In this article, you will find the answers to the following questions:

• Will others have access to the PG lab machines I am using?
• Can I work on multiple PG lab machines at a time?
• I am new to OffSec. Do you have any recommendations on PG lab machines I should start with?
• What are the differences between easy, intermediate, and hard PG lab machines?
• Am I able to access retired Proving Grounds Play lab machines?
• Are lab machines always on?

Will others have access to the PG lab machines I am using?

No, every machine accessed by the learner during his respective PG Play or Practice session is a private lab machine. Private machine access ensures each learner may focus on learning, without concern that another user will access and interfere with their machine during the session.

Can I work on multiple PG lab machines at a time?

You may access PG Play and Practice one lab machine at a time.  Private lab machine access ensures each learner may focus on learning, without concern that another user will access and interfere with their lab machine during the session.

I am new to OffSec. Do you have any recommendations on PG lab machines I should start with?

We have identified Warm Up, Get to Work, and Try Harder to represent varying difficulty levels. For those new to OffSec, we suggest beginning with Warm Up machines and progressing from there. Some of our machines also come with walkthroughs and hints to unblock aspiring learners.

What are the differences between easy, intermediate, and hard machines?

Easy, intermediate, and hard are the difficulty levels OffSec assigns to each machine. The intent is to guide our learners and better meet the needs of individual learning journeys and skill sets. We encourage those newer to InfoSec to begin with easy machines and progressively ease into intermediate and hard machines.

Am I able to access retired Proving Grounds Play lab machines?

New machines are added to Proving Grounds Play and Proving Grounds Practice regularly.

Retired Play machines will be moved under the Practice tab and will continue to be available for PG Practice subscribers. Please note you can still download the retired Play machines on the VulnHub website.

Are lab machines always on?

While we do not intend to restrict your access to lab machines, we would also like to ensure that our resources are used efficiently.

If your VPN connection or Kali instance closes, the lab machine will automatically close.

If you have not subscribed to PG Practice, once you start a lab machine, it will remain on unless you stop the lab machine, or your time for the lab machine has reached the daily 3-hour time limit.

If you have subscribed to PG Practice, once you start a lab machine, it will remain on for 12 hours, unless you choose to stop it yourself. You can start the lab machine again at any time while your PG Practice subscription is still active.