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USER GUIDE

Admin basics

Topic Detail
Persona persona / CHIMERA_PERSONA — vsphere (default), nutanix, hyperv, aws, or azure
Listen listen in JSON config — default 0.0.0.0:8989
Public host public_host for NFC URLs (use real hostname for remote clients)
TLS tls: true or CHIMERA_TLS=true — self-signed HTTPS
Simulator auth username / password — default administrator@vsphere.local / vmware (also used by Nutanix/Hyper-V basic auth; AWS access key / secret; Azure subscription ID / bearer token)
Admin UI login Default admin / admin; CHIMERA_ADMIN_USERNAME / CHIMERA_ADMIN_PASSWORD; changeable in Settings drawer (vSphere only)
Admin API token admin_token — default chimera-admin (Bearer for curl/scenario scripts)
Fixtures fixture_vmdk, fixture_vmdk_dir, fixture_vmdk_dirs, fixture_size_mb (vSphere NFC path)
Estate shape datacenters, clusters, hosts_per_cluster, datastores, vms_per_pool
Packages make package → .deb/.rpm; systemd unit chimera.service
Remote deploy ./scripts/deploy-remote.sh <host> [user]
Logs journalctl -u chimera or -t chimera

Endpoints

Path Purpose Persona
/__chimera/ Command Center UX vsphere
/sdk vSphere SOAP/VIM for govmomi / Transiva vsphere
/ Redirects to Command Center vsphere
/api/nutanix/v3 Prism-compatible REST (auth, VMs, power, disk export) nutanix
/wsman Hyper-V WS-Man SOAP (Identify, Enumerate/Pull, power) hyperv
/ and /snapshots/... AWS EC2 Query + EBS snapshot blocks (SigV4) aws
/subscriptions/... Azure ARM Compute + managed disk SAS (Bearer) azure

Use http(s)://<host>:8989/... in docs and client configs — substitute your lab hostname or DNS name for <host>.

Operate from the console (UX)

  1. Listen address: Settings drawer (gear) → read-only bind shown at top; restart required to change CHIMERA_LISTEN / config listen.
  2. Rotate UI login: Settings → new username + password → Save login → log out from user chip → sign in again.
  3. Verify estate: Overview topology subtitle + Inventory VM count vs config fields above.
  4. Fixture dirs: VMDK Library subtitle must show configured path; empty subtitle → set fixture_vmdk_dir and restart.
  5. API automation: Use Authorization: Bearer <admin_token> for /__chimera/scenario/*, /__chimera/faults, /__chimera/reset — same privilege as an logged-in browser tab.
  6. Remote clients: Footer persona strip shows public SDK URL Transiva should mirror; align public_host when NFC URLs must not say localhost.

Empty / fail: Settings save while logged out → login gate. VMDK upload 401 → sign in or pass Bearer token. Simulator login fails with correct UI admin → simulator creds are separate (administrator@vsphere.local / vmware).

Success: Listen matches curl/browser port; rotated admin login works; remote Transiva reaches /sdk on <host>.

Security notes

  • Change default admin credentials before exposing beyond a lab VLAN.
  • Simulator credentials are strict (wrong password fails) — not an “accept anything” mock.
  • Chimera is for test and compatibility, not production VM hosting.

See also product-repo docs/UX.md, docs/TRANSIVA.md, docs/PROVIDER_ARCHITECTURE.md.