qwikLABS credits there are available to the share group by looking at the credit balance link in the upper right hand corner of the qwikLABS banner.

Running a Lab

Q: When starting my lab, there is no Account ID visible on the Login page. What do I do?

AWS account ID (when applicable), your lab user ID and password are all available on the qwikLABS connection overlay page. All of these can be copied and pasted into the AWS console log in page which opens in a separate window.

Q: I am having trouble understanding what to do after I hit Start Lab?

Consult the Instructions tab for the Lab you are running for the specific instructions for the Lab. If you still have trouble, click on the support tab in the qwikLABS window, or create a support ticket at qwiklab.zendesk.com, or you can email us at support@qwiklab.

Q: What does lab duration time mean? How long do I have with a lab?

The posted duration time for self-paced labs is the average time that it takes to finish the lab. Access time posted is the amount of time lab resources are available to the student. Access time is generally 2x minutes the duration time. The access timer begins when the student hits the start lab button. The lab will end when the access timer clocks down to 0 seconds.

Q: I follow the instructions in the lab, but don’t see the same results?

Lab instructions are tested frequently. Often, issues arise when the instructions are not followed very carefully, so please try the sequence of steps again being sure to take all the necessary steps and use the specific commands and punctuation. If you still encounter issues, please submit a detailed description of your lab and the error messages by emailing us at [e-mail], clicking on the support tab, or by creating a support ticket at qwiklab.zendesk.com.

Q: Can I simply cut and paste commands and steps?

Frequently the cut and paste operation will not reproduce the commands exactly, due to hidden characters in the instruction manual. This sometimes results in extra characters or spaces added which will cause commands not to work. Most Labs now include a command file in plain text which will give the best results when cutting and pasting. To minimize errors you may get by cutting and pasting from the instructions, qwikLABS has cutting and pasting from instructions disabled.

Q: I clicked on a URL link in the instructions document and the document was not found?

Sometimes the links in PDF documents incorrectly embed spaces, especially around line breaks, which keep the URLs from resolving correctly. Check to see if there are embedded spaces, and remove them. If this does not resolve your issue, please let us know by emailing us at [e-mail] or by creating a support ticket at qwiklab.zendesk.com and we will resolve the issue.

Q: What do I do if I can’t get my lab to work?

Press the support tab (on every qwikLABS page) and search the knowledge base for an online answer or submit a ticket with a detailed description of your lab and the error messages including the severity level of the issue your have encountered.

Q: It says Lab is not activated.

Occasionally Labs are made inactive while being updated or undergoing other maintenance. If you want to be notified when an inactive Lab is made active again, please email us at [e-mail] or by creating a support ticket by clicking on the qwikLABS support tab.

Q: Can I use an iPad (or other mobile device)?

Mobile devices are not recommended due to limitations in the display, using multiple windows, and keyboard. Labs involving the AWS Console may not work at all. Best to run the labs from a laptop or desktop computer.

Q: It says I need a plugin to view the Instructions. Do I need to install special software?

Instructions are usually in Adobe PDF format, and should be viewable from within the browser. You may need to enable PDF viewing in your browser settings. Occasionally with older browsers or out-of-date Adobe software, PDFs are not visible and you will get a message requiring you to install or update your Adobe PDF viewing software.

Q: I cannot get access to the lab document. When selecting a lab I receive the message "Your organization has been deactivated" and I see a different web site login page in place of the PDF doc

A browser privacy setting is blocking the document from loading. To change the setting, go to browser preferences and allow 3rd party cookies. For example in Safari, go to preferences and click on the privacy tab under "Block cookies and other website data". Click "Never" and then load the page. Once the cookie is set you can move this setting to the default value and it will continue to work. This process also works with other non-Safari browsers.

Q: My Lab ended before I finished all the instructions. Can I restart the lab where I left off?

Labs are set up and tested with an Access time sufficient to read and complete all the instructions. Please allow yourself enough time to complete your Lab. Once the lab has completed the resources will be recycled and if you want to redo the lab you will need to start from the beginning.

Q: The lab does not seem to finish loading?

Some complex labs take time to set up completely. Check the Setup Time on the Lab information page. If the lab is taking much longer than expected, please email us at [e-mail] or by creating a support ticket by pressing the qwikLABS support tab.

Other

Q: How can I change my password?

You can change your password by clicking on your name in the upper right hand corner of the main screen. This will take you to the Edit User form where you can change your password.

Q: I created an account and tried to log on but I get a message stating that I need to confirm my account?

New accounts or password changes need to be confirmed via email, which has been sent to the email address you used to create the account. Please click on the confirmation link in your email. Note that sometimes confirmation emails land in spam filters or are blocked by firewalls. If you still have difficulties create a support ticket by clicking on the support tab and we can confirm your new account.

Q: I’d like to use the qwikLABS platform to create Labs for my company or my school. How do I get started?

Visit this link: http://www.qwiklab.com/contact and tell us how to contact you to discuss.

Q: I have a great idea for a lab, where can I submit it?

Email us at [e-mail] or create a support ticket clicking the qwikLABS support tab.