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Version: 10

Install MoveIt Pro

Application Platform

From a fresh terminal to a moving robot simulation.

Legal

A license key is required to run the MoveIt Pro Application Platform; if you do not already have one emailed to you, please contact us for more information. By downloading the MoveIt Pro Application Platform software you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions and acknowledging our Privacy Policy.

Product Family Overview​

MoveIt Pro is the Application Platform, and you interact with it through the MoveIt Pro Desktop App. The MoveIt Pro Runtime is what gets deployed onto your robot, and it is also required for simulation development locally. The Desktop App connects to the Runtime, so install both together, even though they can run on different machines. MoveIt Pro Core is a separate way of using just the low-level libraries, and we do not recommend it for most organizations.

MoveIt Pro Desktop AppMoveIt Pro RuntimeMoveIt Pro Core
MoveIt Pro Desktop AppMoveIt Pro RuntimeMoveIt Pro Core
  • UI for visualizing, debugging, and modifying robot systems and skills.
  • Preview motions, monitor limits, and edit planning scene.
  • Collect robot training data.
  • Supervise and teleoperate robots.
  • Build and debug Behavior Trees.
  • Real-time libraries embedded on the deployed robot.
  • Optionally includes the high-fidelity physics simulator; without it, runs on lower-spec hardware.
  • For production deployment.
  • Real-time controllers.
  • Inverse kinematics solvers.
  • Planners.
  • Minimum dependencies.

Install

Install

Install

System Requirements​

See MoveIt Pro Technical Specifications for the full computer requirements of each product.

MoveIt Pro Desktop App Installation​

Install two components: the MoveIt Pro Desktop App on the computer you will work from, and the MoveIt Pro Runtime on the computer that will control the robot. Both can also go on the same computer, which is the usual choice for running simulation locally. Either arrangement works: the Desktop App connects to a Runtime by address, whether that Runtime is on this computer or another one.

Choose your Ubuntu version and architecture:

sudo apt install curl
curl -fLo /tmp/moveit-pro-desktop-10.0.0-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.deb https://download.picknik.ai/desktop/moveit-pro-desktop-10.0.0-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.deb
sudo apt install -y /tmp/moveit-pro-desktop-10.0.0-ubuntu-24.04-amd64.deb

Not sure which architecture you need? Run uname -m on the computer you will work from:

  • x86_64 means amd64
  • aarch64 means arm64

The Desktop App and Runtime may use different releases when their protocol epochs and required capabilities are compatible. The Desktop App does not update automatically, so install a new release when the Runtime reports an unsupported protocol epoch or a missing required capability. A MoveIt Pro 10.0 Runtime instead rejects any other release outright; update that Runtime rather than the Desktop App. A MoveIt Pro 10.0 Desktop App also requires an exactly matching Runtime, so install a 10.1 or later Desktop App when you upgrade a 10.0 Runtime. You can keep multiple Desktop App releases for Runtimes with different protocol requirements. See Connect with the MoveIt Pro Desktop App for remote, multi-Runtime, and multi-version connections.

MoveIt Pro Runtime Installation​

Install the MoveIt Pro Runtime on the computer that will control the robot. Choose that Runtime host's operating system below.

Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 is the recommended host operating system for the MoveIt Pro Runtime. Ubuntu 26.04 is also supported as a host operating system. Current MoveIt Pro containers run Ubuntu 24.04 with ROS 2 Jazzy.

Docker Setup

MoveIt Pro uses Docker to avoid installing ROS or MoveIt on your host machine, and will not affect any existing ROS workspaces or configurations you may have. Check if you already have Docker by running in a terminal:

docker run hello-world
If Docker is already installed, click here.
warning

We do not currently support Docker Desktop due to its separate network stack.

Make sure that your Docker version is from Docker's Apt repositories - the versions from Canonical are very old. You can check this by running

apt-cache policy docker-compose-plugin

and making sure that the installed version (marked with ***) is from https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu, not a domain under ubuntu.com.

