Setup & Requirements

Get your Xenon environment ready for autonomous mobile automation. This guide covers hardware prerequisites, software dependencies, and installation steps for both standalone and distributed deployments.

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Prerequisites

Operating System

• Android Automation: macOS or Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended).
• iOS Automation: macOS only (required for Xcode and simulator orchestration).

Software Dependencies

• Node.js: LTS version (v18.x or v20.x recommended).
• Appium: version 2.0.0 or higher.
• Java (JDK): version 11 or higher (required for Android /adb).
• Drivers:
  • appium-uiautomator2-driver (for Android)
  • appium-xcuitest-driver (for iOS)
• iOS Utilities (for real device logs):
  • libimobiledevice (specifically idevicesyslog)
  • go-ios (optional high-performance alternative)

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Hardware Requirements

Xenon is engineered for high-density labs. Ensure your host machine meets these minimum specs based on your workload:

Workload	CPU	RAM	Storage
Local Dev (1-2 devices)	4 Cores	8 GB	20 GB (SSD)
High-Density Lab (8+ devices)	16+ Cores	32+ GB	500 GB (NVMe)
Visual AI / Omni-Vision	Apple Silicon or discrete GPU	16+ GB	Additional 5GB for models

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Installation

NPM (Recommended)

Install the Xenon plugin and the Dashboard directly from the NPM registry:

# Install Xenon Plugin
appium plugin install --source=npm appium-xenon

# Install Dashboard (Required for Web UI)
appium plugin install --source=npm appium-dashboard

Local / Development

If you are developing Xenon or using a custom build:

# Build everything (Plugin + Dashboard)
npm run build:all

# Install locally
appium plugin install --source=local /path/to/appium-xenon

# High-velocity dev loop (Auto-rebuilds)
npm run dev

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Activation

The plugin must be explicitly activated when starting the Appium server.

CLI Arguments

appium server -ka 800 --use-plugins=xenon,appium-dashboard \
  -pa /wd/hub \
  --plugin-xenon-platform=both

Config File

Create a xenon-config.yaml and pass it to the Appium server:

server:
  port: 4723
  basePath: /wd/hub
  usePlugins:
    - xenon
    - appium-dashboard
  plugin:
    xenon:
      platform: android # or 'ios' or 'both'

Run with:

appium server --config ./xenon-config.yaml

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Accessing the Dashboard

Once the server is running, the Xenon Dashboard is available at:

http://localhost:4723/xenon

From here, you can:

• Monitor real-time device health and termals.
• Triage failed sessions using AI diagnostics.
• Control devices manually via live MJPEG streaming.
• Configure maintenance and AI settings.

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First Test Run

To verify your setup, run a test with the following minimal capabilities. Xenon will automatically handle device allocation.

WebdriverIO

const opts = {
  path: '/wd/hub',
  port: 4723,
  capabilities: {
    platformName: "Android",        // or 'iOS'
    "appium:automationName": "UiAutomator2",
    "appium:app": "/path/to/my.apk",
    "xe:record_video": true,        // Enable Xenon recording
    "xe:save_device_logs": true      // Enable for AI diagnostics
  }
};

Java

UiAutomator2Options options = new UiAutomator2Options()
    .setPlatformName("Android")
    .setApp("/path/to/my.apk")
    .setCapability("xe:record_video", true)
    .setCapability("xe:save_device_logs", true);

AndroidDriver driver = new AndroidDriver(new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4723/wd/hub"), options);

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Database Setup (Optional)

By default, Xenon uses a local SQLite database (~/.cache/xenon/xenon.db). For distributed High-Availability deployments, PostgreSQL is recommended.

PostgreSQL Configuration

# Via Environment Variables
export XENON_DB_PROVIDER=postgresql
export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/xenon"

# Via Appium Arguments
appium server ... --plugin-xenon-database-provider=postgresql --plugin-xenon-database-url="postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/xenon"