FAST multiple octoprint instances for OctoPi and Ubuntu

[@grdos2329]

Hi Paul. Some years ago I was setting my multi instance server for my ender 3d printers on Octoprint with the help of youtube videos on Chris channel. I can only say thank you. Reconfiguring it with your program has been incredibly easy.

[@GeorgeWells00]

Paul, I have to tell you, that I have been fighting with multiple Octoprint instances on my Raspberry Pi 4 for weeks. I've tried Docker, VMware ESXI, copy folders, and had finally figured I would have to go with a second (old NUC) to run the second printer. Your scripts are a game changer for me, this resolved my issues with multiple printers and multiple webcams, and it was really very simple. Thank you for the time and effort put into this. I think it is time to start paying people like you back for these great tools!

[@prawnchoptv]

10 times what he said. much appreciated. time to buy the dude a coffee

[@erickloehn1527]

Dude, this is amazing. Legend buddy

[@MikeeB]

Hey Paul. First off, this is a great tool and is super quick and easy to use. I ended up having a similar hiccup that Teddy from down in the comments had as well. I think this may have been because I already had an instance of octopi installed on my pi. I ended up just wiping my pi and installing octoprint from scratch using the newer raspberry pi imager (didn't realize this was updated. Made it much easier to write octoprint and just edit wifi settings inside of there). Once I did this things worked out great for me. I said "No" to the serial number for my printer and I had to start over. I instead typed "Y" and waited for the 1 minute timer which solved this simple issue. Other than that, everyone else, make sure you take your time and just read. For example, when naming your printer... Don't use spaces HAHA. I made that mistake... (I didn't read, so it's my fault). Again, thanks for this fast and easy method. I really like how the ports are dedicated to the printers, makes my life easier for sure when turning on and connecting printers for the first time of the day. In the future if I want to add more printers, can I come back in SSH and just add another instance?

[@ppaukstelis]

Yes, you can come back and add instances any time. Just remember if the serial number is not detected, it should stay plugged into the same USB port. I may make a video on how to re-make the base instance if there is an existing instance. It can be done, but it is a little bit of a pain.

[@ronaaij5080]

Awesome video! Is it possible to let these services automaticly start when linux re-boots?

[@3DGEOPrints]

THIS IS GREAT thank you so much I just got frustrated with doing something like this for Klipper and ALWAYS get stuck on the flashing the printer firmware part. This beats running it off of a cellphone Thanks again I'm now Subscribed!!

[@Bocha666]

thanks bro, God bless you. I installed previously Octoprint and couldnt create more instances. But erased everything and re-installed and all worked perfectly

[@raysrule81]

I followed a guide by Chris Riley to add my 2 printers and they work great in OctoPrint. But now I want to add the 2 cameras. Can I add them using your script method in this video, and just select option 3 to add a camera? Or will it not work that way since I didn't create the printer instances using this script?

[@cyclusmateria1069]

Paul, this is awesome! Wanted to ask, would it work on Raspberry Pi 3 with 7 printers and 7 cameras with powered USB hubs, or this setup can be achieved only with Raspberry Pi 4 ?Thanks

[@ppaukstelis]

The Pi3 would be underpowered for that.

[@Teddyjr]

Hey, thank you for a great, informative video! I got as far as the sudo command for the instance installation, pressed return all the way to the bottom for defaults and now am prompted with, "Warning!! You must setup the base profile and admin user before continuing". I am not in anyway savvy to this kind of stuff and not sure how to continue. Any thoughts?

[@ppaukstelis]

Another user ran into this issue and it was related to the SD card. I believe they had issues with a 64 GB card, but a 32 GB card worked flawlessly. I can't be certain that is the issue that you are having, but if you check the issues on the github site you can see the discussion we had there.

[@benjicobz7417]

I just came across the message. I solved it by actually doing what the warning message prompts; that is, completing the setting up of the initial octoprint instance on port 5000. That involved login details, printer profile, etc.

[@dzitiatri]

How to install it on Raspberry Pi5 if there is no OCTO Pi image in "Raspberry Pi Image" software ? Any guides ? I am searching for a few hours.

[@TeoHarlan]

wow this is super useful! I have a quick question though, would this deploy work on a windows install or not out of box?

[@ppaukstelis]

It does not work with windows. There is a different tool that is in development for that. github.com/jneilliii/OctoPrint-WindowsInstaller/releases/tag/1.8.1

[@YouRQ7XL]

No ziomuś to jest to czego szukałem dla 3 drukarek pod jednym RPi4 😉

[@TheOoze777]

Can the individual instances be accessed remotely, from outside the local network? If so, how would one go about setting that up?

