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First run

After installing Anvil and logging in as the bootstrap admin, the happy path to your first benchmark is:

1. Discover the device

Navigate to Devices. Click Rescan. Every NVMe namespace the runner can see is listed with its model, serial, firmware, PCIe capability, and current path.

Raw devices only

Anvil refuses any device that has a mounted partition. If your candidate drive is mounted, unmount it first.

2. Open the device detail page

Click the device. You'll see:

  • PCIe capability vs. current link state (Gen / width; degraded-link warning if mismatch)
  • Historical runs against this device
  • SMART snapshot

3. Start a run

Click New run. Pick one of:

  • sweep_quick — 5-minute block-size sweep; good smoke test
  • sweep_full — 45-minute block-size × iodepth sweep
  • snia_quick_pts — SNIA SSS-PTS Quick (5 rounds); produces SteadyStateAnalysis in the report
  • endurance_soak — 2-hour sustained write; triggers thermal auto-abort on overheat

Destructive profiles prompt for the last 6 characters of the device serial as a confirmation token. This is deliberate — Anvil will overwrite the drive.

4. Watch it run

Anvil streams live metrics via WebSocket. You'll see:

  • Phase progress (preflight → running → complete)
  • Per-second IOPS / bandwidth / latency / temperature
  • SMART before/after diff when the run finishes

5. Read the report

Every complete run has:

  • A Run Detail page with interactive charts
  • An Export HTML button (zero-JS, print-to-PDF friendly)
  • An Export JSON button (lossless archive)
  • A Share link button (operator+admin only) that creates a revocable public URL with the device serial redacted

See reading a report for what each section means.