Environments
In OpenVLE, environments form the technical and organizational foundation of an event.
An environment defines which VM templates are used and is typically created as part of an event, determining which resources are available to participants.
Where can I find this section?
Via main menu: Events -> Environments
Alternatively accessible via: Linked via the detail view of an event
Features at a Glance
- View all existing environments of an event
- Create new environments with course structure and VM template assignments
- Assign participants and roles within an environment
- Link VM templates
- Edit or delete existing environments
Key Fields at a Glance
| Field name | Description |
|---|---|
Description | Free text field for documentation or commenting on the environment. |
Name | Name of the environment. Displayed throughout the interface and should be chosen to be unique and descriptive, e.g., "IT Training German 2024" or "Module Computer Science 1". |
Creating an Environment
- Open the Environments section in the main menu.
- Click Add to create a new environment.
- Enter a name and a description for the environment.
- Save the environment.
- In the VM Templates tab, you can now add or remove the required VM templates for the environment.
- Use this environment to prepare new events.
Editing an Environment
- Open the Environments section in the main menu.
- Search for the desired environment in the list.
- Click Edit or open the environment's context menu and select Edit.
- The form displays all current environment data.
- Adjust the desired fields — e.g., name or description.
- Save the changes.
- In the VM Templates tab, you can add or remove the required VM templates for the environment.
Changes to an environment (including the assigned VM templates) affect all planned events that use this environment. During deployment, the event is provisioned with the current version of the environment.
Active events are not affected: During deployment, a direct relationship between the event and the VM templates is created, so the event is decoupled from the environment from that point on.
Deleting an Environment
- Open the Environments section in the main menu.
- Search for the desired environment in the list.
- Click Delete or open the environment's context menu and select Delete.
- Confirm the deletion in the displayed dialog.
- The environment will then be permanently removed.
An environment can only be deleted when no assigned events exist.
Example or Use Case
An administrator wants to provide a new training environment for the "IT Basics" environment. They create a new entry in the Environments section and assign the VM templates for Windows and Linux VMs. After saving, the environment can be used in a new event.
Notes / Special Considerations
- Environments can be assigned to multiple events.
- An environment can contain multiple VM templates.
- Changes to an environment affect all planned events that use this environment. Already active events remain unchanged, since a direct relationship between event and VM templates is created during deployment.
- Deleting an environment is only possible when no assigned events exist.
- Only users with appropriate permissions may edit or delete environments.
Relationships to Other Objects
Many objects in OpenVLE are related to other elements within the system. The following overview shows which relationships exist and whether they trigger certain automations.
| Object | Description | Automatic behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Changelogs | All changes to the object are automatically logged. | Automatic removal when the object is deleted. |
| Events | An environment can be assigned to any number of events. | No automations. |
| Permissions | Object-specific permissions can be assigned directly to the object. | Automatic removal when the object is deleted. |
| Tags | Objects can be tagged with any number of tags to categorize or filter them. | Automatic removal when the object is deleted. |
| VM Templates | Any number of VM templates can be assigned to an environment. | No automations. |
Required Permissions
The permissions required for actions can be assigned via roles or individually. If you lack certain rights, the corresponding functions in the user interface are hidden or disabled.
| Action | Required permission | Path | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|
| View environments | courses_read | / or /<objectID> | |
| Create environments | courses_create | / | |
| Edit environments | courses_update | / or /<objectID> | |
| Delete environments | courses_delete | / or /<objectID> | |
| View events | events_read | / or /<objectID> |
Example:
/4a3bc312-d1af-4b3f-b222-f5e9cecbf007 – This gives the user access to this single object only.If the path / is used, the permission applies globally to all objects of this type.
For *_create permissions, only the global path / is allowed.