[@mrbill2380]

I like what I see. Any plans for macOS support? I am currently running Octoprint on macOS Mojave with 2 Ender3 Pros.

[@ppaukstelis]

No plans as of now. I don't use a macos machine on a normal basis, so I don't really have the ability to do much testing.

[@therealjamescobb]

What happens to the script if a USB hub is plugged into the USB port and a camera / printer is plugged into that hub? PI4 with 4 USBs = 4 hubs for 4 printers/cameras VERY nice setup and script!

[@ppaukstelis]

Haven't tried but it should get detected. Ideally you would plug in hub before printers or cameras.

[@jsnpressley]

I was going to ask the same question. I was having issues with my webcam disconnecting a lot because I think the pi is not powerful enough to run 2 webcams and 2 printers stably, so I've bought a powered usb hub for each printer. So now I've got 2 powered 4-port usb hubs for each printer, so each webcam has its own powered usb hub. Plus it leaves 2 usb ports available on the pi for when I get more printers. Currently running octoprint on a desktop computer (using OctoBuntu), but I always have to leave the computer on, which isn't convenient in my case. Going to try this setup this afternoon 😁

[@lemieszm]

@@jsnpressley How did this work for you? Was having similar issues as you and bought a hub and hoping to solve it.

[@jsnpressley]

@@lemieszm I couldn't get it to work, so I decided to go another route. Now I've got one printer running off of a raspberry pi 4 and my other printer running directly from my computer. When I was using the hubs, it kept confusing the cameras even though I didn't switch the ports. I'm sure a little easy troubleshooting would have fixed it, but since I don't run both machines 24/7, I decided to go the easy route. The script is awesome though, I'm using it on my Pi and my computer, and I haven't had a single problem since I separated them. Sorry I can't help more about the hubs.

[@lemieszm]

@@jsnpressley Thanks for the reply. My hub came today and it worked! I dont have the shutdown system button on octoprint though anymore with the multiple instances. Anyone know how to shut down the pi safely without that? It won't seem to reboot to add the octolapse pluggin either uhg. Please help!

[@khoavu8670]

Hi Paul, Great video and Thank you this is exactly what I was looking for.

[@CustomFPV]

I am having trouble finding the instances once set up, the /printer1 in the address isn't working.

[@ppaukstelis]

Make sure you use a trailing slash: /printer1/

[@TheOoze777]

How to do you remove just the cameras? Do you have to remove the whole instance?

[@stratocaster4630]

If I want to run four printers and four cameras, would I be able to do that off of pi 4B 8 GB with a USB hub or what I want to split them between two pi 4b's? Also would I still be able to remotely check the different instances by logging into services like octo everywhere or obico?

[@ppaukstelis]

4 printers would be easy, 4 cameras would be pushing it. It might work (depending on the cameras) but you'd be safer using two Pis. Yes, each instances is configured separately so you can use cloud services.

[@paulbryson606]

Hi i have just changed networks how do i change my ssid and pass word on my pi running two printers i can connect by ethernet cable so i can ssh to the pi but cant find where to change the wifi settings so i can connect the pi to my wireless network thanks for your help

[@glenncol]

Absolutely awesome, thank you

[@jayhorowitz8154]

Hi Paul. Thanks for the great work. I have a couple questions you might be able to help with. I installed two instances. The first I added a camera, first time with specs for camera. Octopi instance can't seem to find the correct url as no streaming shows. I tried again with a fresh install with default camera values with same result. Any suggestions? Next question is on my windows 10 pc I can't get octopi.local to load I always have to use IP address. Is that a problem and if so how do I correct? Thanks again.

[@ppaukstelis]

Cameras will always say experimental, because there are so many ways they can go wrong, I can't support everything. You can see if your camera instance even started with sudo systemctl status cam_instancename. You can change the stream and snapshot URLs in the OctoPrint settings if you need to use IP address instead of hostname. Easiest way to get support is to join Discord server (invite link on github).

[@jayhorowitz8154]

@@ppaukstelis Thanks Paul. I understand and want you to know how much I appreciate your efforts. Thanks again for the excellent work and sharing! Have a great day!

