Installation¶

This document provides a guide on how to install Moonraker on a Raspberry Pi running Raspian/Rasperry Pi OS. Other SBCs and/or linux distributions may work, however they may need a custom install script. Moonraker requires Python 3.7 or greater, verify that your distribution's Python 3 packages meet this requirement.

Installing Klipper¶

Klipper should be installed prior to installing Moonraker. Please see Klipper's Documention for details. After installing Klipper you should make sure to add Moonraker's configuration requirements.

Klipper Configuration Requirements¶

Moonraker depends on the following Klippy extras for full functionality:

[virtual_sdcard]
[pause_resume]
[display_status]

If you have a [filament_switch_sensor] configured then [pause_resume] will automatically be loaded. Likewise, if you have a [display] configured then [display_status] will be automatically loaded. If your configuration is missing one or both, you can simply add the bare sections to printer.cfg:

[pause_resume]

[display_status]

[virtual_sdcard]
path: ~/printer_data/gcodes

Enabling Klipper's Unix Domain Socket Server¶

After Klipper is installed it may be necessary to modify its defaults file in order to enable the Unix Domain Socket. Begin by opening the file in your editor of choice, for example:

sudo nano /etc/default/klipper

You should see a file that looks something like the following:

# Configuration for /etc/init.d/klipper

KLIPPY_USER=pi

KLIPPY_EXEC=/home/pi/klippy-env/bin/python

KLIPPY_ARGS="/home/pi/klipper/klippy/klippy.py /home/pi/printer.cfg -l /tmp/klippy.log"

Add -a /tmp/klippy_uds to KLIPPY_ARGS:

# Configuration for /etc/init.d/klipper

KLIPPY_USER=pi

KLIPPY_EXEC=/home/pi/klippy-env/bin/python

KLIPPY_ARGS="/home/pi/klipper/klippy/klippy.py /home/pi/printer.cfg -l /tmp/klippy.log -a /tmp/klippy_uds"

Note

Your installation of Klipper may use systemd instead of the default LSB script. In this case, you need to modify the klipper.service file.

You may also want to take this opportunity to configure printer.cfg and klippy.log so they are located in Moonraker's data_path, for example:

# Configuration for /etc/init.d/klipper

KLIPPY_USER=pi

KLIPPY_EXEC=/home/pi/klippy-env/bin/python

KLIPPY_ARGS="/home/pi/klipper/klippy/klippy.py /home/pi/printer_data/config/printer.cfg -l /home/pi/printer_data/logs/klippy.log -a /tmp/klippy_uds"

Moonraker's install script will create the data folder, however you may wish to create it now and move printer.cfg to the correct location, ie:

mkdir ~/printer_data
mkdir ~/printer_data/logs
mkdir ~/printer_data/config
mv printer.cfg ~/printer_data/config

Installing Moonraker¶

Begin by cloning the git respository:

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Arksine/moonraker.git

The install script will attempt to create a basic configuration if moonraker.conf does not exist at the expected location, however if you prefer to have Moonraker start with a robust configuration you may create it now. By default the configuration file should be located at $HOME/printer_data/config/moonraker.conf, however the location of the data path may be configured using the script's command line options. The sample moonraker.conf may be used as a starting point, full details can be found in the confguration documentation.

For a default installation run the following commands:

cd ~/moonraker/scripts
./install-moonraker.sh

The install script has a few command line options that may be useful, particularly for those upgrading:

-f: Force an overwrite of Moonraker's systemd script. By default the the systemd script will not be modified if it exists.
-a <alias>: The installer uses this option to determine the name of the service to install. If -d is not provided then this options will also be used to determine the name of the data path folder. If omitted this defaults to moonraker.
-d <path to data folder>: Specifies the path to Moonraker's data folder. This folder organizes files and directories used by moonraker. See the Data Folder Structure section for details. If omitted this defaults to $HOME/printer_data.
-c <path to configuration file> Specifies the path to Moonraker's configuation file. By default the configuration is expected at <data_folder>/config/moonraker.conf. ie: /home/pi/printer_data/config/moonraker.conf.
-l <path to log file> Specifies the path to Moonraker's log file. By default Moonraker logs to <data_folder>/logs/moonraker.log. ie: /home/pi/printer_data/logs/moonraker.log.
-z: Disables systemctl commands during install (ie: daemon-reload, restart). This is useful for installations that occur outside of a standard environment where systemd is not running.
-x: Skips installation of polkit rules. This may be necessary to install Moonraker on systems that do not have policykit installed.
-s: Installs Moonraker's speedup Python packages in the Python environment.

