Getting started

This guide takes you from a cold Fabrik instance to a working query in five short steps. It assumes someone has already installed Fabrik and handed you a URL — if you need to set up the instance itself, jump to the Deployment guide first.

By the time you finish, you'll have the ACI Managed Information Model loaded, one APIC registered, and a query returning real results on the canvas. That's enough to start exploring the rest of the platform.

Before you start

You'll need a handful of things on hand:

A Fabrik URL — typically something like https://fabrik.your-domain.com. An administrator will have shared it with you.
A Fabrik account. The first three steps below — loading the MIM and registering an APIC — require admin privileges. If you're not an admin, ask one to complete those steps, then pick up from step 5.
Network reachability from Fabrik to your APIC. Fabrik's backend opens HTTPS connections to the APIC directly; if there's a firewall in the way, now is the time to open it.
A service account on the APIC. Read-only is enough for exploration. You'll enter its username and password when you register the connection; Fabrik stores the password encrypted.
The APIC software version you're targeting (for example 6.0(5h)). Fabrik loads a MIM bundle that matches your APIC release, so the canvas knows which classes and relationships actually exist on your fabric.

The five steps

1. Sign in

Open the URL, sign in with your credentials, and set up your profile.

2. Get your bearings

Tour the top bar, sidebar, and the modules you'll use day to day.

3. Load the MIM

Import the ACI Managed Information Model that matches your APIC version. Admin only.

4. Connect an APIC

5. Run your first query

Drop a class on the canvas, execute it against your APIC, and read the result.

Why the MIM comes before the APIC

Fabrik does not discover the ACI object model from your live APIC. The canvas, the class browser, and every validation rule rely on a pre-packaged MIM bundle loaded into Neo4j — the class hierarchy, containment rules, and property definitions for a specific APIC release.

If the MIM isn't loaded, the query builder has nothing to draw with. So the order is: load the MIM that matches your APIC version, then register the APIC itself, then start querying. The MIM is loaded once per instance (and replaced when you upgrade APIC); APIC connections are created per fabric.

In many installs, an operator sets APIC_VERSION in the environment and the container loads the right MIM automatically on first boot. If that happened for you, step 3 is just a verification — open MIM Management and confirm the active version matches your APIC.

What "done" looks like

When you finish the five steps you'll have: an active MIM version visible in Settings → MIM Management, at least one APIC connection that passes its test, and one query that ran end-to-end and returned rows. From there, the Query Builder guide takes you deeper — filters, post-processors, pipelines, and everything else the canvas can do.

If something goes wrong

This guide is not a troubleshooting manual for the install itself. A few common early blockers and where to go:

The Fabrik URL doesn't load. The instance isn't running or the reverse proxy isn't routing to it. Talk to whoever deployed it, or see the Deployment guide.
You can't find MIM Management or APIC Connections in Settings. Those are admin-only. Ask an admin to complete steps 3 and 4, or to grant you admin access.
The APIC test fails with a network error. Fabrik's backend container can't reach your APIC. That's a routing or firewall issue, not a Fabrik bug.
The MIM import fails with a network error. Your instance is airgapped or can't reach the MIM registry. Upload a MIM bundle manually — Load the MIM covers both paths.