viamrobotics · npentrel · Jan 13, 2023 · Jan 13, 2023 · Jan 13, 2023 · Jan 13, 2023
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+---
+title: "How to setup Viam-Server on a Linux virtual machine hosted on Windows"
+linkTitle: "Viam-server on a Linux VM on Windows"
+weight: 120
+type: "docs"
+description: "This tutorial provides instructions to install and configure the viam-server on virtual machine hosted on Windows."
+tags: ["mock", "simulation", "virtual machine", "Windows"]
+---
+
+**Objective**: Setup and configure viam-server and a mock robot in a linux virtual machine (VM) hosted on Windows.
+
+## What you’ll need for this tutorial
+
+* A laptop or desktop running Windows 10 or 11.
+* *Python 3.9+.
+* A code editor of your choice.
+
+## Introduction
+
+Since Viam-server only operates in linux and macOS environments, a virtual machine running a supported OS is the only way for Windows users to natively operate Viam from a Windows PC.
+
+Using a linux virtual machine provides Windows users with a means to use Viam to configure and operate robots.
+
+This tutorial will demonstrate the steps to install and configure Virtual Box, its extension pack, and an Ubuntu virtual machine to operate with Viam.
+
+### Requirements
+
+#### Windows software
+
+* VirtualBox
+* VirtualBox Extension Pack
+* SSH Terminal software (e.g., Putty, TeraTerm, etc.)
+
+{{% alert title="Note" color="note"%}}
+VMare may be a viable option for hosting VMs for use with Viam.
+However, VMware has not been tested (15 Dec 2022).
+{{% /alert %}}
+
+## Setup the Windows PC
+
+### Install VirtualBox and the VirtualBox Extension Pack
+
+Download and install VirtualBox and the VirtualBox Extension Pack from <a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads"  target="_blank">Virtual Box</a>[^vbox].
+
+^[vbox]:VirtualBox and the VirtualBox Extension Pack download page: <a href="https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads" target="_blank">https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads</a>
+
+### Download and install the VM image
+
+Download the Ubuntu image: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, "Jammy Jellyfish," from <a href="https://www.linuxvmimages.com/images/ubuntu-2204/ ">
+LinuxVMImages.com</a>[^ubuimage]
+
+[^ubimage]:Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, "Jammy Jellyfish," virtual image from Linuxvmimages: <<a href="https://www.linuxvmimages.com/images/ubuntu-2204/">ht<span></span>tps://www.linuxvmimages.com/images/ubuntu-2204/</a>
+
+Once the download (Ubuntu_22.04_VB.7z) is complete, use 7-zip to extract the image file.
+Next, double-click the image file (<file>Ubuntu_22.04_VB_LinuxVMImages.COM.vbox</file>) to add the image to VirtualBox.
+
+#### Virtual machine image configuration
+
+On the Oracle Virtual Machine Manager, configure the following settings for the VM image.
+Ensure that you've selected the Ubuntu image (or the image you chose to use) before continuing:
+
+{{< figure src="../img/viam-on-vm/vm-config.png" width="400px" alt="Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager with the Ubuntu image selected." title="Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager." >}}
+
+{{% alert title="Note" color="note"%}}
+The virtual machine must be powered off to change its configuration.
+{{% /alert %}}
+
+1. Navigate to: Settings > General > Advanced, then set **Shared Clipboard** and **Drag'n'Drop** to "Bidirectional" for ease of use.
+
+1. Navigate to: Settings > System > Motherboard.
+In this tutorial, we operated the VM with 4GB of the available memory.
+Allocate at least 4GB to the VM.
+
+1. Navigate to: Settings > USB, select (check) **Enable USB Controller**, and then select a USB controller.
+The Laptop in this tutorial uses the laptop's USB 3.0 xHCI Controller.
+Choose the most current USB revision for your image.
+
+Verify that the image launches by clicking **Start** on the WM VirtualBox Manager's toolbar with the Ubuntu image selected:
+
+#### Packages in VM images
+
+Virtual machines contain the most common packages for their OS as determined by the VM image creator.
+Therefore, a VM image obtained from _any_ source might not contain all of the packages required by Viam.
+
+#### Required packages not in the image
+
+Login to the Ubuntu VM using the provided credentials to complete the steps in this section.
+
+* Ubuntu_22.04_VB_LinuxVMImages VM Credentials
+  * username: ubuntu
+  * password: ubuntu
+  * Root account password: ubuntu
+
+{{< alert title="Note" color="note" >}}
+Perform an <file>apt update</file> to update the package list and an <file>apt upgrade</file> to update all packages to the latest revision before checking that the VM is current.
+{{< /alert >}}
+
+The VM image for this tutorial does not contain three packages required by Viam.
+Add these packages to the VM:
+
+* curl - The installation procedure requires curl.<br>
+<file>sudo apt install curl</file>
+
+* libfuse2 - Viam-server requires libfuse2.
+If your VM image uses FUSE3, libfuse2 is most likely _not_ installed and you must install libfuse2.<br>
+<file>sudo apt-get install libfuse2</file>
+
+* pip - The installation procedure requires pip.<br>
+<file>sudo apt install python3-pip</file>
+
+{{% alert title="Info" color="tip" %}}
+The missing packages were identified through trial and error during installation.
+If you decide to use a different virtual machine or image, and the installation script fails, determine whether the errors are the result of a missing package or library and if so, retry the script after installing them.
+{{% /alert %}}
+
+## Setup in the Viam app
+
+### Setup an account on the Viam app
+
+If you do not already have an account on the Viam app, go to app.viam.com and sign up.
+Please refer to [Getting Started with the Viam App](https://docs.viam.com/getting-started/app-usage/) for complete details.