Additionally, installation may be customized with the following environment variables:

MOONRAKER_VENV
MOONRAKER_REBUILD_ENV
MOONRAKER_FORCE_DEFAULTS
MOONRAKER_DISABLE_SYSTEMCTL
MOONRAKER_SKIP_POLKIT
MOONRAKER_CONFIG_PATH
MOONAKER_LOG_PATH
MOONRAKER_DATA_PATH
MOONRAKER_SPEEDUPS

When the script completes it should start both Moonraker and Klipper. In klippy.log you should find the following entry:

webhooks client <uid>: Client info {'program': 'Moonraker', 'version': '<version>'}

Now you may install a client, such as Mainsail or Fluidd.

Note

Moonraker's install script no longer includes the nginx dependency. If you want to install one of the above clients on the local machine, you may want to first install nginx (sudo apt install nginx on debian/ubuntu distros).

Data Folder Structure¶

As mentioned previously, files and folders used by Moonraker are organized in a primary data folder. The example below illustrates the folder structure using the default data path of $HOME/printer_data.

/home/pi/printer_data
├── backup
│   └── 20220822T202419Z
│       ├── config
│       │   └── moonraker.conf
│       └── service
│           └── moonraker.service
├── certs
│   ├── moonraker.cert (optional)
│   └── moonraker.key (optional)
├── config
│   ├── moonraker.conf
│   └── printer.cfg
├── database
│   ├── data.mdb
│   └── lock.mdb
├── gcodes
│   ├── test_gcode_one.gcode
│   └── test_gcode_two.gcode
├── logs
│   ├── klippy.log
│   └── moonraker.log
├── systemd
│   └── moonraker.env
├── moonraker.secrets (optional)
└── moonraker.asvc

If it is not desirible for the files and folders to exist in these specific locations it is acceptable to use symbolic links. For example, it is common for the gcode folder to be located at $HOME/gcode_files. Rather than reconfigure Klipper's virtual_sdcard it may be desirable to create a gcodes symbolic link in the data path pointing to this location.

Note

It is still possible to directly configure the paths to the configuration and log files if you do not wish to use the default file names of moonraker.conf and moonraker.log

When Moonraker attempts to update legacy installations symbolic links are used to avoid an unrecoverable error. Additionally a backup folder is created which contains the prior configuration and/or systemd service unit, ie:

/home/pi/printer_data
├── backup
│   └── 20220822T202419Z
│       ├── config
│       │   ├── include
│       │   │   ├── extras.conf
│       │   │   ├── power.conf
│       │   │   └── updates.conf
│       │   └── moonraker.conf
│       └── service
│           └── moonraker.service
├── certs
│   ├── moonraker.cert -> /home/pi/certs/certificate.pem
│   └── moonraker.key -> /home/pi/certs/key.pem
├── config -> /home/pi/klipper_config
├── database -> /home/pi/.moonraker_database
├── gcodes -> /home/pi/gcode_files
├── logs -> /home/pi/logs
├── systemd
│   └── moonraker.env
└── moonraker.secrets -> /home/pi/moonraker_secrets.ini

Warning

The gcode and config paths should not contain symbolic links that result in an "overlap" of on another. Moonraker uses inotify to watch files in each of these folders and takes action when a file change is detected. The action taken depends on the "root" folder, thus it is important that they be distinct.

The systemd service file¶

The default installation will create /etc/systemd/system/moonraker.service. Below is a common example of service file, installed on a Raspberry Pi:

# systemd service file for moonraker
[Unit]
Description=API Server for Klipper SV1
Requires=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
SupplementaryGroups=moonraker-admin
RemainAfterExit=yes
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/moonraker
EnvironmentFile=/home/pi/printer_data/systemd/moonraker.env
ExecStart=/home/pi/moonraker-env/bin/python $MOONRAKER_ARGS
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

Following are some items to take note of:

The Description contains a string that Moonraker uses to validate the version of the service file, (notice SV1 at the end, ie: Service Version 1).
The moonraker-admin supplementary group is used to grant policykit permissions.
The EnvironmentFile field contains Moonraker's arguments. See the environment file section for details.
The ExecStart field begins with the python executable, followed by by the enviroment variable MOONRAKER_ARGS. This variable is set in the environment file.

