Installing Meili Agent for ROS/ROS2

Meili Agent is installed with an installation script. There is one script for each supported ROS/ROS2 distribution.

The ROS 2 scripts install Meili Agent 2.1.0 or later. Its Python dependencies (meili-sdk 0.9.6 and meili-ros-lib 0.3.21) are installed automatically from the agent’s requirements.txt. Meili FMS does not accept older agents using meili-sdk 0.8.5 or lower, see Upgrading an existing installation.

1. Generate a PIN

Generate a PIN in Meili FMS. The PIN is a 5-digit code that links the installation to your organisation.

2. Download the installation script

Download the script for your distribution:

ROS version	Distribution	Installation script
ROS 1	Melodic	meili_agent_melodic.sh
ROS 1	Noetic	meili_agent_noetic.sh
ROS 2	Foxy	meili_agent_foxy.sh
ROS 2	Humble	meili_agent_humble.sh
ROS 2	Jazzy	meili_agent_jazzy.sh

3. Download Meili CLI

Download Meili CLI (for i386 platforms) into the same folder as the installation script. For other platforms, see Meili CLI.

Meili CLI is the command-line utility tool for managing secrets, system setups, and map synchronisation with the server.

4. Run the installation script

From the folder that contains both files, run the commands for your distribution, replacing PIN with the PIN generated in step 1:

Melodic

chmod +x meili-cli
chmod +x meili_agent_melodic.sh
./meili_agent_melodic.sh PIN

Noetic

chmod +x meili-cli
chmod +x meili_agent_noetic.sh
./meili_agent_noetic.sh PIN

To use the vel_mux_flag parameter, also install the ROS twist multiplexer package by adding true after the PIN:

./meili_agent_noetic.sh PIN true

Foxy

chmod +x meili-cli
chmod +x meili_agent_foxy.sh
./meili_agent_foxy.sh PIN

Humble

chmod +x meili-cli
chmod +x meili_agent_humble.sh
./meili_agent_humble.sh PIN

Jazzy

chmod +x meili-cli
chmod +x meili_agent_jazzy.sh
./meili_agent_jazzy.sh PIN

Meili Agent is installed in ~/catkin_ws_meili/src/ (ROS 1) or ~/ros2_ws_meili/src/meili-agent/ (ROS 2).

On Jazzy, the Python dependencies are installed in a virtual environment, venv_meili, created in the folder where you ran the installation script.

Next steps

Once the script finishes, run Meili Agent.

Upgrading an existing installation

To upgrade a ROS 2 agent that is already installed, update the code, its Python dependencies and ROS dependencies, then rebuild the workspace:

Foxy / Humble

cd ~/ros2_ws_meili/src/meili-agent
git pull
cd meili_agent/meili_agent
sudo -H pip3 install -r requirements.txt --upgrade
cd ~/ros2_ws_meili
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -y -r
colcon build
source install/setup.bash

Jazzy

On Jazzy, install the Python dependencies inside the virtual environment:

cd ~/ros2_ws_meili/src/meili-agent
git pull
cd meili_agent/meili_agent
source <installation script folder>/venv_meili/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt --upgrade
cd ~/ros2_ws_meili
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -y -r
colcon build
source install/setup.bash

If the agent keeps logging Connection closed right after Connection to MEili FMS open, the installed meili-sdk is probably not compatible with Meili FMS. Upgrade the installation as described above.