Installing MERLIC Under Linux

On Linux systems, MERLIC needs to be installed via the command line. The respective archives for the installation can be downloaded from the MVTec website. In addition, some manual configuration is required after the installation such as providing the MERLIC5.ini file and checking the firewall settings.

For Linux systems, only selected components of MERLIC are available: MERLIC RTE, MERLIC Frontend, MERLIC tools, MVApp examples, communication plug-ins, and the SDK for the development of communication plug-ins. For the creation of the MERLIC Vision Apps, you still need to use the MERLIC Creator on a Windows system and create a recipe for your application. The MVApp and recipe can then be used with MERLIC RTE on Linux systems.

Downloading MERLIC

Keep in mind that you must be logged in with your MVLogin to access the download area. If you have no MVLogin account, you have to register first.

  1. Log in to MVTec's download area: https://www.mvtec.com/downloads.
  2. Click on the MERLIC icon to access the MERLIC packages. You can use the filter options to show only the packages for Linux systems and the desired architecture.
  3. Download the required packages. In section Available Packages for Linux, you can find an overview of the packages and which ones are mandatory for your purposes.
  4. Optionally, download the add-on packages for the examples and the SDK for the plug-in development.

Available Packages for Linux

The following archives are available for download for the respective architectures. Depending on your purpose and which component of MERLIC you want to use on your system, different packages might be mandatory.

Package

Description

Mandatory for RTE

Mandatory for Frontend

Runtime Version

Contains the archive including the components for MERLIC RTE and the standard communication plug-ins:

  • merlic-26.03.0-aarch64-linux_merlic_rte-dl.tar.gz (aarch64-linux)

  • merlic-26.03.0-x64-linux_merlic_rte-dl.tar.gz (x64-linux)

✔

 

Frontend

Contains the archive for the MERLIC Frontend

  • merlic-26.03.0-aarch64-linux_merlic-frontend.tar.gz (aarch64-linux)

  • merlic-26.03.0-x64-linux_merlic-frontend.tar.gz (x64-linux)

✔

Add-on to Full / Runtime Version - Tools

Contains the archive with all MERLIC tools:

  • merlic-26.03.0-tools_all.tar.gz

✔

 

Add-on to Full / Runtime Version - Examples

Contains the archive with all examples such as MVApp examples and all files required for the examples:

  • merlic-26.03.0-examples.tar.gz

 

 

Add-on to Full / Runtime Version - Communicator SDK

Contains the archive with the SDK required for the implementation of custom communication plug-ins:

  • merlic-26.03.0-aarch64-linux_communicator-sdk.tar.gz (aarch64-linux)

  • merlic-26.03.0-x64-linux_communicator-sdk.tar.gz (x64-linux)

 

 

If you want to use MERLIC RTE on your system, you have to download and install the packages for the Runtime Environment and the MERLIC tools. All other packages are optional.

If you only want to use the MERLIC Frontend on your system, you only have to download and install the "Frontend" package. No other package is required in this case.

License-Free Components

The MERLIC Frontend requires no license. It can be used without activating a license.

Installing MERLIC RTE

For the installation, unpack the downloaded archives:

  1. Change to the directory in which you want to install MERLIC RTE. You can choose any directory of your choice, for example, "/opt/projects/MVTec".
  2. Unpack the downloaded archive for MERLIC RTE:

    Linux on PC

    Copy
    tar xf merlic-26.03.0-x64-linux_merlic_rte-dl.tar.gz

    Linux on Arm®-based platform

    Copy
    tar xf merlic-26.03.0-aarch64-linux_merlic_rte-dl.tar.gz

  3. A new directory "merlic-26.03.0" will be created. If you already installed MERLIC Frontend in the same directory, the files will be installed in the existing MERLIC installation directory.

  4. Unpack the archive for the MERLIC tools into the directory "merlic-26.03.0".

    Copy
    tar xf merlic-26.03.0-tools_all.tar.gz

  5. If you downloaded further optional archives, unpack each archive into the new directory in the same way as the other packages.

MERLIC is now installed on your Linux system. No further installation steps are necessary. All unpacked archives are now located in the sub-directory "merlic-26.03.0".

Before using MERLIC, please activate your license. For more information, see Activating a MERLIC License.

