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Cockpit Flight Deck ManualMuse for Mule.

Chapter 3

Pre-flight: make your test accounts

Build a set of free, throwaway accounts from a public Gmail, so the first flights touch nothing real.

Why test accounts first

Before Cockpit sees anything of yours, it sees accounts that you made an hour ago and can throw away. You learn what it reads, what it asks permission for and what an approval card looks like, with nothing to lose. This is the test-drive rule.

CAUTION

Use a Gmail address that belongs to the test drive only, not your work address and not your personal one. Do not reuse a password from anywhere. Keep the throwaway accounts separate from your real administrator accounts for the same vendors.

The setup takes about three hours in one sitting if nothing waits on an email. You need a phone for verification codes and a browser in which you are signed in only as yourself. A fresh browser profile is best.

ADVISORY · Written from the runbook

The vendor steps below come from the setup runbook and each vendor's documented flow. Vendors change their screens. If a screen differs, follow its prompts and keep the intent of the step. Cockpit's own screens were checked against the code.

Your accounts sheet

Fill this in as you go. It is the one page you need if you ever have to redo a step. Do not write passwords on it.

Accounts sheet
ToolAccount name or usernameLogin addressEmail usedDone
Gmail (test)mail.google.com[ ]
Password manager[ ]
Cockpitcockpitai.io[ ]
Salesforce org 1login.salesforce.com[ ]
Salesforce org 2login.salesforce.com[ ]
MuleSoft 1anypoint.mulesoft.com[ ]
MuleSoft 2anypoint.mulesoft.com[ ]
GitHubgithub.com[ ]
Postmanpostman.com[ ]
Slack workspace[ ]

ADVISORY · A naming pattern

Choose one tidy pattern and keep to it, for example cockpit-dev1 and cockpit-dev2 for the two Salesforce orgs, with the same numbers for MuleSoft. You will thank yourself when the Connectors page lists two of each.

3.1 A public Gmail

This one address does three jobs: it is the email you sign in to Cockpit with, it receives every vendor's verification mail, and, through plus-addressing, it can stand in for several addresses. Mail sent to yourname+sf2@gmail.com arrives in the inbox of yourname@gmail.com.

  1. Open accounts.google.com/signup and create a new Google account. Pick a name that does not identify your employer, for example cockpit.testdrive.yourname.

    You should see Your new Gmail inbox opens.

  2. Add a recovery phone number, then turn on 2-Step Verification in the account's Security settings.

    You should see Google asks for a code from your phone when you sign in on a new browser.

  3. Write the address on your accounts sheet as the Email used for every row.

ADVISORY

Cockpit signs you in with Google. Sign in to Cockpit later with exactly this address: access is approved for the exact email you give in the request.

3.2 A password manager

1Password, Bitwarden or Apple Passwords all do the job. Every account below gets a strong, unique password saved here, and so does every Consumer Secret, client secret and API key you meet in chapter 6.

  1. Install the password manager and create a separate vault or folder named Cockpit test drive.

    You should see An empty vault with that name.

  2. Save the Gmail password and its recovery details in it now, before you go on.

CAUTION

Passwords, keys and secrets go into the password manager, never into chat, email, a document or this manual.

3.3 Two Salesforce Developer Edition orgs

A Developer Edition org is a free, private copy of Salesforce with sample data, made for learning. An org is one such copy. You make two: the first for the main test, the second to prove Cockpit handles more than one. Allow about ten minutes each.

Make org 1

  1. Open developer.salesforce.com/signup.

    You should see The Developer Edition sign-up form.

  2. Enter your first and last name, your Gmail address, a role (Developer is fine) and a company name (your own or the team's). Give your real country and postal code.

  3. Choose a username. It must look like an email address and must be unique across all of Salesforce, for example yourname.dev1@cockpit-test.org. It does not need to be a real mailbox. Write it on your accounts sheet.

  4. Accept the terms and click Sign me up.

    You should see A message that Salesforce has sent you a verification email.

  5. Open the email from Salesforce in your Gmail, click Verify Account, and set a strong password. Save it in the password manager.

  6. Register a way to verify it is you if Salesforce asks (an authenticator app on your phone). It is required.

    You should see You land inside Salesforce.

  7. Bookmark the page. Note the address in your browser: it ends in .salesforce.com.

Figure 1. Salesforce Setup home of a new Developer Edition org. Capture details are item 1 in the list of screenshots to capture. Call-outs to draw: 1 Quick Find search box; 2 Address bar ending in .salesforce.com.

Make org 2

  1. Repeat the steps above with the username yourname.dev2@cockpit-test.org. The username must differ from org 1. The email can be the same Gmail; if Salesforce complains or the verification mail does not arrive, use a plus-address such as yourname+sf2@gmail.com.

