Creating and Publishing a New Lab on Scalyz: Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these steps to ensure your lab is well-crafted and successfully released to learners.

1. Filling Out the Lab Content Form

When you create a new lab, the first step is to enter all the necessary information into Scalyz’s Lab Content Form. This form captures the basic details and learning goals of your lab. Complete each of the following fields with clear and concise information:

1. Lab Title and Description

   Provide a clear, descriptive title and a brief summary of the lab. The title should grab attention and reflect the topic, while the description highlights what the lab covers. In Scalyz, you'll be asked to fill in a Title, a Short Description (for preview cards), and a more detailed Description for the lab’s landing page. Make sure the description sets expectations and motivates students to take the lab.

2. Learning Objectives

   List the specific learning outcomes that participants should achieve by the end of the lab. Each objective should be student-focused, describing what learners will be able to do or understand after completing the lab. For example, an objective might be “Deploy a web server on AWS and verify it is serving content.” Well-written objectives are clear and measurable, helping students understand the lab’s purpose.

3. Target Audience

   Define who will benefit most from this lab. Identify the intended learners' profile, such as their role or skill level (e.g. “Cloud computing beginners,” “Intermediate Python developers,” etc.). Be specific—this helps attract the right students. For instance, a cybersecurity lab might note that “The target audience for this course is law enforcement officers or security personnel who require public order training”  in a similar way. Stating the audience clarifies the lab’s difficulty and context (you may also specify a difficulty level like Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced if required by the platform).

4. Prerequisites

   List any knowledge, skills, or prior labs that learners should have before starting this lab. This ensures students are prepared and can complete the lab successfully. Scalyz displays lab prerequisites clearly in the lab details for learners, so use this field to mention things like required prior experience (e.g. “Basic Linux command line knowledge” or “Completion of Intro to Docker lab”). If there are no prerequisites, you can note that the lab is beginner-friendly.

5. Estimated Duration

   Provide an estimate of how long the lab will take to complete (for example, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours). This helps learners plan their time and also factors into how the lab session environment is managed. In the Scalyz form, you might set a content time limit (e.g. 60 minutes) for the lab (#). Be realistic with your estimate: consider the number and complexity of steps. It’s better to slightly over-estimate than under-estimate, to account for learners troubleshooting or exploring.

6. Token Pricing Strategy

   Decide on a token price for your lab. Scalyz uses tokens as the currency for lab access, so choose a price that reflects the lab’s value, difficulty, and length. A shorter beginner lab might be priced at a lower token amount, whereas an in-depth, advanced lab could cost more tokens. Look at similar labs on Scalyz for guidance and aim to make the lab accessible while also valuing your content. If unsure, consult with the Instructor Success Manager for pricing recommendations. The goal is a fair price that aligns with the lab’s content and the target audience’s expectations.

7. Evaluation Method

   Choose how you will evaluate whether learners have successfully completed the lab. Scalyz supports two primary evaluation methods:

   • QCM (Multiple-Choice Questionnaire): A quiz at the end of the lab where learners answer questions about what they did or learned. This tests their understanding of concepts and can be auto-graded easily. Design a set of clear, relevant multiple-choice questions if you opt for this method.

   • Automated Validation: An automatic check performed by the lab environment to verify that the practical tasks were done correctly (for example, a script could check if a server is running or if a configuration matches expected values). Automated validations give immediate, real-time feedback and ensure accuracy in a hands-on way. This method builds confidence by confirming each task completion, but it requires scripting the checks into your lab environment.

2. Developing the Lab Automation

Once the lab’s content is defined, the next step is to build the lab environment itself. Scalyz labs run in real cloud or virtual environments, which you as the instructor need to set up using Infrastructure as Code (Terraform). This ensures each student gets a fresh, consistent environment. Follow these steps to develop and test the lab automation:

1. Set Up Your Terraform Project

   Start by preparing the Terraform configuration for your lab. Scalyz provides a predefined Terraform repository structure (a template) to use as a baseline. Begin by copying this template from the github repository for your lab(Technical accesses will be provided by your Instructor Success Manager). The template will include standard directories and files (like main.tf, variables.tf, outputs.tf, etc.) organized in the recommended way. Adhering to this structure is important – a well-structured Terraform project makes your infrastructure code easier to maintain and understand (#). For example, keep resource definitions in the main.tf, declare input variables in variables.tf, and use outputs if you need to pass values (like IP addresses or URLs) back to the lab interface. Using the Scalyz template ensures consistency and that all required files (such as provisioning scripts or metadata files) are in place.