Installing MERLIC Frontend

For the installation, unpack the downloaded archives:

  1. Change to the directory in which you want to install MERLIC Frontend. You can choose any directory of your choice, for example, "/opt/projects/MVTec".
  2. Unpack the downloaded archive for MERLIC Frontend:

    Linux on PC

    Copy
    tar xf merlic-26.03.0-x64-linux_merlic-frontend.tar.gz

    Linux on Arm®-based platform

    Copy
    tar xf merlic-26.03.0-aarch64-linux_merlic-frontend.tar.gz

  3. A new directory "merlic-26.03.0" will be created. If you already installed MERLIC RTE in the same directory, the files will be installed in the existing MERLIC installation directory.

MERLIC Frontend is now installed on your Linux system. No further installation steps are necessary. All unpacked archives are now located in the sub-directory "merlic-26.03.0".

Providing the "MERLIC5.ini" File

For MERLIC RTE on Linux systems, an INI configuration file is required. The default configuration file is named "MERLIC5.ini" and is expected in the directory "~/.config/MVTec/".

The archives for the installation of MERLIC RTE on Linux systems come without any INI file. Therefore, you have to add the file manually after the installation.

There are different ways to add the configuration file:

  • Copy an existing INI file from a different installation. For example, if you have a MERLIC installation on your Windows system, we recommend using the INI file that was used when creating your MVApps.
  • Create a new INI file.

If you want to use the default INI file, make sure to name the file "MERLIC5.ini" and to save the file in the correct directory.

Copy 
[Logging]
LogFilePath=/opt/projects/MVTec/merlic/mvapp/logs/
LogFileSizeInBytes=5242880
LogFilesCount=10
Threshold=info
UseShortFilenames=true

[ProcessIntegration]
Recipe0=/opt/projects/MVTec/merlic/mvapp/merlic_rte.mrcp
DefaultRecipe=0

[Frontend]
GuiLanguage=en_US

Location of the INI File

The default INI file "MERLIC5.ini" is expected in a specific directory: "~/.config/MVTec/". It will be used by default, when starting MERLIC RTE on Linux without specifying an INI file.

If you want to use a different configuration file, you can save the INI file in any directory and with any name of your choice. You can also add multiple configuration files for different use cases. When starting MERLIC RTE, you have to specify the path and name of configuration file that shall be used. This can be done with the command line option "--ini". The INI file must be given with the relative path to the current directory in which MERLIC RTE is started.

Keep in mind that you have to adjust the paths in the INI file to the new paths on your Linux system as described in Additional Setup Steps for Linux.

Checking the Firewall Settings

If you are using a firewall, you have to make sure that your firewall settings allow the remote connection between your Linux system and the respective MERLIC components on the Windows system that is used for the remote configuration.

For the remote connection, ports for different components and services are used:

  • Configuration service of the Image Source Manager (ISM) on the "Image Sources" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup
  • Configuration service of the communication plug-ins on the "Communication" tab of the MERLIC RTE Setup
  • MERLIC Frontend
  • MERLIC Directory Agent

Some of them have fixed default ports and some others are set to ephemeral ports by default and must be manually set to fixed ports. To enable the remote connection, make the following adjustments:

  1. Define fixed ports for the configuration services of the Image Source Manager (ISM) and the communication plug-ins. The ports can be set in the respective INI file at the following properties:

    Section

    Property name

    [General]

    ImageSourceConfigurationPorts

    [Communicator]

    PluginConfigurationPorts

    Both properties require exactly three ports to ensure that the remote configuration works correctly as shown in the following example.

    Copy 
    [General]
    ImageSourceConfigurationPorts=10123;10124;10125

    [Communicator]
    PluginConfigurationPorts=10126;10127;10128

  2. Adjust your firewall settings to allow the ports defined in the previous step for ISM and the communication plug-ins.

  3. Adjust your firewall settings to allow the port for the MERLIC Frontend. This is required to start and run the MERLIC Frontend on a remote system. You can check the port in the respective INI file. By default, the ports 9090-9099 are used for the MERLIC Frontend.

    Section

    Property name

    [Frontend]

    Port

  4. Adjust your firewall settings to allow the fixed port: 9650. This port is used for the Directory Agent, the MERLIC process that coordinates the availability of the configuration services on the host device. It provides the MERLIC RTE Setup with the ability to query a list of available instances of MERLIC Creator and MERLIC RTE.

If you are using fixed ports for the configuration services of the Image Source Manager (ISM), only one instance of MERLIC RTE can be started. If you want to use a second instance of MERLIC RTE, you have to start the second instance with an different INI file in which different ports are set.

For more information on the configurable port settings, see The MERLIC INI File.

Further Information

When using MERLIC on a Linux system, some additional setup steps need to be considered when setting up the application for MERLIC RTE or when starting MERLIC RTE on Linux. You can find more information in the following pages: