Creating a lab that consists of a network that have different VMs like Windows and linux

Question

Hi,
I want to create a lab for my students. I teach cyber security. I want the lab to have multiple VMs like Linux and Windows with custom configurations.

I want each student to be able to provision it's lab and also have the ability to control the hours that lab is up and creating a user for each student. How can I achieve that using Azure lab services?

Answer 1

Hello, @vitaly simonovich !

We received your feedback and want to make sure that your question has been answered. I checked in with the Azure Lab Services team and to address your lab requirements within Azure Lab Services the recommendation is to use nested virtualization (likely with Windows 11 as the host and Kali Linux as the target). Please be sure to accept the answer to let us know that your question has been addressed.

How do I set up a lab with access to multiple VM types? What about ethical hacking scenarios?

For scenarios that involve ethical hacking, students will need access to tools as well as target machines. The recommendation for this is to use a host machine configured with nested virtualization. In this example, the lab is configured with a medium Nested Virtualization Windows 11 VM that has both a Kali Linux image and a Metasploitable image:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/lab-services/class-type-ethical-hacking?tabs=powershell

If that doesn't meet your needs, you can also set up advanced networking which allows you to control the network for labs created using lab plans (most often used for connecting to licensing servers or hub-spoke networking):

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/lab-services/tutorial-create-lab-with-advanced-networking

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Answer 2

Hello, @vitaly simonovich !

How would I create lab environments for both Windows and Linux?

Each lab will have a template VM that you can define as well as configuration values for things like number of hours that can be used, total number of VMs, and automatic shutdown when a VM is not in use.

For multiple VM templates you would create multiple labs that students can use. To allow them control the hours the lab can be used, set an upper limit on the total number of hours the lab VMs can be used. Students would then provision their own VMs based on the templates available in the labs to complete classwork.

• Create a lab plan and creators
• Create and publish a lab (and invite students)

Let me know in the comments if you have additional questions!

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I hope this has been helpful! Your feedback is important so please take a moment to accept answers.

If you still have questions, please let us know what is needed in the comments so the question can be answered. Thank you for helping to improve Microsoft Q&A!