viam-server Installation Guide
To use Viam, you need to install either the viam-server binary or viam-micro-server.
viam-server is the binary built from the Robot Development Kit that contains and manages communications between all Viam’s built-in hardware drivers (components) and software services, connects your machine to the cloud, manages machine configuration, and manages dependencies including modules.
viam-micro-server is a lightweight version of viam-server which can run on resource-limited embedded systems that cannot run the fully-featured viam-server.
To install viam-micro-server, see viam-micro-server Installation Guide instead.
In this page
Platform requirements
viam-server can run on any computer that runs a supported operating system:
- Linux 64-bit operating systems running on the
aarch64orx86_64architectures - Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
- macOS
Windows Support Notice
WSL itself does not currently support exposing many types of Windows hardware to the embedded Linux kernel.
This means that some hardware, such as a connected webcam, may not be available to viam-server with WSL, even though it is fully supported for native Linux systems.
Although you cannot access all hardware if you run viam-server on your personal computer with WSL, you can run code to control a machine on your personal computer with WSL if you install viam-server on a single-board computer running Linux.
Operating System installation
viam-server can run on any computer that runs on a supported platform, including single-board computers (SBCs) running 64-bit Linux.
For convenience, we provide operating system installation instructions for some popular SBCs.
If you want to use an SBC or other computer which already has a supported operating system installed, proceed to install viam-server.
Install viam-server
If you have a compatible operating system, follow along with the steps outlined below to install viam-server:
Go to the Viam app. Create an account if you haven’t already.
Add a new machine by providing a name in the New machine field and clicking Add machine:
Navigate to the CONFIGURE tab and find your machine’s card. An alert will be present directing you to Set up your machine part:
Click View setup instructions to open the setup instructions.
Select the platform you want to run on.
If you selected Linux / Aarch 64 or Linux / x86 also select your installation method:
viam-agent(recommended): installs viam-agent, which will automatically install (and update) viam-server and provide additional functionality such as provisioning and operating system update configuration.manual: installs onlyviam-serveron your machine.
Follow the steps shown on the setup page.
Once you have followed the steps on the setup instructions, wait for confirmation that your machine has successfully connected.
On your machine’s page on the Viam app, your machine will show that it’s Live.
Linux: Automatic startup
On Linux installs, by default viam-server or viam-agent and viam-server will start automatically when your system boots.
You can change this behavior if desired.
If you installed viam-server manually see Manage viam-server.
If you installed viam-server through viam-agent see Manage viam-agent.
Manage your installation
To learn how to run, update, or uninstall viam-agent, see Manage viam-agent.
For manual installs of only viam-server, see Manage viam-server.
Next steps
Was this page helpful?
Glad to hear it! If you have any other feedback please let us know:
We're sorry about that. To help us improve, please tell us what we can do better:
Thank you!