Self-adaptive cloud systems must make runtime adaptation decisions under uncertainty, balancing responsiveness against the risk of unstable or oscillating behaviour. This tutorial introduces symbiotic simulation as a decision-support mechanism for self-adaptive architectures, whereby a live simulation model runs alongside the operational system, evaluating candidate adaptations before they are committed. Attendees will be guided through the CloudSim-based Symbiotic Simulation Toolkit, exploring how what-if simulation supports stability-aware ranking of adaptation tactics. The tutorial combines a brief research overview of the MAPE-K-based self-adaptation loop with a hands-on component in which participants configure and run simulation scenarios, inspect adaptation logs, and compare outcomes across tactics. By the end, participants will understand the principles of symbiotic simulation and be able to set up and run the toolkit independently. The tutorial targets researchers and practitioners in self-adaptive systems, cloud computing, and software architecture, and requires no prior simulation experience—only basic familiarity with Java and cloud computing concepts.

Prerequisites: Basic Java; familiarity with cloud computing concepts (VMs, autoscaling)