Troubleshooting

Solutions to common issues when running SnapBench labs.

Lab Won't Start

"Insufficient resources"

The organization has reached its quota limit.

Solutions:

• Wait for other labs to finish
• Contact your admin to increase quotas
• Stop any other running labs you have

"Failed to provision"

Generic provisioning error.

Solutions:

• Wait 30 seconds and try again
• Refresh the page and restart
• Contact your instructor

Stuck on "Starting"

Provisioning is taking longer than expected.

Solutions:

• Wait up to 5 minutes for complex scenarios
• Refresh the page to check status
• If still stuck, stop and restart

Terminal Issues

Terminal not connecting

Cause: Pod isn't ready yet or selector is misconfigured.

Solutions:

1. Wait 30-60 seconds for the pod to be ready
2. Refresh the page
3. Check the pod status indicator
4. Report to instructor if persistent

"Container not found"

Cause: The component failed to deploy.

Solutions:

1. Check if other components work
2. Stop and restart the lab
3. Report to instructor

Commands not working

Cause: You may be in the wrong container or missing tools.

Solutions:

1. Verify you're in the correct component tab
2. Check the instructions for the expected shell
3. Some containers have limited tools installed

Web UI Issues

Blank page / Not loading

Cause: Service isn't ready or port is wrong.

Solutions:

1. Wait for the service to initialize
2. Refresh the iframe (click the refresh icon)
3. Try opening in a new tab
4. Report to instructor

"Connection refused"

Cause: Service isn't running on the expected port.

Solutions:

1. Check if the pod is running
2. Refresh and wait
3. The component may have failed to start

Login required

Cause: The service requires authentication.

Solutions:

1. Check the instructions for credentials
2. Default credentials are often in the component description
3. Ask your instructor

Data Issues

Data not persisting

Cause: Labs are ephemeral—data is lost when stopped.

Note: This is expected behavior. Each lab starts fresh.

Can't connect between components

Cause: Services may not be ready or hostnames are wrong.

Solutions:

1. Verify both components are running
2. Check the hostname in instructions
3. Components use their label as hostname (e.g., postgres, kafka)

Performance Issues

Lab is slow

Cause: Resource constraints or high cluster load.

Solutions:

1. Be patient with complex operations
2. Avoid running multiple heavy processes
3. Report to instructor if consistently slow

Terminal lag

Cause: Network latency or high cluster load.

Solutions:

1. Check your internet connection
2. Try refreshing the terminal
3. Wait a few seconds between commands

Access Issues

"You don't have permission"

Cause: Membership is pending or suspended.

Solutions:

1. Check with your organization admin
2. Wait for membership approval
3. Ensure you're logged into the correct account

Can't see any scenarios

Cause: No published scenarios or wrong organization.

Solutions:

1. Verify you're in the correct organization
2. Check with your instructor about available scenarios
3. Ensure your membership is active

Getting Help

If none of these solutions work:

1. Note the error message - Screenshot if possible
2. Note what you were doing - Which step, which component
3. Contact your instructor - They can check server logs
4. Try again later - Some issues are temporary

Reporting Bugs

If you find a bug in SnapBench itself:

1. Note the steps to reproduce
2. Include screenshots
3. Report to your organization admin
4. They can escalate to the platform team