[@tylers2889]

Amazing. Thank you so much for this! I'm a beginner at stuff like this and I was able to follow this and setup two instances without too much trouble, whereas other tutorials/methods seemed very long and convoluted. My printers are the same (Anycubic Mega S) but they are distinguished just fine by keeping them plugged into the same USB ports on the PI. The hardest part, which is not necessarily a fault of this method, was getting my one Raspi pi cam to display a video stream on the first printer... that took a lot of googling and trial and error. Nothing was shown on the control tab at all, where the video stream is supposed to show. The cam can't be added in the octoprint_deploy script in putty because it seems that is only for usb webcams and mine is a ribbon cable that plugs directly into the PI board. Apparently, you don't have to "add" the Raspi cam - it gets "automatically" detected, automatically in quotes because there is some workaround needed. I found a solution that worked for me and there are some other comments/info about it here that may work too. If anyone needs help with the same issue I can link and explain what worked for me.

[@ppaukstelis]

Yes, the automatic camera detection for udev rules is for USB cameras only. Maybe in the future I'll add an option that you can designate a raspicam during the setup process. I don't have one so that complicates things a bit.

[@brucemilyko8549]

I also would like to use my RaspberryPi Camera on my first printer. I would love to see your workarounds to get it to work.

[@ppaukstelis]

@@brucemilyko8549 I have already added this feature. After you have installed an instance, you re-run the script with a special flag; sudo octoprint_deploy/octoprint_deploy.sh picam which will setup the picam for an instance.

[@brucemilyko8549]

@@ppaukstelis Great. I will try that!

[@osmaroliveira8553]

Very, very nice. Congratulation.👏👏

[@davidbuchmiller1995]

Hi Paul when I try to connect two instances. Only one printer well run at a time did I do something wrong?

[@ppaukstelis]

Yes. You should be able to use many printers. Join Discord server for support.

[@davidbuchmiller1995]

@@ppaukstelis I figured it out I had to select a different port for each since one did not have a serial number.

[@fabiomatichecchia6632]

I followed the video: fantastic and super simple. Thanks. Now is there a way to have files and folders synchronized?

[@ppaukstelis]

Yes, just change the path of your Upload directory. It is in the OctoPrint settings. You can point all your instances to the same path and they will share files.

[@TheOoze777]

What about plugins? Will I have to install them on each instance individually?

[@ppaukstelis]

Nope. You install plugins on one instance, and when you restart the other instances they will be available (if it requires configuration you will still have to configure each instance)

[@TheOoze777]

Octoprint 1.8 just dropped...will there be any issues with Octoprint_Deploy if I upgrade to that version?

[@ppaukstelis]

No. It doesn't care about the version.

[@cryptocandyland3699]

Awesome! Thank you for taking the time. Great for noobs like myself. Curious if I'm able to add 1 ribbon pi-cam and 1 usb... or only USB cams?

[@ppaukstelis]

Thanks! Yes, it is possible to add a raspicam along with the USB cameras, but it is just not automated. I don't have a Raspi cam to try out, but I will try to add the ability to include it in a future version.

[@cryptocandyland3699]

@@ppaukstelis Thank you sir, for the quick response! I can send you a ribbon camera if you like. Just let me know.

[@lemieszm]

@@cryptocandyland3699 I'd also love to know how to use the pie cam with a usb cam. wasn't sure if it wold recognize the pi camera or not. Can I use 2 cameras and just select which camera to use before I print? Thanks!

[@cryptocandyland3699]

@@lemieszm Trying to figure it out myself. I'll let you know if I figure it out. At this point with the scripts, I have no pi-cam at all.

[@lemieszm]

@@cryptocandyland3699 I ended up getting 2 usb cams and tried it. Doesn’t seem like the pi has enough power to power everything. I ended up buying a usb power hub and hopefully everything works (hub is on order). Got one printer and cam to work but the pie said not enough power when I connected the other printer and camera. Any help Is appreciated

[@3dprintnoob381]

Does this script consider that the first instance of OctoPrint may have been installed under a username other than "pi"? Does it also consider that OctoPrint has been installed via `venv`?

[@ppaukstelis]

The user nor the install type matters, as long as you give those information correctly in the script (user and install path of Octoprint)

[@ChristianLaufs]

Thats phantastic!!!!!

[@jrgeiler]

Will this work with Debian distro? I want to switch to debian from ubuntu to save some harddrive space.

[@ppaukstelis]

It will work with pretty much every linux distribution.

[@owninf00lz]

Hey Paul, thanks for the video and everything! I am trying to set this up on an Ubuntu laptop without the pi and I keep getting stuck at connecting to octoprint instance and setting up admin. I have followed all of this and for some reason I cannot get it to work at all. Any suggestions on where to go from here?

