CloudShare's Viewer provides a full-featured, intuitive way to interact with your environment. It enables your participants to simultaneously access:
- Virtual Machines (VMs) and external resources (e.g., public clouds) that have been set up in the environment.
- Additional content and resources, when provided.
- Built-in video conferencing features.
- Tools for collaboration, including chat and personal assistance features, when available.
The Viewer consists of the following areas:
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Top Tabs: The tabs above the workspace provide an overview of the environment. Each VM or resource is represented by a separate tab.
Just click a tab to show its content in the active workspace. The active tab is highlighted. If a VM fails to load, or has errors, a notification will appear in the active workspace. - Active Workspace: This is where you work with the components that are available in your environment. The active workspace will change whenever you select a different tab.
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Left Menu: Content and resources - such as an overview, user or course materials, external web links, and more - can be found in the panel to the left of the workspace. They can be activated even while a VM or other tab is being displayed. Clicking on the menu icon at the top of this menu expands (or retracts) the panel to show (or hide) the names of each available resource. Click a menu item to display its panel. To close the panel, click on its menu item again.
Note: A VM cannot be displayed from the left menu. It can only appear among the top tabs. - Content Panels: You can view a Content Panel while accessing other active workspace components, like VMs. To open a panel, click its name from the left menu. To close a panel, click on its menu name again. While it is open, a Content Panel can be adjusted to provide the optimum viewing experience for your current activity. Just drag the adjustment handle on the panel to the ideal width.
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Collaboration Options: When using the Viewer, you can easily communicate and work with an Instructor, or chat with the whole class using the options located to the right side of the Viewer.
The options displayed here will differ, depending on how the Viewer is being used. They can include:- Class Chat
- Instructor Chat
- 'Assist Me' request to the Instructor
Click an icon to use a collaboration option. To close, click the icon again.
- Video Conferencing: When using the Viewer, you can instantly join a CloudShare video conference that has been configured for the class.
- Environment Details: At the upper left of the Viewer, you can see key details about your current environment - like its name, remaining runtime, and end time.
You can also access any Environment Actions that are currently available to you per permissions, including:
- Revert - Returns the session to its original state. This effectively starts the entire session over, removing all of your work. If the environment has external cloud resources configured, these will be reverted as well.
- Suspend - Stops any activity, stores the environment in its current state, and shuts down all of its resources.
- Cloud Folder - Access the cloud folders if available on a VM in the environment.
- Viewer Info: This area provides access to recent CloudShare notifications, the Viewer language selector, Help links, and your user account details.
- Settings and Tools: CloudShare provides all the settings you need for full control over your Viewer experience. More details on each function are provided below.
Viewer Settings and Tools
While using the CloudShare Viewer, participants can make various settings and adjustments, transfer text, get credentials, upload files, and more.
The settings and tools available will vary according to the resource currently in use. For example, if a VM is currently active, you will see options for displaying its connection details.
- Public Clouds: This menu item is displayed when external resources are being used in the environment. It provides access to the external Public Clouds log for the current session, and also displays any available credentials for the external cloud resources currently being used.
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Connectivity: The active remote access Connection Type is always highlighted above the Settings and Tools menu: The connection types that are available to participants will vary, depending on the OS being used by the VM. To change between connection types, simply click the desired type. The active VM will reconnect using the selected type. The Connectivity menu provides access to the following Viewer connection settings and functions:
- Reconnect - Issues a reconnect command to the active VM (note that you can also reconnect by clicking on the desired Connection Type).
- Download RDP - (Windows OS only, Public IP only) - Downloads a Windows Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) file for the active VM to your local machine.
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Connectivity Test - Runs a standard websocket and speed test for the active environment.
If participants are experiencing difficulty connecting to a resource, or the connection is running slowly, this function can provide relevant information from inside the Viewer.
- Connection Details - Shows key information about the connection to the current VM - including login credentials, IP address, and resources allocated. Whenever needed, you can copy this information for use elsewhere.
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Display: Provides access to the following Viewer display settings:
- Resolution (Windows OS only) - Enables you to select the display resolution used for the active resource from a drop-down list. The resolutions shown will depend on your resource characteristics.
- Color Depth - Enables you to select a display color depth of 8, 16, or 32 bits for the active resource.
- Sound Configuration - Provides a pop-up menu that allows you to enable or disable audio functionality for the active resource. When available, a High Quality option will be shown to provide audio sampling frequency and/or bit depth that is greater than 44.1 kHz/16 bit.
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Full Screen - Displays the active resource in full screen mode. In this mode, no Viewer menus or functionality are available; however, a pop-up menu is provided with relevant functions to enable work with the resource.
To exit this mode, press Esc or click Exit from the popup menu.
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Keyboard: Provides access to various Viewer keyboard settings. The settings available will vary, depending on the VM type (e.g., Linux or Windows) that is currently active:
- VM Clipboard (Windows & Linux OS only) - Enables you to transfer a clipboard of text between the local computer and a VM.
- Send Text (Non-Windows OS, Consol connection) - Enables you to transfer a buffer of text between the local computer and a VM.
- Control-V Function - (Consol connection) Enables you to configure Control-V or Command-V functionality for a VM.
- Send Username - Transmits the current username for the active VM as plain text.