2. Define the Lab Infrastructure in Terraform

   Using Terraform, implement all the cloud resources and environment setup needed for your lab. This could include creating virtual machines or containers, setting up networks, storage buckets, loading any necessary datasets, etc., depending on your lab’s subject. Write Terraform code to describe these resources and their configurations. Be sure to parameterize where appropriate (utilize variables for things like region, instance size, or any dynamic values) and follow best practices (meaningful resource names, reuse modules if provided, etc.). Keep the lab’s objectives in mind: provision only what’s necessary for the student to accomplish the hands-on tasks. For example, if the lab is about deploying a web server, your Terraform might create an EC2 instance with a security group and install a web server package. Use the pre-defined Scalyz module patterns if available, and ensure your code fits into the repository structure from step 1 (this makes it easier for the Scalyz platform to integrate your lab deployment). A clean and modular Terraform setup will make the lab easier to troubleshoot and quicker to launch for each student.

3. Use the Scalyz Terraform Repository Structure

   As you develop, make sure you’re placing files and writing configurations according to Scalyz’s expected layout. The platform likely has conventions for how labs are organized (for example, a folder for initialization scripts or a specific file for validation logic). Following these conventions is crucial. It not only keeps your project tidy, but also allows the platform and reviewers to navigate your code easily. In general, maintain logical separation of concerns: define resources in one place, variables and outputs in their respective files, and any provisioning scripts (like cloud-init scripts or bash setup scripts) in designated folders. Well-organized Terraform code is easier to update and less error-prone, which will save time during review and future maintenance.

4. Run and Test the Lab in a Sandbox Environment

   Before releasing the lab to students, you must thoroughly test it yourself. Use a sandbox or test cloud environment (separate from production) to execute your Terraform code and launch the lab as a learner would. This typically involves running terraform init, terraform plan, and terraform apply on your configuration to provision the resources. Verify that all resources come up correctly and that the environment is configured as expected. Then, go through the lab instructions step-by-step in this environment, exactly as a student would. This lets you check that every step is achievable and that the instructions match the actual environment state. A sandbox (isolated test) environment is ideal for this process because it allows you to experiment freely without affecting real users or critical systems. As you test:

   • Ensure that all setup scripts or commands in the lab have run successfully (for example, if a script was supposed to create a user account or deploy an app, confirm it actually did).

   • If you’ve implemented automated validation checks, trigger them and see that they correctly detect success or failure conditions.

   • Take note of any step that was confusing or any resource that took a long time to be ready – you may need to adjust instructions or add notes in such cases (e.g., “It may take ~2 minutes for the server to start up, please wait before proceeding.”).

5. Debug and Optimize the Lab Experience

   It’s common to encounter some issues on the first test run. Perhaps a Terraform resource wasn’t configured correctly, or a step in the instructions is unclear. Use this phase to debug and refine. If Terraform encountered errors, inspect the error messages and fix the configuration or script. For example, you might need to add missing permissions to an IAM role, increase a VM’s memory if an application crashed, or open a firewall port that was blocking access. After fixing the infrastructure, run the lab again to confirm the issue is resolved.
   Also, optimize the lab for a smooth student experience:

   • Performance: Make sure the lab environment launches in a reasonable time. Use efficient provisioning (perhaps pre-bake an image or use smaller data sets) to avoid long wait times. For instance, using Terraform, you might choose a region with available capacity or use an appropriate instance type to balance speed and cost.

   • Clarity: Refine your lab instructions based on your test run. Add hints or clarify wording where you noticed any confusion. Ensure each task is clearly explained and in a logical order.

   • Validation: If using automated checks, verify they only trigger when the correct outcome is achieved and provide helpful feedback when something is wrong. Tweak the validation scripts if needed to avoid false negatives/positives.

   • Cost and Cleanup: Optimize resources so they are not unnecessarily large or expensive for the duration of the lab. Ensure any temporary resources are destroyed at lab end either automatically or by instructing the student, so no stray costs remain. This is important for Scalyz since labs consume tokens/credits – the environment should be lean but adequate for learning.

