1. EDIT
  2. 13. Course administration
  3. 13.1 Creating a new course instance

Creating a new course instance

This section discusses how to create a new course instance on an already existing course. In the case that you need to create an entirely new course with a new course code, contact the local A+ support. At Aalto University, use the form at Requests for course instances.

Demo video

Video of creating a new course instance.

Aalto GitLab

At Aalto University, the GitLab server is called Aalto Version Control System, https://version.aalto.fi/

Part 1: Prepare a git repo and branch for the new instance

In the course git repository, create a new git branch for the new course instance. The new branch could be based on the branch of the previous course instance. The new branch is needed for creating the new A+ course instance. At first, the new branch may be identical to the previous branch. You do not have to update the course contents of the new instance in the git repo before creating the new A+ course instance.

New git branches may be created in the GitLab web user interface or in the local clone of the git repo using the command-line:

# cd into the course repository
# Create a new branch named 2023. It is based on the currently active branch.
git checkout -b 2023
# Push the new branch to the GitLab server.
git push -u origin 2023

Aalto Version Control System: enable access to the course git repo

If you created a new git repo in version.aalto.fi, remember to grant access to the A+ support personnel and the servers. See the instructions in the wiki.

Part 2: Create the course instance in A+

New course instances can be created by a teacher in the Instances tab under the Edit course section. After filling in the required information and submitting the form, the course build begins automatically. This may take several minutes to complete, during which the course appears empty. You can check the build log at Edit course → Content → Retrieve latest build log.

Part 3: Set up the Git webhook in GitLab

Head over to the Git manager section under A+ Edit course section and get ready to copy the Hook and Webhook secret fields to the GitLab repository in the web interface of the project.

In the GitLab project home page of your course, go to Settings → Webhooks in the left-side menu. Click Add new webhook and fill in the form:

  1. Enter the hook URL in the URL field.

  2. Enter the webhook secret in the Secret token field.

  3. Select trigger for Push events, choose the Wildcard pattern option, and enter the Git branch name in the field (the same branch that you input previously in the course instance creation form) and select Enable SSL verification.

  4. Click the Add webhook button.

Posting submission...