[@ppaukstelis]

Have you done the Prepare System? You can check to see the status of octoprint instance with: sudo systemctl status octoprint_default.service

[@owninf00lz]

@@ppaukstelis Yes, I did the system prep. I did the status line and its showing a bunch of failed checks. I've reset everything and tried the system prep again and got the same results.

[@ppaukstelis]

@@owninf00lz it would be best to open an issue on github. You should also have an octoprint_deploy.log file you can include.

[@ppaukstelis]

@@owninf00lz if you were using Ubuntu 21.04, it wasn't getting packages correctly. I have updated the script so it works with 21.04 now.

[@owninf00lz]

@@ppaukstelis awesome, I believe I was using 21.04. Thanks, I'll check it out when I get back to the house!

[@ratman4747]

Great work, but I would like to ask how to proceed with the installation on UBUNT and PC plathorm. I installed the Ubutu server and ran your script. The preparation was done and one instance started. I need to add two more. I suppose I should choose the Linux/Octobuntu option. User is my admin account. I put the port as 5001 but when I enter the daemon patch it always throws me an error. So what format should I enter the DAEMON PATCH in ? Thank you.

[@ppaukstelis]

You should not need to "patch" anything. Just proceed the same way as the video, but choose Ubuntu/Octobuntu in all the menus instead of OctoPi. Everything else is identical.

[@ratman4747]

@@ppaukstelis Hello, in that case I report that under Ubuntu Server 21.10 the script does not work. After a clean install from USB your script was running. The preparation was correct, but the OctoPrint web interface did not start. It also could not add a new instance as you show in the video. Text dump : rat@octobuntu:~$ sudo octoprint_deploy/octoprint_deploy.sh 1) New instance 2) Delete instance 3) Add Camera 4) USB port testing 5) Quit Select operation: 1 Mon Apr 25 18:42:42 UTC 2022 starting instance installation 1) OctoPi 2) Linux/OctoBuntu 3) Other 4) Quit Installation type: 2 UNPLUG PRINTER YOU ARE INSTALLING NOW (other printers can remain) Enter the name for new printer/instance (no spaces): Printer 1 Port on which this instance will run (ENTER will increment from last value in /etc/octoprint_instances): 5001 Octoprint Daemon User [rat]: rat Octoprint Executable Daemon Path [/home/rat/OctoPrint/bin/octoprint]: /home/rat/OctoPrint/bin/octoprint Executable path is not valid! Aborting rat@octobuntu:~$

[@ppaukstelis]

@@ratman4747 please join Discord server. KZbin is not good for troubleshooting. discord.gg/QBNrWEy3

[@TWO515TY]

@@ratman4747 I think your issue may have been related to something else, but I'd also like to point out that the printer name you chose ("Printer 1") has a space in it and the instructions say not to use any spaces. You might have more less problems if you use a dash or underscore instead of a space.

[@christopheourtaau7134]

hello and thank you for the tutorial, I had a lot of trouble, with the language barrier, but it finally works, but my PI camera doesn't work anymore, do you know what to do? Thanks in advance Christopher

[@ppaukstelis]

Multi-instance setups are typically not designed for use with Pi cam. If you want to JUST use the Pi cam (no USB cameras) then you can re-enable webcamd and streamer select: sudo systemctl enable webcamd; sudo systemctl enable streamer_select

[@christopheourtaau7134]

@@ppaukstelis Perfect everything works, thank you one last question, can we change the resolution of the PI camera?

[@cyranodaburgerack8745]

@@ppaukstelis Hi there, I had the same issue and tried issuing the sudo cmds, but the second one didn't work. I get "ustreamer.service does not exist". Pi cam still not working. Any ideas?

[@ppaukstelis]

@@cyranodaburgerack8745 always best to get into the Discord server.

[@Malaka000]

Amazing script, sir. Works like 99% for me! One issue I have is I'm unable to use the "reboot system" and "restart octoprint" commands through octoprint. If i need to reboot, I have to do it via ssh > sudo reboot. As an example, in one of my printers named Greeny, in the config > server menu, Restart Octoprint auto filled with "sudo systemctl restart Greeny", and Restart System autofilled with "sudo reboot". Any advice on getting the restart/reboot functions to work? I deleted my printer instances and reinstalled them and still have same issue. Next thing I was going to try was just wiping the PI and starting from scratch but figured I'd ask here first :)

[@ppaukstelis]

The issue is that you need sudo privilege to run those commands. It is not something that can be automated. You can use 'sudo visudo' to add password-less privileges for systemctl commands.

