Workspaces

Mimiq's Workspaces feature allows you to use non-NAS-type storage with Media Composer. It lets you remount any folder in a Media Composer-compatible way. This allows you to use any type of storage for bin locking. This is particularly useful for utilizing non-NAS storage like RAID, SAN (e.g., Quantum StorNext), and local folders as independent NEXIS shares.

Workspaces are only needed when your shared storage is not a NAS or macFUSE volume. Do not use Workspaces to create shares for your NAS, but use your NAS's software instead.

Adding a Workspace

1. Click the Mimiq icon in the menu bar (macOS) or System Tray (Windows), then + Add Workspace.

1. Select a folder to create a Workspace, then click Select (macOS) or Select Folder (Windows).

2. Your Workspace will appear in Mimiq with a green 🟢 status, then mount in Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows).

You can access your Workspace through Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows) or double-click a Workspace listed in Mimiq to open it in a new window.

Ideally, Media Composer will not be running while you creating Workspaces, as this can cause unexpected behaviour.

Local vs. Shared Workspaces

Mimiq supports both local and shared Workspace configurations.

The local Workspace configuration applies to you, as an individual user, and is stored in a JSON on your computer at one of these locations:

macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Mimiq/Workspaces/MimiqWorkspaces.json

Win C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Mimiq\Workspaces.json This is used to remember your workspace list and to Auto-mount chosen workspaces on app start.

Shared workspaces extend this concept by storing a centralized JSON on the root level of the parent volume. This allows everybody in a team to use the same workspace definitions.

On the parent volume you'll find the Mimiq Enabled JSON here: /Mimiq Settings/MimiqEnabled.json

Sharing a Workspace

To share a Workspace with your team:

1. Ensure you have top-level write access to the storage volume.

2. Add the Workspace using Mimiq.

3. Click Share, then Enable for Everybody.

This only needs to be done once by one team member.

Mimiq Enabled JSON

The Mimiq Enabled JSON file is human-readable and can be edited by experienced users (e.g. System Administrators or Post Supervisors), though it's normally managed automatically by Mimiq.

The example below shows two workspaces, one is disabled, the other is not.

{
  "ignore" : true,
  "version" : "25.2.0",
  "workspaces" : [
    {
      "disabled" : false,
      "path" : "workspace1"
    },
    {
      "disabled" : true,
      "path" : "workspace2"
    }    
  ]
}

The table below explains the usage of each key:

Name	Required	Description
ignore	Yes	Boolean, defines if the root of the volume should be ignored by Mimiq. This is useful when working with LucidLink Classic.
version	Yes	The version string of Mimiq used to write the workspace config.
workspaces	Yes	The list of workspace objects.
path	Yes	The relative path to the workspace, not including the volume name.
name	No	If defined, this value will be used for the name of the Workspace. If undefined, the last component of the path is used (i.e. the folder name). This key is supported on macOS only.

Practical Limits

Workspaces are powerful but should be used sparingly. On macOS, each active Workspace introduces a small overhead to your system's bandwidth. On Windows, you're limited by the number of free drive letters.

macOS

The usable amount of simultaneously active Workspaces depends on your system resources.

As Workspaces on macOS rely on FUSE as an intermediate, there's a limitation to how many Workspaces can be used simultaneously. Our tests have shown a maximum of 8 Workspaces is practical. However, as this number is dependent on your hardware and system load, it's possible to increase or decrease this amount.

Using Terminal.app, set the maximum number of Workspaces that can be enabled simultaneously:

Override the default Workspaces limit

defaults write video.hedge.Mimiq.Mac workspacelimit -int 8

Then, load the new setting by relaunching Mimiq.

Use this command to check the current Workspaces limit:

defaults read video.hedge.Mimiq.Mac workspacelimit

It's just as easy to reset the amount back to the default value of 8:

defaults delete video.hedge.Mimiq.Mac workspacelimit

Windows

On Windows, Workspaces utilize available drive letters for mounting. Due to the limited number of drive letters in Windows, there's a constraint on how many Workspaces can be mounted simultaneously.

By default, Mimiq attempts to mount the first Workspace using the drive letter M:. Subsequent Workspaces are assigned the next available letters in alphabetical order.

If M: is already in use on your system, you can modify the starting drive letter. This can be useful if you want to reserve certain drive letters for other purposes or if you prefer a different range of letters for your Workspace(s).

Using PowerShell, define a different starting drive letter:

Change the starting drive letter

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Mimiq" -Name "WorkspaceStartDriveLetter" -Value "[DRIVELETTER]" -PropertyType STRING -Force

Then, commit the new setting by starting Mimiq. If Mimiq is already active (i.e. its icon shows in the menu bar), quit and restart Mimiq.

