The App Store
The App Store is a catalog of ready-made apps, machine labs and challenge labs. An item that has been installed on your platform becomes a lab you can deploy and open like any other.
Open it from App Store in the sidebar, or from its tile on the home page. If you see neither, your platform does not have a store connected.
Finding an app
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| All / Apps / Machines / Challenge Labs | Filter by kind. An app is a machine with something to launch, so it also appears under Machines. |
| Installed / Not installed | Show only what is, or is not yet, on your platform. Each pill shows a count. |
| Search | Filter tiles by name as you type. |
| Category dropdown | Narrow to one category. Clear removes the filter. |
The header shows Installed Apps — how many items from the catalog are on your platform.
The store opens on the Apps shelf. Installed and Not installed are in the same row as the shelves and replace the shelf rather than narrowing it: Installed shows everything installed (apps, machine labs and challenge labs), and its count always matches what it shows.
Each app also has its own address, /store/ followed by the app's short name,
so you can bookmark or share a link to its page.
What the tile states mean
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Installed | On your platform and ready to open |
| Installed — update available | Installed; a newer version exists in the store |
| Installed — withdrawn upstream | Installed, but the publisher has withdrawn it. It keeps working and gets no further updates. |
| Installing with a percentage | Being installed right now |
| Install failed | The last install attempt did not finish |
| No badge | In the catalog but not installed here |
The app page
Select a tile to open its page. It shows the app's type, publisher, version, category, and a What you get list.
- If it is installed, select Open on Launchpad. That takes you to the lab's page, where you deploy it and open it like any other lab.
- If it is not installed, there is nothing for you to select — installing is done by your platform administrator. Ask them if you want it.
Server specs — CPU, memory and storage — are set by your plan, not by the app.
Some apps show a note explaining why you cannot use them, for example:
| Note | What it means |
|---|---|
| …is not available on this node | The app needs hardware or a runtime (a GPU, a desktop) that your platform does not provide |
| Your current plan does not include this app — an upgrade is required. | The app is limited to other plans |
The store's catalog lives outside your platform. If it cannot be reached, you see this message, or Showing a cached catalog with the last list that was loaded. Apps that are already installed keep working either way.
For administrators
Installing, updating and removing store items affects everyone on the platform, so these actions appear only for platform administrators. They are on the app's page.
| Action | When you see it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Not installed | Installs the app as a lab template on this platform |
| Retry install | The last install failed | Tries again |
| Update to version | An update is available | Installs the newer version |
| Reinstall | Installed and current | Installs the current version again |
| ⋯ → View install log | Any time | Opens the install output in the log terminal |
| ⋯ → Uninstall from this platform | Installed | Removes it. Refused while anyone still has a running copy. |
While an install runs, a progress ring and the current step show on the page. The full output streams to the log terminal at the bottom of the screen. Progress survives a page reload, so you can navigate away. If it fails, a message gives the reason and offers Retry.
An install will not overwrite a template that was authored on this platform, or a lab that was not installed from the store. Rename or remove the local one first if the names clash. It also refuses a slug that is already installed from a different publisher.
What an install does
- Downloads the app's package from the store and checks it.
- Gets the app's image ready, pulling it or building it on this platform.
- Adds the app to this platform's catalog as a lab.
After that, everyone on the platform finds it in Labs and deploys it like any other lab. The usual plan, hardware and eligibility rules apply to each person who deploys it. Installing does not start a copy for anyone.
View install log keeps working after the install has finished, because the end of the log is kept with the install record.
Uninstall removes the app from the catalog and from this platform. It is refused while any copy of it is running or still deploying. It works only on apps that were installed from the store, so it can never remove a platform lab or a template authored here.
To put one of your platform's own templates into the store, see Publishing to the Store.
Next
- Deploy your first lab — deploying an installed app works the same way
- Create a template — build your own instead