Check that each org works

  1. In each org, click the gear icon at the top right, then Setup.

    You should see A page with a search box called Quick Find opens. If it does, the org works.

ADVISORY · Two things to know

Developer Edition orgs are free but are removed if nobody signs in for a long time, so sign in to each at least once a month. And when Cockpit later asks "Where do you log in to Salesforce?", a Developer Edition org logs in at login.salesforce.com. Cockpit's wording for that choice is "Production (login.salesforce.com)". That names the login address; it has nothing to do with Cockpit's Sandbox and Production modes.

3.4 Two MuleSoft trial accounts

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform is where companies build and run the connections between their systems. You make two free trial accounts. Trials last a limited time, so plan to do the whole test drive within a week of creating them. Allow about ten minutes each.

Create trial account 1

  1. Open anypoint.mulesoft.com/login/signup and choose the free trial.

    You should see The trial sign-up form.

  2. Fill in your name, email, company and country. Use a different plus-address of your Gmail for each trial.

  3. Verify the email, set a strong password, save it in the password manager, and finish the organisation set-up. Screens change; follow the prompts and keep the defaults.

    You should see You are inside Anypoint Platform.

  4. Look at the address bar. anypoint.mulesoft.com is the United States region, eu1.anypoint.mulesoft.com is Europe, and gov.anypoint.mulesoft.com is Government. Write the region on your accounts sheet. You pick the same region in Cockpit later.

Figure 2. Anypoint Platform home of a new trial account, with the address bar. Capture details are item 2 in the list of screenshots to capture. Call-outs to draw: 1 Address bar host (shows the region); 2 Organisation name.

Create trial account 2

  1. Repeat with a second plus-address.

    You should see A second Anypoint organisation.

The connected app that lets Cockpit read each Anypoint account is made in chapter 6, once Cockpit is open next to it.

3.5 GitHub

GitHub is where software teams keep their code. Cockpit reads code from it and, in Production mode, can propose a change as a pull request, which your team reviews before anything is merged. Allow about five minutes.

  1. Open github.com/signup and create a free account with your Gmail. Pick a username such as yourname-cockpit-test.

    You should see A new GitHub account.

  2. Verify the email and turn on two-factor authentication (Settings, then Password and authentication). GitHub requires it for most work.

  3. Create a practice repository: click + at the top right, New repository. Name it cockpit-practice, choose Private, tick Add a README file, and create it.

    You should see A private repository with a README. It gives the Copilot something to read.

Figure 3. The private cockpit-practice repository on GitHub. Capture details are item 3 in the list of screenshots to capture. Call-outs to draw: 1 Private badge; 2 README.

3.6 Postman

Postman is a tool for testing and documenting APIs. Postman does not let other apps sign in on your behalf, so Cockpit uses an API key that you create. A Postman key can do everything its owner can do, and Postman cannot limit it to read-only.

WARNING

Use a Postman account made just for this test, never your main one. In Sandbox, Cockpit's modes keep the Copilot to reading, but the key itself is full-power.

  1. Open postman.com and click Sign Up for Free. Use your Gmail, and save the password in the password manager.

    You should see A new Postman account.

  2. Create a workspace named Cockpit practice (Workspaces, then Create Workspace, then Personal).

  3. Inside it create a collection named Orders API (New, then Collection), so the Copilot has something to find.

    You should see The collection appears in the workspace.

The API key is created in chapter 6, next to Cockpit's page for it.

3.7 Slack

Cockpit connects to Slack through your own Slack app, so for the test drive you make a free workspace of your own. You make the app itself in chapter 6, because it needs a web address that Cockpit shows you.

  1. Open slack.com/get-started and create a new workspace with your Gmail. Name it cockpit-test.

    You should see A new, empty Slack workspace.

  2. Create a channel named cockpit-practice and post one sentence in it, so there is something to read.

    You should see The channel lists your message.

  3. Write the workspace name on your accounts sheet.

Figure 4. The new Slack workspace with the cockpit-practice channel. Capture details are item 4 in the list of screenshots to capture. Call-outs to draw: 1 Workspace name; 2 #cockpit-practice channel.

Pre-flight checklist

Pre-flight checklist

  • A test Gmail exists, with 2-Step Verification on.
  • A password manager holds a vault called Cockpit test drive.
  • Salesforce org 1 and org 2 exist; Setup opens in each; usernames are on the accounts sheet.
  • MuleSoft trial 1 and 2 exist; the region of each is on the accounts sheet.
  • A GitHub account exists with two-factor authentication on, and a private cockpit-practice repository.
  • A Postman account exists with a Cockpit practice workspace and an Orders API collection.
  • A Slack workspace exists with a cockpit-practice channel.
  • No password, key or secret is written anywhere except the password manager.
  • A calendar reminder is set to revoke the Postman key and the test apps when the test drive ends.