Benches
A Bench serves as the vital link for remote testing and attack surface discovery. Use this guide to configure your environment and download your custom firmware.
System Requirements
| Component | Recommendation | Why it Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Bench | Raspberry Pi 3, 4 or 5 (4GB+ RAM) | Provides the necessary processing power for complex test cases and concurrent remote access. |
| SD Card | 16GB (or larger) High-Endurance MicroSD | VSEC Test requires at least 16GB to accommodate the custom OS image and local log buffering. |
| Power Supply | Official Raspberry Pi 15.3W USB-C | Prevents undervoltage issues during high-load security assessments and discovery scans. |
| Network | Ethernet or Stable Wi-Fi | Low latency is critical for maintaining the remote interface between the cloud and the DUT. |
| Laptop | macOS, Windows or Linux | Required for downloading large system images (3GB+) and flashing the custom firmware to the MicroSD card. |
Creating a Bench
Sign-in to vsec.blockharbor.io
Navigate to Test on the sidebar menu to enter the VSEC Test application.
Click the
Create Benchbutton to begin the process of creating a Bench.A
Create New Benchdialog window will pop-up with options for configuring the Bench. Complete the Required items below.Field Requirement Description Bench Name * Required A unique, short descriptor (e.g., Lab-Alpha-01).WiFi SSID * Required Name of the Wi-Fi network the Bench will connect to. WiFi Password * Required The security key for the specified Wi-Fi network. WiFi Country Code Optional Regulatory domain for Wi-Fi frequencies (Default: United States of America (US)).Hostname * Required The network name for the device (e.g., vsec-pi-01).Use DHCP Optional When checked, the network automatically assigns an IP address to the Bench. Description Optional Internal notes or context regarding the purpose of this Bench. SSH Key Optional Public SSH key (e.g., contents of ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) for passwordless remote access.After filling out the Required items, click the
Createbutton to begin downloading the Bench image; a custom Raspberry Pi image (e.g.,vsec_rpi_vci_v1.0.0-name.img).The Bench image typically takes about 10-15 minutes to download depending on your internet speed.Once the Bench image has download, open
Raspberry Pi Imagerto begin the flashing process.Please ensure a SD Card is plugged in before proceeding.Follow the steps in Raspberry Pi Imager tool to flash the Bench image to a SD Card.
- Device: Select your Raspberry Pi model.
- OS: Scoll down and click
Use custom. When prompted, select the recently downloaded Bench image. - Storage: Select your SD Card and click
Writeto flash the image.
After flashing the image, insert the SD Card into the Raspberry Pi and apply power.
Wait approximately 10 minutes for your Bench to initialize its local environment and establish a secure connection to VSEC.
Once this process is complete, your device should appear as “Online” in VSEC Test.