Installing LinuxCNC for Testing/Simulation

If you want to run LinuxCNC without an actual CNC machine for learning the interface, testing etc., there are a few options:

• Raspberry PI
• Windows PC using Virtual Box
• Windows PC using Docker
• Debian PC

The following may work:

• Windows PC with Raspbberry PI OS (Raspbian) running on the QEMU emulator

The following have issues:

• Ubuntu 24.04 (As of March 2025, there are package issues)

If you want to run on a Windows PC, the recommended method is to use Virtual Box.

• Install VirtualBox from https://www.virtualbox.org/
• If necessary, enable Virtualization in the BIOS and under 'Turn Windows features on and off'.
  • It should work if Hyper-V is enabled but if not, try disabling it.
• Download LinuxCNC from https://linuxcnc.org/downloads/. You need this one: LinuxCNC 2.9.4 Debian 12 Bookworm PREEMPT-RT ISO. It's a complete image including the OS and the LinuxCNC application.
• In VirtualBox, use the 'New' button to create a new virtual machine.
  • Give it a name e.g. Linux CNC
  • Select the ISO file downloaded above.
  • Set type to 'Linux'. Should be selected automatically.
  • Set version to Debian (64 bit). Should be selected automatically.
  • Select 'Skip unattended installation'
  • (Optional) Under Hardware, extend the memory from the default 2GB to 4GB (for light usage) or up to 8GB for more complex designs.
    • 2GB may cause LinuxCNC to run slowly. The memory can be increased later but you have to stop the VM first.
  • (Optional) Under Hard Disk, increase the size of the virtual hard disk.
  • Click on Finish.

The LinuxCNC app should appear in the applications menu under CNC. Running it should produce

The first time linuxcnc is run, you will need to select a configuration from 'Sample Configurations'. You will then be asked if you want to copy the configuration. Select 'Yes'. On subsequent runs, they will appear under 'My Configurations'. If you need to delete them, you can find them in linuxcnc/configs. Just use e.g. 'rm -R sim.gmoccapy' to remove them.

You can try out the various cnc types and styles of user-interfaces but if you want the look and feel of the actual CNC, you should choose sim.gmoccapy → gmoccapy

(Note there is a lot of bad info online about installing configurations. For gmoccapy and QtDragon, everything is already there. You don't need to 'apt install' anything or copy over files or edit .ini files. Also ChatGPT will tell you complete nonsense.)

There is a proposal to change the UI to use QtDragon: