Changes

== USEFUL INFORMATION FOR INSTRUCTORS (ALL SEMESTERS - PLEASE READ!)== #In the '''lab 1 instructions for SSD''', students are instructed to download the image to their windows machine (i.e. Downloads), then create a '''VM template, then edit it with instructions:'''<br><br><span style="background-color:yellow;">In this setup dialog box, click the options tab and then click the Advanced option at the bottom of the list. On the right-hand side, click the checkbox to enable the option to Boot with EFI instead of BIOS.<br>Then click on the Hardware tab, and then select the CD/DVD (IDE) device and select in the right-side select the radio button for the use ISO Image file. Click the Browse button and specify the path of your downloaded Centos7 Full install DVD (most likely file is contained in your Downloads folder). Click Processors, and click the check-box to enable Virtual Intel VT-X/EPT or AMD-V/RVI. When finished, click on the OK button. </span><br><br>Many students have done this for more than 3-4 semesters with their SSDs. Generally no problems encountered. '''Occasionally, students do not follow instructions and forget to set virtualisation for host VM with would affect nested VMs using KVM in lab2...'''. Examples: Can't edit Grub boot file, VMs cannot be installed properly in KVM, Installed VMs in KVM cannot be started, etc.<br><br>The instructions are there. '''I usually do install with students for lab1 Investigation 1 with students (only time I do lab with students) to help them get on the right track'''.<br><br># Subject: RE: '''How to allow students to obtain free VMware Workstation 12 Pro for use at home''' (eg. SSDs)<br><br>'''*** REQUIRED FOR INSTRUCTORS TO DO THEMSELVES - NO ONE WILL DO THIS FOR YOU ***'''<br><br>Students are entitled to free licensed version of VMware Workstation 12 Pro.<br>It is available for ALL OPS235 / OPS335 students, but particularly useful for students that have SSD drive and want to work from home of notebook computer. You, as an instructor NEED to send Clive (e-mail:<br>clive.beetge@senecacollege.ca) with just usernames (can be done via Blackboard or moodle) students. I recommend you also post an announcement for your student like this:<br><br><blockquote>''"All OPS235/OPS335 students in my course is allowed a free version of VMware Workstation 12 Pro for their personal use. This particularly useful for students that have Solid State Drives and want to work on OPS235 labs at homeusing VMware Workstation 12 Pro. I have e-mailed the administrator your seneca userid, and you should be getting an email with a long subject line.<br><br>WARNING: Check your quarantine and spam filters to see if this email gets trapped since spam filters may automatically trap suspicious emails with long subject lines.<br><br>Open that e-mail to obtain your VMware Wordstation Workstation 12 Pro software and registration key."<br><br>FYI<br>Insructor's Name"''</blockquote><br><br>'''NOTE:''' If students cannot access this information from their email, and if Clive has created their accounts, they can use the link and following instructions to obtain their program:<br>https://e5.onthehub.com/WebStore/Welcome.aspx?ws=d529a1f1-b430-e511-940e-b8ca3a5db7a1&vsro=8<br><br>

= Current: Summer 2018 Semester =# '''A quick note about replacing firewalld with iptables: ''I've found that disabling firewalld isn't always enough.'' ''' Certain processes and packages can re-enable firewalld automatically and without notice. When this happens, though firewalld and iptables are both set to start with the system, firewalld takes precedence. Iptables will never start up. This can cause problems for students, as firewalld can interfere with some of our labs and they assume firewalld is disabled at this point. I recommend we amend Lab 1 to instruct students to fully remove firewalld from their systems. I also recommend checking status of firewalld be part of your troubleshooting toolbox when helping students with strange issues. --Chris Johnson = Winter 2018 Semester =# It appears that doing yum update after May 2018 reintroduces the GRUB issue mentioned in '''#3''' of '''Fall 2017''' below for removable HDD on HP machines. A possible solution, since the one proposed in the earlier solution does not work, might be (to be confirmed whether the solution linked to here resolves the issue) https://noobient.com/post/165797742756/fixing-the-efi-bootloader-on-centos-7 = Fall 2017 Semester=

# <span style="color:red;">'''ATTENTION:'''</span> Verify your CentOS release version using '''rpm -qa centos-release'''. If it is '''1708''' <u>and</u> you are using a '''removable hard drive''' with boot issues then do the following: copy '''grubx64.efi''' from [http://mirror.centos.org/centos/7/os/x86_64/EFI/BOOT/ CentOS EFI/BOOT site here] into your /boot/efi/EFI/BOOT directory of your hard drive. To get to that directory of your hard drive you would need to boot from a live CentOS USB or CD/DVD and mount the /boot partition of your HDD. Try to do this yourself, otherwise ask for help from the lab tutor or instructor. You would also need to refresh your grub configuration using help from [https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/html-single/System_Administrators_Guide/index.html RedHat], [https://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/Grub2 CentOS] and [http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html Grub] or use the following [[File:/boot/efi/EFI/BOOT/grub.cfg]] for help. This directory tree is known to work<br><br><syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

</syntaxhighlight><br><br># In Lab2 (both versions), change from downloading raw image file (.img) to qcow2 file, and call it sample_test_image to get student to launch and login a sample version for exposure for future practical tests.<br><br># For next semester add in procedure for SSDs to create a duplicate image file for c7host in case the original is corrupted. Should also include warning about properly unmounting SSD device prior to removing from computer<br><br>