This guide will teach you how to perform a standard installation of the Formant agent onto a target device.

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This guide describes installation via a convenience script to an Ubuntu 18 or 22 device. This method is highly recommended, but if you need to use another installation tool like Docker or Apt, see the Advanced agent provisioning section of our documentation center.

Prerequisites

Internet connectivity

The target device must have connectivity to app.formant.io and api.formant.io.

You can run the following script on your device terminal to output the robot's details and verify prerequisites:

bash \<(wget -qO - <https://app.formant.io/device-check.sh>)

Supported architectures and operating systems

This guide assumes that the target device is Linux-based. We currently support:

• bionic
• focal
• stretch
• buster
• bullseye

We support amd64 and arm64 architectures.

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32-bit arm architectures are no longer officially supported for standard installations. If you need to install the Formant agent on a 32-bit arm target, please reach out to our customer success team via the Intercom messenger in the bottom-right corner of this page, or at [email protected].

Terminal access

To install the Formant agent on the target device, you must have terminal access to the device and the ability to run commands.

Step 1: Add device

If this is the first device for your organization, you will be prompted to Add device from the signup screen.

If you are not prompted from the signup screen:

1. In Formant, open the menu in the upper-left corner and click Settings.
2. Click Devices, and then click the Add device button in the upper-right corner.

Step 2: Basic device configuration

1. Give your device a name.
2. (Optional) Configure advanced settings for your device:
   • Tags: Tags add metadata to your device which allows you to add it to device groups, configure notifications, or control user access. For more information, see Tags.
   • Configuration template: You can duplicate the configuration of an existing device using a configuration template. For more information, see Configuration templates.
   • Autoconfigure: If you enable this feature, Formant will choose a default set of streams, views, and modules to quickly set up your device.
3. Click Continue.

Step 3: Install the Formant agent

On the next window, you will see a command which installs the Formant agent to your device.

1. SSH into your robot's terminal.
2. Copy the installation command from Formant, paste it into your robot terminal, and run it.

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The installation command contains a unique provisioning token which expires after 72 hours.

3. (Optional) Enter the absolute path to your ROS catkin workspace. You will be prompted for this during installation. Configuring your catkin workspace path will allow Formant to ingest data using custom ROS message types. If you are not using a ROS catkin workspace, skip this step without entering a path by pressing the down arrow key to select <Ok> and then pressing Enter.

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You can add a catkin workspace later by editing the environment variables for your Formant agent. For more information, see Environment variables for the agent.

Step 4: Verify successful installation

If the Formant agent has been installed and connection established, Formant will begin to ingest telemetry for default streams like CPU, Network, Memory, and Disk. Verify that these streams have live telemetry data in the device's telemetry page.

1. In Formant, on the home screen, open the menu in the upper-left corner. Click on the name of your device.

You should see live data from your device in the Observe tab.

Your device is now running the Formant agent, and you're ready to use the Formant platform!

Troubleshooting

If you encounter an error in this process, or you still don't see your device online, see Troubleshooting an agent installation.

If you're still stuck, download your Formant agent log and reach out to our Customer Success team for support. You can reach us via the Intercom messenger in the bottom-right corner of this page, or at [email protected].

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If you notice an issue with this page or need help, please reach out to us! Use the 'Did this page help you?' buttons below, or get in contact with our Customer Success team via the Intercom messenger in the bottom-right corner of this page, or at [email protected].