If Docker is not installed, click here.

We recommend two ways to install Docker:

Easiest

Simply copy paste the below commands into your terminal:

sudo apt-get install curl util-linux-extra
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh
sudo sh get-docker.sh
sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
sg docker "newgrp $(id -gn)"

The util-linux-extra package provides sg, used on the last line to pick up your new docker group membership without logging out.

More Advanced Follow Docker's official documentation:

  1. Docker's convenience script
  2. Docker's post-installation steps to ensure you can run without sudo privileges.

Finally

To ensure permissions settings take effect for all terminal sessions, log out and back in to your computer.

Finally, verify that you can run Docker commands without sudo.

docker run hello-world

NVIDIA Setup

Configure NVIDIA GPUs (only if you have an NVIDIA GPU)

The NVIDIA Container Toolkit is required for MoveIt Pro to use an NVIDIA GPU. On CPU-only hosts, MoveIt Pro's deterministic algorithms still work, but ML examples run much more slowly. AMD hosts instead require the AMD Container Toolkit described in the Ubuntu installation tab and the detailed GPU configuration guide.

Install the nvidia-container-toolkit.

For more information, or to verify that the toolkit is installed properly, see Configure GPU Acceleration.

AMD Setup

Configure AMD GPUs (only if you have an AMD GPU)

The AMD Container Toolkit is required for MoveIt Pro 10.0 to use an AMD GPU on a supported amd64 host. You do not need to install ROCm on the host because the MoveIt Pro Runtime image includes the required ROCm libraries. Before starting MoveIt Pro, configure and verify the toolkit as described below.

Confirm that your host meets the AMD Container Toolkit requirements, then install the toolkit by following AMD's Quick Start Guide. Configure the Docker runtime and generate its Container Device Interface (CDI) specification:

sudo amd-ctk runtime configure
sudo mkdir -p /etc/cdi
sudo amd-ctk cdi generate
sudo systemctl restart docker
sudo amd-ctk cdi validate

On an amd64 host, verify the installation before starting MoveIt Pro:

docker run --rm --runtime=amd \
  -e AMD_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all \
  rocm/rocm-terminal rocm-smi

For more information, see Configure GPU Acceleration.

Install MoveIt Pro Runtime

To install, run in a terminal:

sudo apt install curl
curl -fLo /tmp/moveit-pro-10.0.0-any.deb https://download.picknik.ai/moveit-pro/moveit-pro-10.0.0-any.deb
sudo apt install /tmp/moveit-pro-10.0.0-any.deb
moveit_pro run

For the full system requirements see also the MoveIt Pro Tech Specs.

First Run​

Step 1: Start the Runtime (backend) in simulation​

On the computer that you installed the Runtime, start the Runtime if it is not already running:

moveit_pro run

You should see:

The MoveIt Pro banner printed in the terminal when the Runtime starts

The first run presents several setup prompts. For this quick start, accept the recommended settings.

MoveIt Pro then downloads and builds the required Docker images and user workspace. Keep the terminal open until the Runtime reports that it is ready. Go get a coffee or tea ☕.

Experiencing issues installing or running MoveIt Pro?

You can use moveit_pro run -v to see more verbose output, which can be helpful for debugging if for some reasons things don't work right away for you.

For other issues, questions, or feedback:

Choosing a robot configuration package​

One of those prompts asks which robot configuration package to run. We recommend you choose hangar_sim as the first reference application to explore, as it demonstrates a full mobile manipulation robot using a UR5e robot arm on a Clearpath Ridgeback wheeled base.

Advanced

If you have an existing MoveIt Pro user workspace and robot config, you can set that instead of the default example workspace using the command:

moveit_pro configure --config-package my_robot_config --user-workspace path/to/workspace

See the documentation on Advanced Run Commands to learn more. You can also explore moveit_pro --help for more info.