Resetting the default drive letter is just as straightforward:

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Mimiq" -Name "WorkspaceStartDriveLetter"

Disabling a Workspace

Click the Mimiq icon in the menu bar (macOS) or System Tray (Windows), mouse over the Workspace you wish to disable, then click (⋯) > Disable.

Your Workspace will appear in Mimiq with a grey ⚪️ status.

Disabling a Workspace renders it temporarily unavailable to Media Composer without removing it. You may want to disable a Workspace to simplify media management by reducing the number of volumes Media Composer can read from / write to.

Removing a Workspace

Click the Mimiq icon in the menu bar (macOS) or System Tray (Windows), mouse over the Workspace you wish to remove, then click (⋯) > Remove Workspace.

Once you remove a Workspace, it's ejected from your computer and no longer available in Media Composer until you add it again.

Questions

What happens if I add/remove/disable a Workspace while Media Composer is open?

Media Composer cannot cope with volumes mounting/ejecting (or connecting/disconnecting) while it’s open. If you need to add/remove/disable a Workspace, quit/exit Media Composer first.

Why does Mimiq say my Workspace is Unreachable?

Either your shared storage is unavailable (e.g. disconnected from the network, powered off), or someone renamed the source folder you selected.

Take the appropriate action to make that source folder available again, then quit-then-relaunch Mimiq.

If Mimiq still says the Workspace is Unreachable, you may have to remove the Workspace and then re-add it.

My SAN is mounted, so why does Mimiq say, No lockable volumes found?

Unlike other eligible volumes, Mimiq will not show the mount point of your SAN share as a lockable volume.

As long as you have read and write permissions to that share, once you add a folder from your SAN as a Workspace, Mimiq will activate Bin Locking on that folder.

Why is option to Share a Workspace disabled?

The Workspace is likely created on a volume where you do not have write permissions for the root. That makes it impossible for Mimiq to create a Mimiq Settings folder to store the Workspaces JSON files in. Either create the Mimiq Settings folder manually, or ensure you gain write permissions for the root folder of your storage.

Why am I asked to extend Mimiq to use a Lucid Link Filespace?

The use of Lucid Link Filespaces requires an activation that is eligible for Mimiq updates and support.

I followed all the steps to install and approve macFUSE to load in macOS, but macOS keeps telling me System Extension Blocked. What can I do?

If your Mac is managed through MDM, stop now and contact your System Administrator.

Starting in macOS Big Sur, the local kernel extension (i.e. kext) database in macOS may not retain your decisions on approving third-party system or kernel extensions to load in macOS. If macOS doesn't load macFUSE despite multiple approvals from you, you can safely reset macOS' kext database, which revokes approval for all third-party kexts installed on your system volume.

Once you reset the local kext database, you can log back into macOS and approve any/all system or kernel extensions installed on your Mac.

1. Save any open work, then power down your Mac.

2. Once your Mac is fully powered down, power up your Mac again in Recovery mode.

3. Choose your system volume, log in with a macOS Administrator account, then launch Terminal.

4. Use this command to reset your Mac's Kernel Extension database:

   1. kmutil trigger-panic-medic --volume-root /Volumes/(SYSTEM VOLUME)

      • If your system volume has a space in its name (e.g. Macintosh HD), enclose the volume name in quotation marks (e.g. "/Volumes/Macintosh HD").

   2. Press the (Return) key.

      • If you entered this command correctly, you'll see this response, All third party kexts have been unapproved and uninstalled from /Volumes/(SYSTEM VOLUME).

5. Restart your Mac.

Once you log into macOS, you'll likely be greeted with multiple dialog boxes saying...

• System Extension Updated

• System Extension Blocked

...along with confirmation that you triggered the Panic Medic Boot.

You've successfully reset your local kext database in macOS.

Now you can approve macFUSE, and any other existing system or kernel extensions, to load in macOS.

Why are drive labels not displayed in File Explorer for some Workspaces?

This only concerns Windows users.

When you create a Workspace from a local drive, and that drive already has a label in File Explorer, the label of the parent drive takes precedence over the Workspace label assigned by Mimiq. In other words, File Explorer will display the existing label of the parent local drive instead of the Workspace label.

To make the Workspace's label visible in File Explorer, you can remove the label for the parent drive.

Local Drives

To display the Workspace label assigned through Mimiq, follow these steps to remove the label from the parent drive:

1. In File Explorer, create a new window, then locate the parent drive.

2. Right-click on the parent drive and select Properties.

3. In the Properties window, locate the General tab.

4. In the Label field, delete the existing label text.

5. Click Apply and then OK to save the changes.

LucidLink Filespaces

For a LucidLink Filespace, use PowerShell to remove the drive label:

1. Open PowerShell.

2. Run the following command:

   lucid config --set --local --FileSystem.MountPointWindowsLabel ""

3. Remount the Filespace.