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Install RMP for Linux (Ubuntu)

Table of Contents

Install and configure RMP and its necessary components in Linux distribution: Ubuntu.


Recommendations

  • Ubuntu familiarity.
  • Terminal app familiarity.
  • Follow only sections that apply to you.

1️⃣ Operating System

RMP can run on Linux Ubuntu. Ensure you install a release that supports real-time kernel enabling.

System Requirements

  • ​2 GHz dual-core processor or better
  • 4 GB system memory
  • 25 GB of free hard drive space
  • A USB and USB port for the installer media

  • Internet access is helpful

Supported Versions
See Ubuntu's real-time releases here.

1. Installation

  1. Download the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (or your Ubuntu real-time release) ISO image.
  2. Create a bootable USB flash drive with balenaEtcher or similar.
  3. Open BIOS settings on your target PC.
  4. Boot your target PC from the USB flash drive.
  5. Once you boot from the USB that contains the Ubuntu image, Select Try or Install Ubuntu.
  6. Once the Ubuntu desktop is open, go through the configuration Install RELEASE wizard.
  7. Click Install.

Note: if updates are available for your OS or OS Installer, we recommend installing them.


✅ Ubuntu OS should be installed.

2️⃣ Real-time kernel

For RMP to run in a real-time deterministic manner, the real-time kernel (PREEMPT_RT) must be enabled.

Resource
Read more about Real-time Ubuntu here.

System Requirements

  • OS: Ubuntu
  • Hardware: 64-bit processor with x86_64 (“amd64” architecture) or ARM64
  • Package/subscription: Ubuntu Pro
  • Internet access

  • Administrator “root” privileges

1. Licensing

To enable the real-time kernel you must have an Ubuntu Pro subscription.

  1. Get your token from your Ubuntu Pro Dashboard.
  2. Open the Terminal app.
  3. License your PC using the following command:
    sudo pro attach {TOKEN_FROM_DASHBOARD}

2. Real-time Enabling

Resource
Follow Ubuntu's guide, How to enable Real-time Ubuntu here.

The Real-time Ubuntu kernel is installed using the APT package manager. Install Real-time Ubuntu and automatically select the right version for your OS and processor:

  1. Open the Terminal app.
  2. Enable Ubuntu Real-time using the command that applies to your system:
    • Generic: sudo pro enable realtime-kernel
    • Raspberry Pi: sudo pro enable realtime-kernel --variant=raspi
    • Intel IOTG: sudo pro enable realtime-kernel --variant=intel-iotg
  3. Enter y (Yes) to all prompts until the command exits.
  4. Reboot to complete real-time installation.

3. Latency Testing

On real-time systems, one of the most important metrics is the maximum latency. This is the maximum time it takes for a system to respond to an event. It’s important because it can be used to determine if a system can respond to an event in a timely manner. In other words, it can be used to determine whether a system can meet the required deadlines which is particularly important in EtherCAT software-based motion control.

Resource
Follow RSI's guide on defining and measuring the RMP maximum acceptable latency targets here.

Additional details available in Ubuntu's guide, How to measure maximum latency in a real-time system here.


✅ Ubuntu Real-time kernel should be enabled.

3️⃣ BIOS & Kernel Optimization

This step is optional. If your systems' latency did not perform well, you may be able to optimize it for better real-time performance.

Note
Different systems have varying BIOS and/or Kernel options that can improve performance. RSI sells hardware optimized for real-time performance, but if you wish to use your own hardware, below are some guides you can follow to tune your system for optimal real-time performance.

BIOS

Ubuntu's guide: Tuning a real-time kernel | BIOS options

Kernel

Ubuntu's guide: How to configure CPUs for real-time processing

4️⃣ RMP Motion Controller

System Requirements

  • Internet access
  • Administrator “root” privileges

  • YubiKey (USB)

1. Package Installation

Download some necessary RMP dependencies.

  1. Open the Terminal app.

  2. Download and install the necessary packages using the command that applies to your system:

    sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y libcap2:i386

2. RMP SDK Installation

Install our latest RMP Motion Controller.

RMP Download

  1. Navigate to our customer portal: https://portal.roboticsys.com
  2. Log in with your RSI approved and authenticated email.
  3. Navigate to the Downloads tab.
  4. From the SDK section, download the latest RMP. Click the deb button to download for Linux.
    Note
    We have seen issues where the Firefox web browser fails to download files.
    If you fail to download the RMP file please try a different browser.
  5. Navigate to the folder where the rmp_10.6.4-1_amd64.deb file was downloaded. (Most times it is the /Downloads folder)
  6. Proceed to next section to install the RMP.

