Choosing a Laboratory Name and Access Duration
The laboratory name is an administrator-facing identifier, while access duration controls how long the private production-derived environment remains available before expiry.
Location: Joomla Administrator → Components → QC Update Laboratory → Laboratory.
Step-by-step procedure
- Open QC Update Laboratory → Laboratory with no active lab.
- Enter a descriptive Laboratory name that identifies the maintenance/update purpose.
- Choose Keep access for: 1, 3, 7, or 14 days in the current creation form.
- Select Create Private Laboratory and let creation complete.
- Confirm the Active Laboratory shows the intended name and expiry before sharing the private review URL with an authorized reviewer.
Choose a meaningful name
Use a name that describes the maintenance purpose, such as “Joomla 6.1.4 rehearsal” or “Vendor Extension 4.2 update.” The name appears in QCUL’s active/history evidence and is more useful than a generic “test” when reports are reviewed later.
Choose access duration deliberately
| Duration | Guidance |
|---|---|
| 1 day | Short diagnostic/review window |
| 3 days | Recommended routine default |
| 7 days | Longer review cycle |
| 14 days | Extended review |
The current Create Private Laboratory form offers 1, 3, 7, or 14 days; Settings also supports a 30-day default. Keep the production-derived copy alive only as long as the real review requires. Refreshing or removing the laboratory ends the current copied environment and affects restore/checkpoint availability.
Security reminder
Duration is not a substitute for private access. QCUL still uses the external gate, run-specific access secret/cookie, noindex/cache controls, visible lab identity, and side-effect quarantine for the active environment.
Safety check before update testing
Before relying on Choosing a Laboratory Name and Access Duration, confirm the private copy still shows laboratory identity, its access gate works, and ordinary browsing stays inside the lab rather than silently using production. The cloned site contains production-derived data, so a laboratory that is not demonstrably isolated should be repaired or refreshed before any update rehearsal.
Community Discussion
Want to compare update-testing workflows, share practical tips, or discuss how you use this QCUL feature? Visit the QC Update Laboratory Community. For private support, bug reports, account-specific issues, or feature requests, use the QuantaCade support system.