3. Publishing the Lab on Scalyz

Before a lab becomes available to students, it goes through review and publishing. Instructors submit the lab, an admin approves it, and then the Publish action makes the lab live on the platform.

After content creation and automation development, the final step is to get your lab approved and live on Scalyz. Unlike editing your own content, publishing involves Scalyz’s review process to maintain quality. Here’s how to navigate the publishing process:

1. Submit the Lab for Review

   Once you have your lab content and Terraform automation fully ready and tested, package everything for submission. This typically means ensuring the Lab Content Form (section 1) is filled out in the platform and your Terraform code is accessible (e.g., pushed to a repository or provided to the Scalyz team). Notify your Instructor Success Manager that the lab is ready for review. They may ask you to provide access to the Terraform repository or to upload it via the Scalyz instructor portal. At this point, your lab will likely remain in a “Draft” or unpublished state. (On some platforms, non-admin instructors can save labs but not publish them — an administrator must do the final publish). The Instructor Success Manager’s role is to evaluate your lab thoroughly before it goes live. Think of this as a peer-review or QA step: they will check the clarity of your content, the correctness of the environment setup, and the overall value to ensure it meets Scalyz standards.

2. Collaborate on Improvements (If Needed)

   Be prepared to receive feedback. Scalyz is committed to providing high-quality, up-to-date content to learners, so the reviewer might suggest changes to your lab. Common feedback could include: adjusting the wording of some instructions, adding a hint or explanation where learners might get stuck, modifying the difficulty labeling, or tweaking the token price if it seems misaligned. You might also get notes on the Terraform deployment (for example, to improve stability or security of the lab environment). Work with the Instructor Success Manager to refine these aspects. This is a collaborative process – don’t be discouraged by any feedback, as it will only make your lab better. Make the requested edits promptly: update the content form, revise the Terraform code or validation scripts, and test again if changes were significant. You may go through one or more cycles of review and revision. The goal is to polish the lab so that it provides a smooth, valuable experience for students and meets all of Scalyz’s quality criteria.

3. Approval and Final Publishing

   After addressing all feedback, the Instructor Success Manager (or the content review team) will do a final check and If everything looks good, they will approve the lab for publishing. Once approved, the lab can be officially published on the Scalyz platform by an administrator. In practical terms, this will be by merging your lab repository into Scalyz’s labs' repositories. Only authorized staff can complete this step, and they will coordinate the timing of the release. Upon publishing, your lab’s status changes from draft to live, meaning it’s now available for Scalyz users to find and start. The lab listing will include the title, description, objectives, etc., that you provided, and the platform will allocate the necessary infrastructure when a student launches the lab.

   Take a moment to celebrate — your lab content is now part of the Scalyz offerings!

4. Lab Visibility and Release Communication

   Once live, your lab will appear in the Scalyz Labs catalog for students to discover. Ensure that it’s categorized correctly (Check the tags provided at Labs land page) so that the intended audience can find it easily. Scalyz may tag the lab as “New” or highlight it due to its recent addition. It’s a good idea to coordinate with the Scalyz team on announcing the new lab. They might include it in a platform update, newsletter, or community post so that learners know about it. You can also promote the lab in the Scalyz community forums or social channels by sharing what skills it teaches and who should take it. Effective communication will drive engagement to your lab. Now that it's published, any Scalyz user with the requisite tokens or subscription can start the lab immediately or schedule it for later. Monitor the lab’s reception—be available to answer student questions in the community, and consider feedback for future improvements. Scalyz labs are part of a dynamic learning platform, so maintaining that supportive presence will enhance the overall learning experience.

5. Customer Support Stakeholder

   After having your lab published, bug and errors might be appearing to any learner and as Scalyz provides an accessible customer support system, the support team might reach out to you to notify the ongoing issue and to ask for further troubleshoot to be done as you hold expertise to your lab's content to resolve the ongoing issue. An internal Knowledge Base documentation might be proposed for troubleshoots on issues that occurred several times to boost fast reactivity to resolve the issue at our Customer Support level. 

By following this guide, you will have successfully created a Scalyz lab from concept to launch. You defined the lab’s educational content, built a reliable automated environment with Terraform, and navigated the review process to publish it. Your hands-on lab is now ready to empower students with practical experience. Congratulations on contributing to the Scalyz learning community, and happy teaching!