+
+You will need to create an Organization, a Location, and then add a robot.
+
+### Install the viam-server and Viam app config
+
+For this section, you will perform steps listed on the [Robots](https://app.viam.com/robots) page in the VM's terminal window.
+
+Having logged in to your account, click the robot you created in the previous section to access its configuration and follow these steps to continue.
+
+1. Click **SETUP**.
+1. Set **Mode** to "Linux."
+1. Set **Architecture** to "X86_64."
+1. Perform Step 1, "Download Viam app config to your computer."
+Click **COPY** on Step 1, then paste into the terminal window and press **Enter**.
+This step downloads the viam-server configuration file used by your robot to connect to app.viam.com.
+1. Perform Step 2, "Download and install viam-server"
+Click **COPY** on Step 2, then paste into the terminal window and press **Enter**.
+This step downloads and installs the most recent stable viam-server AppImage package.
+
+If the configuration is correct, then the app displays a connection confirmation beneath Step 3 after a short wait, :
+
+{{< figure src="../img/viam-on-vm/successful-connection.png" width="400px" alt="Successful connection message." title="Successful connection message." >}}
+
+## Create a mock robot
+
+This section adds a fake motor and arm in the same manner as the [How to Build a Mock Robot](../tutorials/build-a-mock-robot/) tutorial.
+When you add the fake motor and arm component to your robot, the Viam app automatically generates a UI for the motor and arm under the **CONTROL** tab.
+
+{{< figure src="../img/viam-on-vm/vm-bot-created.png" width="800px" alt="The GUI interface for your mock robot displays configuration pane a pane for each fake component and a pane for the DoCommand and for Operations & Sessions." title="The GUI interface for your mock robot." >}}
+
+Perform these steps on your robot's **CONFIG** tab in the Viam-app:
+
+1. Navigate to the **CONFIG** tab.
+1. Create a fake arm component
+    1. Navigate to the **Create a Component** pane at the bottom of the page.
+    1. Enter the desired name for the arm component.
+    1. Select "arm" from the **Type** drop-down.
+    1. Select "fake" from the **Model** drop-down.
+1. Create a Fake Motor Component
+    1. Navigate to the **Create a Component** pane at the bottom of the page.
+    1. Enter the desired name for the motor component.
+    1. Select "motor" from the **Type** drop-down.
+    1. Select "fake" from the **Model** drop-down.  
+1. Click **Save Config**.
+
+{{% alert title="Caution" color="caution" %}}  
+Do not share your robot secret or robot address publicly. Sharing this information compromises your system security by allowing unauthorized access to your computer.
+{{% /alert %}}
+
+### Control the mock robot arm
+
+While connected to the robot, you can verify the operation of the fake arm from the **CONTROL** tab or through code, which would allow you to control and observe to positioning of the arm component in the terminal and in the GUI.
+
+#### Using the GUI
+
+In the GUI, you can click **Modify All** to change the X, Y, and Z positions for joints in the arm. 
+
+### Using the SDK
+
+Alternatively, you can programmatically perform random changes and observe the returned positional value changes in the terminal, as well as on the **CONTROL** tab using either the Python SDK or the GO SDK.
+
+The next section describes the process for Python.
+
+#### Creating the arm control code
+
+Paste the boilerplate code from the CODE SAMPLE tab of the Viam app into a file named <file>arm-move.py</file> or into your code editor.
+<file>arm_move.py</file> imports the arm component from the Viam Python SDK and imports the random and async.io libraries.
+The code from the CODE SAMPLE tab can only connect your robot to the viam app.
+
+At the top of your <file>arm_move.py</file> file, paste the following lines:
+
+``` python
+from viam.components.arm import ArmClient, JointPositions
+import random
+import asyncio
+```
+
+Next, insert the following lines after: <code>from viam.rpc.dial import Credentials, DialOptions</code>:
+
+```python
+arm = ArmClient.from_robot(robot=robot, name='my_main_arm')
+
+# Gets a random position for each servo on the arm that is within the safe range of motion of the arm. Returns a new array of safe joint positions.
+
+def getRandoms():
+    return [random.randint(-90, 90),
+    random.randint(-120, -45),
+    random.randint(-45, 45),
+    random.randint(-45, 45),
+    random.randint(-45, 45)]
+
+# Moves the arm into a new random position every second
+
+async def randomMovement(arm: ArmClient):
+    while (True):
+        randomPositions = getRandoms()
+        newRandomArmJointPositions = JointPositions(values=randomPositions)
+        await arm.move_to_joint_positions(newRandomArmJointPositions)
+        print(await arm.get_joint_positions())
+        await asyncio.sleep(1)
+    return
+```
+
+Save the file.
+These lines generate the random movements we will use to test the robot.
+
+In the VM's terminal window, run the following command:
+
+``` bash
+python3 arm-move.py
+```
+
+{{< figure src="../img/viam-on-vm/observing-arm-changes.gif" width="800px" alt="The CONTROL tab and a terminal window displaying arm geometry changes generated by arm-move.py." title="The CONTROL tab and a terminal window displaying arm geometry changes generated by arm-move.py." >}}
+
+## Next Steps
+
+In this tutorial, you learned how to create a mock robot using fake components on a Linux virtual machine a Windows host.
+
+If you're ready to get started with building robots with real hardware components, you should pick up a Raspberry Pi and try building one of Viam's introductory robots on the [tutorials page in our documentation](https://docs.viam.com/tutorials/).
+
+If you have any issues or if you want to connect with other developers learning how to build robots with Viam, be sure that you head over to the [Viam Community Slack](http://viamrobotics.slack.com).