Installing Klipper on Ubuntu

Here is how we at MeowFire install Klipper on a standalone mini PC, such as a Dell OptiPlex Micro. Installing Klipper on Ubuntu is super easy thanks to KIAUH.

Installing Ubuntu on Dell OptiPlex

This post covers installing Klipper on Ubuntu with a spare PC or laptop you most likely have collecting dust. This is not installing Klipper on a Raspberry Pi. Since we use No Machine to access our 3D printer host desktops we like the look of Ubuntu Budgie. Make sure we can SSH into the desktop and ensure that the‘git‘ package is installed.

Create a user that has sudo privileges that will run Klipper and Mainsail. This is a dedicated user in which Klipper is installed in it’s home directory and uses python virtual environments to run Klipper.

Installing Klipper via KIAUH

KIAUH is a command line interface (CLI) that makes installing Klipper much easier.

As the user with sudo privileges we want to run Klipper as, create a directory to download source code into and clone the KIAUH GIT repo into it with the command:

git clone https://github.com/th33xitus/kiauh.git

Once the git repo is installed run the script ‘kiauh.sh’ from the repo you just cloned. This will show a CLI that looks like this:

Installing Klipper on Ubuntu KIAUH main menu

To install Klipper and various components use the ‘1) [Install]‘ menu item. We install Klipper and Moonraker and use Mainsail as our web interface. The nice thing about KIAUH is it provides other popular web interfaces and packages to install.

When installing Klipper it will ask how many instances to install. The reason we use the Dell OptiPlex micro systems is that they have the 4 USB ports, plenty of CPU cycles and RAM to run multiple 3D printers at once. We typically run 3 printers off of one host. Each instance is set up as a separate service, hence the more instances that are installed, the more resources are used on the host computer.

If more than one instance is installed, they can be renamed later.

After we have answered the install questions KIAHU will clone the Klipper GIT repo, install any needed system packages, install python virtual environments and set up Klipper service files. We may want to stay near the keyboard as you will might have to enter your sudo password.

Installing Moonraker via KIAUH

Installing Moonraker is the same as installing Klipper. KIAUH will ask a few questions and then install the number of services based on the number of instances. At the end of then Moneraker install it will show the ports that each instance is listening on. For example:

#=======================================================#
 3 Moonraker instances have been set up! 
#=======================================================#

   ● Instance 1: 192.168.111.12:7125
   ● Instance 2: 192.168.111.12:7126
   ● Instance 3: 192.168.111.12:7127

These are the IP:port combinations that are used to connect to the 3D printers via a web browser.

Installing Mainsail via KIAUH

Installing Mainsail is just like the above. One thing to note if the host system is running an existing webserver or proxy that is using port 80, the installer will complain as it sets up Nginx to run on port 80 with a block site called Mainsail.

After installing Mainsail, exit KIAHU as we are finished with installing.

Configuring a 3D Printer in Mainsail

Point a web browser to the IP of the system Klipper was just installed on. We should see a screen like this:

We will have to use the IP of the system when adding 3D printers, not localhost or 127.0.0.1 ( this will fail ). It is Ok if no 3D printers connected as this is just setting up Mainsail.

After setting up the IP and ports you can connect to the 3D printers that are running Klipper firmware, however if you do not have a 3D printer with the Klipper firmware connected to the host you see this error:

We will have to connect a 3D printer with Klipper firmware to host. See our post on installing Klipper firmware on Flying Bear Reborn2 printer for more information on how to do this.

Updating Klipper via KIAUH

Now that we have finished installing Klipper on Ubuntu we will need to keep it updated. The nice this is that we can run KIAUH to update everything.

Since KIAUH is using GIT repo we will want to make sure you update the repo prior to updating anything. To update a GIT repo you can clone it if you deleted the directory or you can run this command inside the git directory to get updates – ‘git pull’.

Installing Klipper on Ubuntu is super easy using KIAUH, no Raspberry Pi required.