Skip to main content
Version: 10

Connect with the MoveIt Pro Desktop App

The MoveIt Pro desktop app is installed separately from the Runtime. Installers ship for Linux today, with macOS and Windows coming soon, and connect to a Runtime on any supported Runtime host operating system.

Install the App​

Install the app and the Runtime from Install MoveIt Pro, then return here for remote, multi-Runtime, and multi-version connections.

The Desktop App and Runtime do not need identical release versions. Connection admission uses mutually supported protocol epochs and required capabilities; release versions identify the peers in diagnostics. Initial exact-match Runtimes reject other releases and must be updated before they can use protocol-based admission, and a MoveIt Pro 10.0 Desktop App likewise still requires an exactly matching Runtime. Update both peers to 10.1 or later before mixing releases. On Linux, run moveit_pro_desktop --version in a terminal to print which Desktop App build is installed.

You can keep multiple Desktop App releases installed side by side. This is useful when older Runtimes require a different protocol generation: open a Desktop App release compatible with the Runtime you want to connect to. Each Desktop App release can save connections to multiple compatible Runtimes.

On Linux and Windows, installed app releases can run at the same time. macOS requires compatible launch-identity support before it can offer the same guarantee. If that release is already running, it handles another launch: it brings up one of its windows after startup, restarts itself if the launch lands while it is quitting, or does nothing while it is still starting.

The first time you open a release, it copies saved Runtime connections and available credentials from the newest eligible older release, or from the unversioned profile when no eligible older release exists. On Windows, credentials without their matching encryption state are left behind and must be entered again. Changes after that stay with the release where you made them.

The Desktop App does not update automatically. Download and install a new release when compatibility negotiation rejects the installed release. Keep older Desktop App releases for Runtimes with different protocol requirements.

Connect to a Runtime​

The first connection is part of installation. Follow Connect the Desktop App to a Runtime to discover a Runtime and save the connection. The rest of this page covers what comes after that first connection.

When the Runtime is ready and discovery and pairing are available, moveit_pro run prints the hostname, any detected configured IPv4 addresses, named-instance API port, and the moveit_pro frontend-key command needed by Add Connection. Use an IP address that is reachable from the desktop computer when the hostname does not resolve there. The command never embeds the credential in startup output because terminal sessions may be recorded. If discovery or pairing is unavailable, the command instead explains that the app cannot find or pair with the Runtime for that run.

Switch or Recover a Connection​

  • Open Settings from the top navigation bar and select Switch Runtime Connection to switch Runtimes.
  • To use multiple Runtimes at the same time, select File > New Window and connect each window to a different Runtime.
  • If a Runtime restarts, leave the app open. It reconnects when the Runtime is available again.
  • Select Choose Another Runtime during reconnection, or Connections after recovery stops, to return to the connection picker.
  • Edit a saved connection to replace or remove its frontend key, addresses, or service ports. The stored key carries over when you change the address or ports; enter a key again only when you want to replace it.

If the Desktop App and Runtime are incompatible, the Desktop App explains which protocol or capability requirement failed before connecting. An initial exact-match Runtime instead requires a Runtime update before it can admit a different Desktop App release.

Runtime Ownership​

The desktop app does not start, stop, or store the Runtime workspace. Run moveit_pro run, moveit_pro down, build, backup, and migration commands on the Runtime computer. The user workspace remains there when the desktop app closes or is reinstalled.

Run the Runtime in Parallels on macOS​

macOS remains supported by running the MoveIt Pro Runtime in an Ubuntu virtual machine under Parallels. macOS installers for the desktop app are not yet available, so run the Linux desktop app inside that same VM. The app and the Runtime then share a machine, so the app discovers the Runtime with no port forwarding or tunnel.

The connection steps below apply to a desktop app running outside the VM, which becomes possible once macOS installers ship.

macOS installer availability

The macOS desktop app installer is coming soon. Until it ships, the download list on Install MoveIt Pro offers Linux installers only, so the steps below apply once that installer is available.

For the simplest connection:

  1. Start the Runtime inside the Ubuntu VM.
  2. Find the VM's hostname or IP address in its Parallels network settings.
  3. Open the desktop app on the Mac, select Add Connection, and enter that hostname or IP address.

The Mac must be able to reach discovery port 3204 and Runtime ports 3200–3203 and 3205 in the VM. If the Parallels network does not provide that direct access but SSH works, create a tunnel from a macOS terminal:

ssh -N \
  -L 3200:127.0.0.1:3200 \
  -L 3201:127.0.0.1:3201 \
  -L 3202:127.0.0.1:3202 \
  -L 3203:127.0.0.1:3203 \
  -L 3204:127.0.0.1:3204 \
  -L 3205:127.0.0.1:3205 \
  <vm-user>@<vm-hostname-or-ip>

Keep that terminal open, then add 127.0.0.1 as the connection in the desktop app. The command is expected to remain open without showing a prompt. Port 3203 uses the Runtime's TCP fallback for camera media when connected through the SSH tunnel.

Port 80 is not required. It belonged to the former Compose-hosted browser interface, which the desktop app replaces for self-hosted MoveIt Pro 10.0.

MoveIt Pro Cloud remains available through its browser interface, but it is simulation only and cannot be connected to robot hardware. Self-hosted MoveIt Pro 10.0 Runtime deployments use the desktop app.