Step 2: Start the Desktop App (frontend)​

Leave the Runtime terminal open. On the computer you installed the Desktop App on, open the application launcher and search for MoveIt Pro. On Ubuntu, press the Super key or select Show Applications in the dock, then type moveit pro and select the app.

The Ubuntu application launcher search field with "moveit pro" typed and the MoveIt Pro app as the result

You can also start it from a terminal with moveit_pro_desktop.

Step 3: Connect the Desktop App to a Runtime​

The app usually discovers Runtimes automatically, such as when the Runtime is on the same network, and Runtimes can also be added manually. You should see something like the following:

The MoveIt Pro Desktop App welcome screen, listing saved connections and discovered Runtimes

  1. Select Connect if the Desktop App already found your Runtime, which it should when both are running on the same computer. Otherwise, select Rescan to search again.

    A found Runtime with a stored key, ready to connect

  2. If no connection is automatically found, select Add Connection, then:

    • Enter the hostname or IP address.
    • Enter the frontend key (see the Frontend key note below).
    • Optionally, name the connection.
    • Select Save & Connect.

    The Add Connection dialog, with fields for a name, hostname or IP address, and frontend key

Frontend key

The MoveIt Pro CLI automatically creates and securely stores a unique frontend key for the Runtime. You do not need to create or export one before the first launch.

If the desktop app asks for the key, run this command on the Runtime computer:

moveit_pro frontend-key

Copy the displayed value into the desktop app. Treat the key like a password. The app saves it securely with the operating system credential store and does not display it again.

The desktop app checks the Runtime's TLS certificate automatically before it sends the key; normal desktop users do not need to install or approve a certificate. See Endpoint Security for key rotation, custom certificates, and direct-client setup.

More connection options

For firewall rules, discovery details, and direct connections, see Network Discovery. For more advanced Desktop App configurations, see Connect with the MoveIt Pro Desktop App for switching between Runtimes, remote connections, and running multiple app releases side by side.

Start An Example Application​

After connecting, you should see the following:

The MoveIt Pro Desktop App running hangar_sim, with the Objectives list, 3D Visualization, Behavior Tree, Joint Monitor, and camera panes

To quickly see an example application (an "Objective"):

  1. Find the Plan Path Along Surface Objective in the Objectives sidebar on the left, and move your mouse over it to reveal its controls.

    The Plan Path Along Surface Objective row with its play, edit, and menu controls revealed on hover

  2. Click the play button to start the Objective.

You should then see the robot drive to the side of the airplane body, scan it, and then begin a basic spraying operation. It also demonstrates whole-body control, coordinating the arm and wheels simultaneously.

Explore other example robot configs​

MoveIt Pro ships with more than eight example robot configuration packages that you can explore as reference applications. The source code is automatically downloaded from the moveit_pro_example_ws GitHub repository and is available locally at ~/moveit_pro/moveit_pro_example_ws. These example worlds serve as a starting point you can use for configuring and creating your own robotics applications:

lab_sim

Single arm on linear rail in laboratory environment.

moveit_pro run -c lab_sim

hangar_sim

Mobile manipulator moving cargo boxes in an airplane hangar.

moveit_pro run -c hangar_sim

grinding_sim

Engine block machining example with PushCorp end effector on UR10e.

moveit_pro run -c grinding_sim

space_satellite_sim

Client and servicer space vehicles performing grappling operation.

moveit_pro run -c space_satellite_sim

factory_sim

Tool changing and bin picking example for fixed-base industrial arm.

moveit_pro run -c factory_sim

mock_sim

Machine tending demonstration, without high fidelity simulator.

moveit_pro run -c mock_sim

kitchen_sim

ML models demonstration with a Franka arm.

moveit_pro run -c kitchen_sim

dual_arm_sim

Cartesian writing and wiping demonstration with dual Franka arms.

moveit_pro run -c dual_arm_sim

Click on the Next button below to continue through the four getting started tutorials.