On the Day of your Labtest
10 minutes before your labtest is to begin, students will receive a warning message on their display that the machine will be going into labtest mode and that they need to save their files. After a 5 minute grace period, the machine will all be rebooted into labtest mode.
Once a machine boots into labtest mode, the login screen displays a banner that indicates that the machine is in labtest mode. You may wish to verify that all the machines are showing the banner.
When students login, they are placed in the default desktop environment - GNOME. A temporary home directory that is used for their work in labtest mode will be created. A Firefox web browser will automatically open up and start at the default labtest home page. Once they read the general labtest disclaimer, they click on the “Start Lab Test” link and are taken to your labtest start page.
Students will continue to work on their labtest for the duration of the test. They can use the submit facility to submit their work.
Five minutes before the end of the lab test, students will receive a warning message on their display that the labtest is about to end. At the end of the lab test, all the machines are automatically rebooted and placed back into their original mode (Linux or Windows). When a machine is switched back to the standard operating mode, the temporary labtest home directories will be removed. In the event of a power failure, as long as the power returns before the labtest session is over, when the machines reboot, the students will be able to log back in and continue working.