- Send Password - Transmits the current password for the active VM as plain text.
- Send Ctrl-Alt-Del - Simulates sending the Ctrl-Alt-Del key combination to the active VM in order to 'reboot' it.
- Send Windows Key (Windows OS only) - Simulates sending the Windows key to the active VM, in order to invoke a Windows-related or other special function.
- Send Ctrl-W - Simulates sending the Ctrl-W key combination to the active VM.
- Back, Forward, Home (SaaS Template only) - Sends the associated page command to the active resource.
- Keyboard Language - Displays a drop-down list that enables you to select the language that the keyboard uses and transmits to the active VM.
Note: Options could vary when using RDP10.- File Upload: Provides a file browser dialog box that enables you to transfer local files to the active VM. Files are transferred to the Uploads folder. This location of this folder will vary depending on the operating system of the active VM.
[Beta] Shared Environments – Participant Viewer
CloudShare’s Shared Environment feature enables multiple instructors and participants to interact within the same virtual environment (resources), facilitating collaborative scenarios and group-based learning activities.
You may refer to [Beta] Creating and Managing Shared Environments - 2026 for a full description of this feature, including how this feature appears in the Participant Viewer.
Changing the Viewing Language
Your participants can use any of multiple supported languages for the Viewer:
- English
- German
- Japanese
- French
- Chinese
- Spanish
To change the viewing language, click the icon at the top right of the Viewer. From the dropdown list that appears, select the desired language.
Changing the viewing language will affect numerous components of the Viewer -
- Menus
- Tab names
- Overview text content
- Runtime notifications that are displayed in the Viewer.
Testing Your Connection from the Viewer
To ensure that your CloudShare experience is productive and enjoyable, we recommend that the participant will test their connection to our platform before your class, POC or Demo begins. In most cases, connectivity will be fast and seamless when you use a modern web browser.
Guide your participants to verify the internet connection speed is at least 150 kbps. If they're having trouble connecting to your CloudShare environment, instruct them to use the connection tester.
Connectivity Minimum Requirements
Prior to running any tests, it may be helpful to know that a connecting device must meet the following minimum requirements:
- The browser must support WebSockets in order to connect to CloudShare environments and experiences.
- The minimum bandwidth in order to connect to a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) session is 150 Kbps.
CloudShare provides two distinct methods for testing your device's access and connection quality:
- Before logging in to CloudShare you can run a remote access test.
- While actually using a CloudShare experience, you can test your connection from directly inside your CloudShare Viewer.
Extending the CloudShare Viewer
Note: Whether or not end users have permissions to extend their environment depends on the project. Not all end users will have permissions to extend.This capability offers additional flexibility when extending your environments. It provides you with additional ways to manage your resource consumption and increase the use of environment extension. You can extend your policy and manage the usage of the environment as you see fit.
To get started, go to Environment Actions, and select Extend from the drop-down list. Here you can extend the environment(s) selected. Note that by default, the Runtime Lease and Storage Lease options will be pre-populated with the selected policy’s Runtime and Storage Lease values. The runtime cannot be longer than the storage time.
Once you have entered the requested lease times, click Extend. You can repeat this action as many times as needed.
Uploading Files to a VM
CloudShare’s Upload Files feature enables you to easily upload files to a virtual machine in your environment. With this feature, you can conveniently complete tasks by uploading files (including batch, integration, data and other types) and then use them during your training exercise or POC demo.
With the Upload Files feature, you can also upload configuration or executable files to work more efficiently with the files you need in the virtual machine.
Note: Files need to be uploaded per machine, per class, POC or demo.
Uploading Files to Your Environment
- Within your environment, select the relevant VM, and from the left side settings panel of the Viewer, click File Upload. The Upload Your Files popup dialog will appear:
- Click Upload Files, and use the file browser to locate and select the files you want to upload. Alternatively, you can drag-and-drop files from a folder into the area specified on the popup. When a file upload completes successfully, a green checkmark will appear next to the uploaded file. If there is an upload error, a red notification will appear.
- To see where your files are saved, click Where are my files?. They'll be in a folder called Uploads, whose exact location is determined by the machine's operating system. For Windows, this is C:\Uploads; for Linux, the location is the admin home folder, sorted alphabetically (we will choose the first admin user to run).
Important information:
- If the File Upload section is disabled in the sidebar, check to ensure that VMWare tools have been installed and are running on your virtual machine. For Windows-based VMs, PowerShell Version 2.0 or higher is required.
- In the network configuration for your environment, ensure that the Allow Outgoing checkbox is activated in order for file uploads to succeed. (Typically, this option is already activated by default.)
Uploaded File Requirements
Uploaded files must meet the following requirements:
- Uploaded files cannot be larger than 512 MB.
- Filenames can only contain the following characters: a-z, 0-9, ‘-‘, ‘_’, ‘.’, and spaces.
- If two files are uploaded with the same name on the same machine, the first file to download to the machine will be overwritten (if two upload requests occur simultaneously, it can also be the second one).
If the file upload fails for a particular VM, the training instructor or POC demo manager can access the environment details page and click the Resolve (Recommended) link.
Uploading to Legacy Operating Systems
The following additional steps that may be needed when uploading files to an older operating system.
Windows Server 2008
Download and install the following items on the VM: