Using the Native Client Launchers

The Ignition Gateway contains downloadable native executables that can launch Clients directly without invoking Java Web Start. Using the native executables you can set up Clients in ways that are impossible to achieve with Java Web Start, such as being able to launch Clients automatically as part of a machine startup script.

The Native Client Launcher automatically searches the network for existing Ignition Gateways and lists existing projects. It is a more robust shortcut than the default desktop shortcuts created by Java.

Note: The Native Client Launchers require Java to be installed on the Client machine.

To use the Native Client Launchers

  1. Go to the Home page on the Gateway.

  2. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Native Client Launchers section.
    Native Client launchers are available on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

  3. Click on the Download button to download the native launcher that you need for your operating system.

    • For Windows, you will see a clientlauncher.exe file.
    • For Linux, open the downloaded .tar.gz file using an archive manager, or use tar -xvf on the command line. You will see a clientlauncer.sh file.
    • For Mac OS X, double-click the clientlauncher.dmg file, drag the Client Launcher .app into the Applications folder.

  4. Click on the .exe, .sh, or .app file (depending on your OS) to open the page that shows URL for available Gateways.

  5. Choose the Gateway you want, click the SELECT Gateway button, and click Save & Close.
    On the window that is displayed you can launch your project.

    If your Gateways have multicast enabled (Multicast Enable check box is selected on the Gateway Settings page), and multicast transmission is allowed on your network, you can see a list of Gateways under the Available Gateways tab.

  6. Select a Gateway from the list and click the SELECT Gateway button.
    The Client launcher will attempt to connect to the Gateway you selected.

  7. If you don't see your Gateway, you can manually enter the Gateway address under the Manually Input Gateway tab, the format is host:port.
    For example, you can input 127.0.0.1:8088 or localhost:8088 to connect to a Gateway running on your local machine. After you have entered your address, click Apply.
    The Client launcher will attempt to connect to the Gateway you selected.
    After you have selected a Gateway, the Client launcher will attempt to contact the Gateway and will update the Status field at the top of the screen. If there was an error while attempting to contact the Gateway, you can hold your mouse over the Status field to see what the error was. You can also check <user home folder>/.ignition/Clientlauncher-data/Clientlauncher.log for error information.
    Keep in mind that you cannot use a Client launcher to connect to older Gateways. The minimum Gateway versions that can be used by Client launchers are 7.5.11 for the 7.5 Ignition platform and 7.6.4 for the 7.6 Ignition platform.

    You can hide the Native Client Launcher section on the Gateway Home page by disabling it in the Gateway Settings > Homepage Config tab.

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