[@Malaka000]

@@ppaukstelis thanks for replying sir! Unfortunately I'm not too well versed in linux or PI. FORTUNATELY I found that if I fill in for Restart Octoprint "sudo service Greeny restart", and for Restart system "sudo shutdown -r now" within the config menu in octoprint, it restarts that specific instance, and restarts the PI, respectively. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like these options are working now. I even was able to restart another octoprint instance, while still controlling Greeny, so it seems to be groovy now.

[@ppaukstelis]

@@Malaka000 this surprises me somewhat as that means that OctoPi allows "service" commands but not "systemctl". "service" is the 'old' way of doing things, AFAIK. I may make some modifications so this is done by default for OctoPi versions.

[@seifakkad]

am installing on ubuntu 16.0.4 I have successfully installed the template but its not called instance as it shows in the video its called octoprint. when I try to install a new instance I get warring you must setup the base profile and admin user before continuing any solution ?

[@ppaukstelis]

How did you install the template? For anything that is not OctoPi, the script will install OctoPrint and the template when you run the prepare system.

[@seifakkad]

@@ppaukstelis am using ubuntu I have installed octoprint using snap then i followed the video step by step

[@ppaukstelis]

@@seifakkad Please read the instructions on the GitHub readme. You do not need to install OctoPrint, octoprint_deploy does that for you. Also, the OctoPrint snap is broken and not maintained.

[@paulbryson606]

Worked for 2 instances of octoprint but second webcam will not show. I have 2 logitech c270 cameras both plugged into a powered usb hub cam on port 8002 will not show the second on port 8003 works fine any advice please 😁

[@ppaukstelis]

Typically with two instances, both with cameras, they would be on ports 8001 and 8002. You can always do a sudo systemctl status cam_instancename to see what is going on with the service.

[@paulbryson606]

@@ppaukstelis Hi paul still cant get second camara on second instance to work. I have tried unplugging first camera before adding camera to second instance and still no camera, I deleted all instances i added and started again what i did notice is i added the cameras again they are now on port 8004 and 8005 respectively only 8004 is the only cam showing.Thanks for your help

[@ppaukstelis]

@@paulbryson606 Best to open an issue on github and put the results of sudo systemctl status cam_instancename for both cameras.

[@feliwein_cc]

paul, when u say 10 printers running on octoprint, the pi handles that well? god damn i have been underestimating my baby haha

[@ppaukstelis]

I don't use 10 printers on a Pi in a normal environment (I have done it and it works, but not over an extended time). I do have 9-10 printers running off of an old i7 linux box. It has no issues having all the printers operating simulateneously.

[@Deek6923]

Damn mine just loads to a white screen

[@joshwren]

Hi Paul thanks for the video! It's really informative. I'm running into an issue halfway through these steps. I'm able to load the octopi software on my sd card, ssh in to run the first part of the commands, then I can pull up the first printer with octopi.local but the minute I try and add another instance everything breaks. I can't do the octopi.local/printer1 it says the OctoPrint server is currently not running. I've re-booted the pi a few times and retried all the steps twice. I'm hoping you might know what I'm doing wrong and can point me in the right direction.

[@ppaukstelis]

I'd need more information related to "everything breaks". Probably the best thing to do is to go over to github, open an issue with octoprint_deploy and provide the octoprint_deploy.log file.

[@USMCLEHMANN]

ok this is driving me up the wall, no matter what i do when i go to install a new instance. i ALWAYS get this abort.... Selected port is: 5001 Octoprint Daemon User [a]: Octoprint Executable Daemon Path [/home/a/oprint/bin/octoprint]: Exectuable path is not valid! Aborting

[@Old55savage]

This can only be because you made a user named 'a' and are running the script from that home directory. OctoPi is setup to be used be the user 'pi'.

[@s31teg]

I'm getting this error when trying to use the 64bit os as i'm trying to run 12 per pi 4 8gb as zerow2 are impossible to get atm cp: cannot stat '/home/pi/.octoprint': No such file or directory Uniquifying instance... octoprint_deploy/octoprint_deploy.sh: line 260: /home/pi//.printer4/config.yaml: No such file or directory

[@ppaukstelis]

I can't provide support over KZbin comments. If you join the Discord server linked in the github README page, I can try and help out

[@ppaukstelis]

The issue here was that you should only select OctoPi as your operating system if you flashed the OctoPi image onto the SD. If it was Raspberry Pi OS, select that from the menu.