Command line usage¶

This section is intended for users that need to write their own installation script. Detailed are the command line arguments available to Moonraker:

usage: moonraker.py [-h] [-d <data path>] [-c <configfile>] [-l <logfile>] [-u <unixsocket>] [-n] [-v] [-g] [-o]

Moonraker - Klipper API Server

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d <data path>, --datapath <data path>
                        Location of Moonraker Data File Path
  -c <configfile>, --configfile <configfile>
                        Path to Moonraker's configuration file
  -l <logfile>, --logfile <logfile>
                        Path to Moonraker's log file
  -u <unixsocket>, --unixsocket <unixsocket>
                        Path to Moonraker's unix domain socket
  -n, --nologfile       disable logging to a file
  -v, --verbose         Enable verbose logging
  -g, --debug           Enable Moonraker debug features
  -o, --asyncio-debug   Enable asyncio debug flag

The default configuration is:

data path: $HOME/printer_data
config file: $HOME/printer_data/config/moonraker.conf
log file: $HOME/printer_data/logs/moonraker.log
unix socket: $HOME/printer_data/comms/moonraker.sock
logging to a file is enabled
Verbose logging is disabled
Moonraker's debug features are disabled
The asyncio debug flag is set to false

Tip

While the data path option may be omitted it is recommended that it always be included for new installations. This allows Moonraker to differentiate between new and legacy installations.

Warning

Moonraker's --unixsocket option should not be confused with Klipper's --api-server option. The unixsocket option for Moonraker specifies the path where Moonraker will create a unix domain socket that serves its JSON-RPC API.

If is necessary to run Moonraker without logging to a file the -n option may be used, for example:

~/moonraker-env/bin/python ~/moonraker/moonraker/moonraker.py -d ~/printer_data -n

Tip

It is not recommended to install Moonraker with file logging disabled While moonraker will still log to stdout, all requests for support must be accompanied by moonraker.log.

Each command line argument has an associated enviroment variable that may be used to specify options in place of the command line.

MOONRAKER_DATA_PATH="<data path>": equivalent to -d <data path>
MOONRAKER_CONFIG_PATH="<configfile>": equivalent to -c <configfile>
MOONRAKER_LOG_PATH="<logfile>": equivalent to -l <logfile>
MOONRAKER_UDS_PATH="<unixsocket>": equivalent to -u <unixsocket>
MOONRAKER_DISABLE_FILE_LOG="y": equivalent to -n
MOONRAKER_VERBOSE_LOGGING="y": equivalent to -v
MOONRAKER_ENABLE_DEBUG="y": equivalent to -g.
MOONRAKER_ASYNCIO_DEBUG="y": equivalent to -o

Note

Command line arguments take priority over environment variables when both are specified.

The environment file may be used to set Moonraker's command line arguments and/or environment variables.

The environment file¶

The environment file, moonraker.env. is created in the data path during installation. A default installation's environment file will contain the path to moonraker.py and the data path option, ie:

MOONRAKER_DATA_PATH="/home/pi/printer_data"
MOONRAKER_ARGS="-m moonraker"
PYTHONPATH="/home/pi/moonraker"

A legacy installation converted to the updated flexible service unit might contain the following. Note that this example uses command line arguments instead of environment variables, either would be acceptable:

MOONRAKER_ARGS="/home/pi/moonraker/moonraker/moonraker.py -d /home/pi/printer_data -c /home/pi/klipper_config/moonraker.conf -l /home/pi/klipper_logs/moonraker.log"

Post installation it is simple to customize arguments and/or environment variables supplied to Moonraker by editing this file and restarting the service. The following example sets a custom config file path, log file path, enables verbose logging, and enables debug features:

MOONRAKER_DATA_PATH="/home/pi/printer_data"
MOONRAKER_CONFIG_PATH="/home/pi/printer_data/config/moonraker-1.conf"
MOONRAKER_LOG_PATH="/home/pi/printer_data/logs/moonraker-1.log"
MOONRAKER_VERBOSE_LOGGING="y"
MOONRAKER_ENABLE_DEBUG="y"
MOONRAKER_ARGS="-m moonraker"
PYTHONPATH="/home/pi/moonraker"

Optional Speedups¶

Moonraker supports two optional Python packages that can be used to reduce its CPU load:

msgspec: Replaces the builtin json encoder/decoder. Requires Python >= 3.8.
uvloop: Replaces the default asyncio eventloop implementation.

