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Getting Started

This guide takes you from zero to a connected appliance: sign in to MIMICK, install the CLI, adopt the appliance sitting next to your hardware, and open your first session. It should take about fifteen minutes.

If you're new to how the pieces fit together, read the Overview first.

Before you begin​

You'll need:

  • A MIMICK Cloud account in an organization. Adopting an appliance requires the org admin role (ask your organization's administrator if you're not sure).
  • A MIMICK appliance (a hardware unit or a VM).
  • The hardware you want to access (your DUT) and the cables to wire it to the appliance.
  • A workstation running macOS, Linux, or Windows.
  • The appliance and your workstation on the same local network, since adoption happens over the LAN.

Step 1: Sign in to MIMICK Cloud​

Open the MIMICK Cloud web app in your browser and sign in. Authentication runs through your identity provider, so you'll be redirected to sign in and then returned to the dashboard.

note

The hosted web console URL is included in your welcome email. If your team runs a self-hosted MIMICK Cloud, use your own instance's address.

Signing in on the web confirms your account works and lets you watch appliances come online later. The rest of this guide happens from the command line.

Step 2: Install the CLI​

The CLI is a single binary named mimick. Download the archive for your platform from the releases page, then put mimick somewhere on your PATH.

tar -xzf mimick-<version>-darwin-<arch>.tar.gz
sudo mv mimick /usr/local/bin/
mimick --version

mimick --version should print a version string. If your shell can't find the command, make sure the directory you moved mimick into is on your PATH.

note

A one-line installer and a Homebrew tap are on the way. Until then, the releases page is the source for signed binaries.

Step 3: Sign in from the CLI​

Authenticate the CLI against the Cloud:

mimick auth login

This opens a browser window for you to sign in. Once you approve, the CLI stores your credentials locally and refreshes them automatically, so you won't need to log in again for everyday use.

For a self-hosted instance, pass its address:

mimick auth login api.yourcompany.com

Confirm you're signed in:

mimick auth status

Step 4: Connect your appliance​

Set up the appliance next to your hardware:

  1. Power it on and connect it to your local network (the same network as your workstation).
  2. Wire your DUT to the appliance using the interfaces your device exposes (a serial console, USB, SPI, GPIO, and so on).

On first boot, an un-adopted appliance comes up in adoption mode and advertises itself on the local network, waiting to be claimed. It won't be reachable from the Cloud until you adopt it in the next step.

Step 5: Adopt the appliance into the Cloud​

Adoption ties the appliance to your organization. Run:

mimick appliance adopt --name "lab-bench-01"

The CLI discovers the un-adopted appliance on your network automatically, asks the Cloud for an enrollment payload bound to your organization, and delivers it to the appliance. The payload is end-to-end encrypted between the Cloud and the appliance, and the CLI only passes it along.

  • --name is required. It's the friendly name the appliance will show up under, so pick something that identifies the bench or location.
  • If automatic discovery doesn't find the appliance, point the CLI straight at it: mimick appliance adopt --name "lab-bench-01" --hostname <ip-or-host>.

Adoption needs the org admin role. When it finishes, the appliance dials out to the Cloud and shows up as connected, both in the web dashboard and from the CLI:

mimick appliance list

Select it as your active appliance so later commands know which one to use:

mimick appliance select lab-bench-01

Step 6: Open your first session​

See what's wired to the appliance:

mimick peripheral list

Then open an interactive console to one of its interfaces, for example a serial TTY:

mimick connect --peripheral /dev/ttyUSB0/tty0

You're now driving hardware in your lab from your own machine. Press the key combination shown on screen to exit the session.

What's next​

  • Overview: the concepts behind the CLI, Cloud, appliance, and DUT.
  • Explore the rest of the mimick commands with mimick --help, or --help on any subcommand.