RMP Installation

Select the tab where you would like to install the RMP in:

  • Ubuntu Desktop

    1. Right-click the rmp_10.6.4-1_amd64.deb file and click Open with App Center.
    2. In the App Center, Click the Install button. Enter your password if prompted. (If an "Are you sure?" pop-up appears, select Yes/Install.)

    3. The RMP should have been installed to the path: /rsi

  • Ubuntu Server

    1. Use scp to copy the rmp_10.6.4-1_amd64.deb file to your Ubuntu Server.

    2. Run the following command to install the RMP:

      sudo dpkg -i rmp_10.6.4-1_amd64.deb
      sudo apt-get install -f

3. RapidSetupX Tool Installation

Install our latest RapidSetupX tool for configuring, troubleshooting, and more.

  1. Navigate to our customer portal: https://portal.roboticsys.com
  2. Log in with your RSI approved and authenticated email.
  3. Navigate to the Downloads tab.
  4. From the Tools section, download the latest RapidSetupX. Click the Linux to download for Linux.
  5. Navigate to the folder where RapidSetupX was downloaded. (Most times it is the /Downloads folder)
  6. Right-click the RapidSetupX.Linux file and select Run to start RapidSetupX. (The first time it runs it may take some time for it to load)

4. Serial Number Retrieval

Get your RMP license serial number using the downloaded rsiconfig app.

  1. Insert the YubiKey RSI provided for you.
  2. Open the Terminal app.

  3. Get the serial number from the rsiconfig tool with the following command:
    sudo rsiconfig -get-serial --cpu-affinity # --verbose
    Where # must be replaced by the CPU core number to run RMP on.
    Note: we recommend using the last CPU core.
    --verbose tells rsiconfig to display errors when checking the serial number.

    You should see a similar error output:

    rsi\@rsi:~$ sudo rsiconfig -get-serial --cpu-affinity 3 --verbose
    ERROR: Linux x64: %RSI license file not found :: {platformOS.c, line 574} :
    Could not find license file /rsi/rsi.lic : FileOpen return: 4294967295 : Could
    not find license file: /rsi/rsi.lic. Contact RSI with serial #: 24352586
    (0x173974A)
    (Error 5140) (MotionController::InitControl) (Object 0) (File motioncontroller.cpp)
    (Line 394) (Version 10.5.3.0)

    Where the license serial number is 24352586

5. Licensing

Download and install the RMP rsi.lic (for image instructions see our license guide)

  1. Navigate to the portal at https://portal.roboticsys.com.
  2. Log in with your RSI-authenticated email.
  3. Navigate to the Licenses tab.
  4. Download a license with your serial number from step 2 (Serial Number Retrieval).
  5. Rename the license to rsi.lic.
  6. Place the rsi.lic in the /rsi folder. (You might have to use sudo copy command)

  7. Confirm your RMP is licensed using rsiconfig:

    rsi\@rsi:~$ sudo rsiconfig -get-serial --cpu-affinity 3 --verbose
    24352586
    rsi\@rsi:~$


✅ The RMP Motion Controller should be installed and licensed.

5️⃣ System Configuration

These steps are optional, but recommended.

1. Sleep & Screen-lock Disabling

  1. Open the Terminal app.

  2. Disable sleep with the following command:

    ## Disable screen lock
    sudo systemctl mask sleep.target suspend.target hibernate.target hybrid-sleep.target
    ## Disable desktop screen lock
    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false
    ## Set desktop screen blank time to never
    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.session idle-delay 0

2. CPU Isolation

We recommend isolating a CPU to dedicate it to the RMP fully. We recommend isolating the last CPU.

  1. Navigate to path: /etc/default/
  2. Open the file: grub
  3. Append parameter isolcpus=YOUR_LAST_CPU_ZERO_INDEX to the line that starts with GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT
    • Enter parameters inside the double quotes
    • Leave a space after each new parameter
    • Don’t add space on either side of = or other punctuation.
  4. Save and close the editor.
  5. Open the Terminal app.

  6. Update GRUB with its new configuration and reboot using the following command:

    ## Update GRUB
    sudo update-grub
    ## Reboot the system to apply changes
    sleep 5
    sudo reboot

Note: you can use Ubuntu’s System Monitor app to observe the isolated CPU usage. It should be minimal compared to the rest. Or use the following command to check CPU isolation: sudo dmesg | grep isolcpus

To learn more follow Ubuntu’s guide: Configure GRUB permanently


✅ Your system should have the recommended configurations.