Installing MAVLink
This topic explains how to install the MAVLink toolchain, including both XML message definitions and the GUI/command line tools that use them to Generate MAVLink Source Files.
You do not need to install or generate the source files if you are using the C programming language and a standard dialect. Just get the prebuilt libraries and then jump to Using C Libraries.
Prerequisites
The requirements for using the MAVLink tools are:
- Python 3.3+ (recommended) or Python 2.7+
- Python future module
- (Optional) Python TkInter module (required to use the GUI tool).
PYTHONPATH
environment variable must be set to the directory path containing the mavlink repository.
Installation Steps
The main installation steps are:
Install Python 3.3+ (or Python 2.7+):
- Windows: Download from Python for Windows
- Ubuntu Linux 18.04: Python 3 (and Python 2.7+) are already present. If you are using Python3 you will need to install the pip3 package manager:
sudo apt-get install python3-pip
Install the future module:
- Windows:
pip3 install future
Linux:
Python 3:
pip3 install --user future
- Windows:
Python 2:
pip install --user future
(Optionally) Install TkInter
- Windows: Installed already as part of Python for Windows
Linux: Enter the following terminal command:
Python 3:
sudo apt-get install python3-tk
Python 2:
sudo apt-get install python-tk
Clone the mavlink repo (or your fork) into a user-writable directory:
git clone https://github.com/mavlink/mavlink.git --recursive
- Set
PYTHONPATH
to the directory path containing your mavlink repository.- Windows:
set PYTHONPATH=C:\your_path_to_mavlink_clone
- Linux:
PYTHONPATH=your_path_to_mavlink_clone
- Windows:
Now you are ready to Generate MAVLink Libraries.