If these packages are installed in Moonraker's python environment Moonraker will load them. For existing installations this can be done manually with a command like:

~/moonraker-env/bin/pip install -r ~/moonraker/scripts/moonraker-speedups.txt

After installing the speedup packages it is possible to revert back to the default implementation by specifying one or both of the following environment variables in moonraker.env:

MOONRAKER_ENABLE_MSGSPEC="n"
MOONRAKER_ENABLE_UVLOOP="n"

PolicyKit Permissions¶

Some of Moonraker's components require elevated privileges to perform actions. Previously these actions could only be run via commandline programs launched with the sudo prefix. This has significant downsides:

The user must be granted NOPASSWD sudo access. Raspberry Pi OS grants the Pi user this access by default, however most other distros require that this be enabled through editing visudo or adding files in /etc/sudoers.d/.
Some linux distributions require additional steps such as those taken in sudo_fix.sh.
Running CLI programs is relatively expensive. This isn't an issue for programs that are run once at startup, but is undesirable if Moonraker wants to poll information about the system.

Moonraker now supports communicating with system services via D-Bus. Operations that require elevated privileges are authrorized through PolicyKit. On startup Moonraker will check for the necessary privileges and warn users if they are not available. Warnings are presented in moonraker.log and directly to the user through some clients.

To resolve these warnings users have two options:

1) Install the PolicyKit permissions with the set-policykit-rules.sh script, for example:

cd ~/moonraker/scripts
./set-policykit-rules.sh
sudo service moonraker restart

Tip

If you still get warnings after installing the PolKit rules, run the install script with no options to make sure that all new dependencies are installed.

cd ~/moonraker/scripts
./install-moonraker.sh

2) Configure Moonraker to use the legacy backend implementations for the machine and/or update_manager components, ie:

# Use the systemd CLI provider rather than the DBus Provider
[machine]
provider: systemd_cli

# Edit your existing [update_manager] section to disable
# PackageKit.  This will fallback to the APT CLI Package Update
# implementation.
[update_manager]
#..other update manager options
enable_packagekit: False

# Alternatively system updates can be disabled
[update_manager]
#..other update manager options
enable_system_updates: False

Note

Previously installed PolicyKit rules can be removed by running set-policykit-rules.sh -c

Completing Privileged Upgrades¶

At times an update to Moonraker may require a change to the systemd service file, which requires sudo permission to complete. Moonraker will present an announcement when it need's the user's password and the process can be completed by entering the password through Moonraker's landing page.

Some users prefer not to provide these credentials via the web browser and instead would like to do so over ssh. These users may run scripts/finish-upgrade.sh to provide Moonraker the necessary credentials via ssh:

Utility to complete privileged upgrades for Moonraker

usage: finish-upgrade.sh [-h] [-a <address>] [-p <port>] [-k <api_key>]

optional arguments:
  -h                show this message
  -a <address>      address for Moonraker instance
  -p <port>         port for Moonraker instance
  -k <api_key>      API Key for authorization

By default the script will connect to a Moonraker instances on the local machine at port 7125. If the instance is not bound to localhost or is bound to another port the user may specify a custom address and port.

The API Key (-k) option is only necessary if the localhost is not authorized to access Moonraker's API.

Retrieving the API Key¶

Some clients may require an API Key to connect to Moonraker. After the [authorization] component is first configured Moonraker will automatically generate an API Key. There are two ways in which the key may be retrieved by the user:

Retrieve the API Key via the command line (SSH):

cd ~/moonraker/scripts
./fetch-apikey.sh

Retrieve the API Key via the browser from a trusted client:

Navigate to http://{moonraker-host}/access/api_key, where {moonraker-host} is the host name or ip address of the desired moonraker instance.
The result will appear in the browser window in JSON format. Copy The API Key without the quotes.
```
{"result": "8ce6ae5d354a4365812b83140ed62e4b"}
```

LMDB Database Backup and Restore¶

Moonraker uses a LMDB Database for persistent storage of procedurally generated data. LMDB database files are platform dependent, and thus cannot be easily transferred between different machines. A file generated on a Raspberry Pi cannot be directly transferred to an x86 machine. Likewise, a file generated on a 32-bit version of Linux cannot be transferred to a 64-bit machine.

Moonraker includes two scripts, backup-database.sh and restore-database.sh to help facilitate database backups and transfers.

~/moonraker/scripts/backup-database.sh -h
Moonraker Database Backup Utility

usage: backup-database.sh [-h] [-e <python env path>] [-d <database path>] [-o <output file>]

optional arguments:
  -h                  show this message
  -e <env path>       Moonraker Python Environment
  -d <database path>  Moonraker LMDB database to backup
  -o <output file>    backup file to save to

~/moonraker/scripts/restore-database.sh -h
Moonraker Database Restore Utility

usage: restore-database.sh [-h] [-e <python env path>] [-d <database path>] [-i <input file>]

optional arguments:
  -h                  show this message
  -e <env path>       Moonraker Python Environment
  -d <database path>  Moonraker LMDB database path to restore to
  -i <input file>     backup file to restore from

Both scripts include default values for the Moonraker Environment and Database Path. These are $HOME/moonraker-env and $HOME/printer_data/database respectively. The backup script defaults the output value to $HOME/database.backup. The restore script requires that the user specify the input file using the -i option.

To backup a database for a default Moonraker installation the user may ssh into the machine and run the following command:

~/moonraker/scripts/backup-database.sh -o ~/moonraker-database.backup

And to restore the database:

sudo service moonraker stop
~/moonraker/scripts/restore-database.sh -i ~/moonraker-database.backup
sudo service moonraker start

The backup file contains cdb like entries for each key/value pair in the database. All keys and values are base64 encoded, however the data is not encrypted. Moonraker's database may contain credentials and other sensitive information, so users should treat this file accordingly. It is not recommended to keep backups in any folder served by Moonraker.

Recovering a broken repo¶

Currently Moonraker is deployed using git. Without going into the gritty details,git is effectively a file system, and as such is subject to file system corruption in the event of a loss of power, bad sdcard, etc. If this occurs, updates using the [update_manager] may fail. In most cases Moonraker provides an automated method to recover, however in some edge cases this is not possible and the user will need to do so manually. This requires that you ssh into your machine. The example below assumes the following:

You are using a Raspberry Pi
Moonraker and Klipper are installed at the default locations in the home directory
Both Moonraker and Klipper have been corrupted and need to be restored

The following commands may be used to restore Moonraker:

cd ~
rm -rf moonraker
git clone https://github.com/Arksine/moonraker.git
cd moonraker/scripts
./install-moonraker.sh
./set-policykit-rules.sh
sudo systemctl restart moonraker

And for Klipper:

cd ~
rm -rf klipper
git clone https://github.com/Klipper3d/klipper.git
sudo systemctl restart klipper

Debug options for developers¶

Moonraker accepts several command line arguments that can be used to assist both front end developers and developers interested in extending Moonraker.

The -v (--verbose) argument enables verbose logging. This includes logging that reports information on all requests received and responses.
The -g (--debug) argument enables Moonraker's debug features, including:
- Debug endpoints
- The update_manager will bypass strict git repo validation, allowing updates from unofficial remotes and repos in a detached HEAD state.
The -o (--asyncio-debug) argument enables the asyncio debug flag. This will substantially increase logging and is intended for low level debugging of the asyncio event loop.

Warning

The debug option should not be enabled in production environments. The database debug endpoints grant read/write access to all namespaces, including those typically exclusive to Moonraker. Items such as user credentials are exposed.

Installations using systemd can enable debug options by editing moonraker.env via ssh:

nano ~/printer_data/systemd/moonraker.env

Once the file is open, append the debug option(s) (-v and -g in this example) to the value of MOONRAKER_ARGS:

MOONRAKER_ARGS="/home/pi/moonraker/moonraker/moonraker.py -d /home/pi/printer_data -c /home/pi/klipper_config/moonraker.conf -l /home/pi/klipper_logs/moonraker.log -v -g"

Save the file, exit the text editor, and restart the Moonraker service:

sudo systemctl restart moonraker