Start Workbench.

Your host PC appears in the Nav tree (My Host in left pane).

If you don’t see the Nav tree, turn on “side bars.” See Tree Not Visible.

Right-click your host in the Nav tree.

From the popup menu, click: Open Platform. A Connect popup appears, typically with Type set to Platform SSL Connection

In the Connect popup (above), click OK.

In the Authentication popup, type your Windows administrator-level username and password.

If you click the “Remember these credentials” checkbox, future access of the Platform node will authenticate without re-entering credentials (Username and Password). Prior to AX-3.7 (and 2013 security updates), this was set by default. However, now this is cleared by default—you must set it, if desired.

Click OK.

The first time you open your platform with SSL, a popup Identity Verification warning appears.

Click Accept. This creates an “allowed hosts” certificate exemption for Workbench on this port (5011, if using defaults). For related details, see SSL and certificate notes in AX-3.8.

If connect Type was changed from Platform SSL Connection to Platform Connection (in the Connect popup shown in Step 2 above), such a warning does not appear. It also does not appear again (after accepting it) in future local platform SSL connections—at least for the duration of this certificate.

Various platform views are listed in the right-side View pane. In the Nav tree, if you expand My Host you now see a Platform node.

If your Platform does not open, it may be a host login issue, or the Niagara platform daemon may be stopped. See Cannot Open Platform.

In the view pane, double-click the Application Director.

The Application Director appears in the view and lists available stations.

The demo station appears with a status of “Idle.”

If no stations list, a divider may need moving. See Tree Not Visible.

Right-click the demo station in the Application Director.

From the popup menu, click Start (or, with the demo station selected, click the right-side Start button).

The demo status changes to “Starting,” and messages start appearing in the view.

After several seconds, the demo station status changes to “Running.”

Right-click your host again in the Nav tree.

From the popup menu, click: Open Station

A Connect popup appears, typically with Type set to Station SSL Connection

In the Connect popup (above), click OK.

The first time you open your station with SSL, a popup Identity Verification warning appears.

Click Accept. This creates an “allowed hosts” certificate exemption for Workbench on this port (4911, if using defaults). For related details, see SSL and certificate notes in AX-3.8.

If connect Type was changed from Station SSL Connection to Station Connection (in the Connect popup shown in Step 6 above), such a warning does not appear. It also does not appear again (after accepting it) in future local SSL connections to this station—at least for the duration of this certificate.

An Authentication popup appears (here, you login using a station user account).

In the Username field, type admin

Leave Password blank (for just this one time), and click OK.

A “Reset Password” popup dialog appears.

This “Reset Password” request occurs because all users in the AX-3.8 demo station have their account set to require a password reset upon first login (a change from the demo station in releases prior to AX-3.8). You must enter a new password for the admin user in the next step. For related details, see Demo stations security notes.

Type a new “strong” password in the “Password” field, and repeat it again in the second “Confirm” field.

Follow the strong password rules given in the popup (note that “digit” means a numeral). The demo station’s User Service is configured to require strong passwords. Note that in AX-3.8, these strong password rules are also configurable, via a “Password Configuration” component under the User Service.

Make this password unique, and be sure to remember (or make a note of) it!

When your matching password entries meet these rules, the OK button is enabled. Click OK.

Again, see the section Demo stations security notes.

The demo station opens in the view and appears as a node in the Tree.

If the “Reset Password” dialog does not appear and the station does not open, some other login issue is likely. See Cannot Open Station.

To explore the station, just click on expand controls in the Tree to browse the station’s hierarchy. Simply double-click on items of interest to see item contents in the view.

The Config node represents the actual station database, and holds components with wire sheet and property sheets views, among many other view types.