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Overview

The Designer Launcher makes it extremely easy for you to hit the ground running on your projects. The Designer Launcher locates all Gateways that are available on a local network. Each Designer that is added to the My Designers list represents a shortcut to a particular Gateway, and once that Designer is opened you can access or create new projects on that Gateway. The same Designer can access all the projects that are available on that Gateway, and you don't need to add the Designer multiple times for different Gateways!

Create a Designer Launcher shortcut on your desktop and you can open your Designer, and create or edit a project in a flash! 

Login credientials/permissions

If the Designer Launcher locates and adds a Gateway to your list of designers, you must have the right credentials/privileges to login to that particular Designer.

Best Practice

It's good practice to download and install the Designer Launcher every time you install a new release of Ignition. The Designer Launcher is a separate application and is not part of an Ignition release, so it's important not to have an outdated Designer Launcher shortcut residing on your desktop. Each time you install a new version of Ignition, download and install the Designer Launcher, and let the install process create a new desktop shortcut for you automatically.

The Designer Launcher for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS are available on the Home tab of the Gateway Webpage. Ignition knows what platform you're running, and will display it on the Download button. There is section on how to download and install the Designer Launcher for each operating system. Simply click on the link in each section to expand the panel to guide you through the steps.

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The Designer Launcher



Windows Designer Launcher

The following feature is new in Ignition version 8.0.10
Click here to check out the other new features

The Designer Launcher for Windows can now be installed as an "all user" application on a Windows operating system providing launcher access to all users on the same machine from a single installation. The first time you install the Designer Launcher, you will be prompted to select your install mode: "Install for me only" or to "Install for all users." If the Designer Launcher was already installed, subsequent install attempts are treated as an upgrade and you will not be prompted to select the install mode. This new option will only appear on new launcher installations, or after uninstalling a prior version of the installer.


Designer Launcher Destination Folder

When installing for "all users," the installer will be placed in the following folder: "%Ignition Installation Directory%\Program Files\Inductive Automation."
When installing for "me only," the installer will be found under the "\AppData\Roaming\Inductive Automation" folder. 


Use the following steps to download and install the Designer Launcher application for the Windows platform. 

  1. You can access the Designer Launcher on the Home tab of the Gateway Webpage. Click Download to start the download process for the Designer Launcher. 



  2. Your web browser will detect the operating system, and suggest the appropriate download for the Download button. 



  3. Run the downloaded file (DesignerLauncherSetup.exe) found on the lower-left of the window, or go to your Downloads folder and double-click the file to run it.

  4. If this is the first time installing the Designer Launcher, you will be prompted to select an install mode. Select either "Install for me only," or "Install for all users".



  5. The Install Wizard will select a default destination location folder for the Designer Launcher application files. If you are "installing for me only", the destination folder will be different from the "all users" destination folder. 




  6. The Select Additional Tasks window will open. You'll notice that a desktop shortcut is checked and will be created so you don't have to run the Designer Launcher each time you want to open the Designer. Click Next.



  7. Now, you're Ready to Install the Designer Launcher on your computer. Click Install to continue. 



  8. Once the Designer Launcher is installed, click Finish.



  9. The Ignition Designer Launcher window will open. Here you can select any Designers you have permission to launch. If you are running this for the first time, you will need to add your Designer(s). Adding Designers is addressed in the Adding Additional Designers section below. 



  10. The Designer starts up and the login window is displayed. Enter your credentials for the Designer, and click Login. Logging into the designer requires a user account in a User Sources, the user source must be set as the System User Source under Gateway Settings, and the user account must have the at least one of the designer roles (again, under Gateway Settings). 



  11. The Open/Create Project window is displayed giving you two options: create a new project or open an existing one. Enter a project name and then click the New Project button. 


Mac OS Designer Launcher

Use the following steps to download and install the Designer Launcher application for the Mac OS platform. 

  1. From the Home tab on the Gateway Webpage, click the Download button for the Ignition Designer Launcher. 



  2. Your web browser will detect the operating system, and will display "macOS" on the Download button. Click on the Download button to download the Designer Launcher. 




  3. Run the downloaded file (designerlauncher.dmg) found in your Downloads folder.

  4. To install the Designer Launcher application, drag the Designer Launcher icon to the Applications folder.



  5. Navigate to the applications folder and double click on the Designer Launcher icon to open the Designer. 

  6. The Ignition Designer Launcher window will open. Here you can select any Designers you have permission to launch. If you are running this for the first time, you will need to add your Designer(s). Adding Designers is addressed in the Adding Additional Designers section. 



  7. The Designer starts up and the login window is displayed. Enter your credentials for the Designer, and click Login. Logging into the designer requires a user account in a User Sources, the user source must be set as the System User Source under Gateway Settings, and the user account must have the at least one of the designer roles (again, under Gateway Settings). 





  8. The Open/Create Project window is displayed giving you two options: create a new project or open an existing one. Enter a project name and then click the New Project button. 




Linux Designer Launcher 

Use the following steps to download and install the Designer Launcher application for the Linux platform. 

  1. From the Home tab on the Gateway Webpage, click the Download button for the Ignition Designer Launcher. 



  2. Your web browser will detect the operating system, and will display "Linux" on the Download button. Click the Download button to download the Designer Launcher. 



  3. Once the download completes, open the file called "designerlauncher.tar.gz". 
  4. Extract the contents of the 'tar.gz' file to your desired install location. 
  5. Navigate to your install folder, and click the 'designerlauncher.desktop' file. A message box may popup about the Designer Launcher being an untrusted application. Click Trust and Launch.



  6. Click the Designer Launcher icon to launch the Designer Launcher.



  7. The Ignition Designer Launcher window will open. Here you can select any Designers you have permission to launch. If you are running this for the first time, you will need to add your Designer(s). Adding Designers is addressed in the Adding Additional Designers section. 



  8. The Designer starts up and the login window is displayed. Enter your credentials for the Designer, and click Login. Logging into the designer requires a user account in a User Sources, the user source must be set as the System User Source under Gateway Settings, and the user account must have the at least one of the designer roles (again, under Gateway Settings). 



  9. The Open/Create Project window is displayed giving you two options: create a new project or open an existing one. Enter a project name and then click the New Project button. 



Configuring the Designer Launcher

Configuring the Designer Launcher is fairly simple no matter what platform you're working in. The process steps for configuring the launcher is the same for all three platforms:  Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.

The steps and screenshots in this section were taken from a Windows platform. These steps are the same for Mac OS and Linux, but the screenshots for Mac OS and Linux may have a slightly different appearance. This section is used to configure the Designer Launcher for all three platforms: Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.


The Designer Launcher finds the Gateways, you add the Gateways to My Designers, and the only thing left to do is create your Designer shortcuts. You can create a shortcut for each Designer, or use the Designer Launcher to display all your Designers. Creating shortcuts makes them readily accessible for opening a Designer quickly. If you are running this for the first time, you'll need to add your Designer(s). Adding Designers is addressed in the Adding Additional Designers section below. 

Let's open the Designer Launcher to create a few shortcuts.

  1. If you followed the Designer Launcher Download and Install steps for your platform, then you probably already have the Designer Launcher shortcut created which looks like the image below.



    If you don't, then go back to the Gateway Webpage to download and install the Designer Launcher again, following the steps documented for your platform. 

  2. Find the Designer Launcher shortcut and click it to open the Designer Launcher window. A list of Designers will be displayed. 

  3. Now let's create a shortcut on your desktop for your Designer. You have the option to Create Shortcut, or Launch + Create a Shortcut for that Designer. Click the dropdown box, select Create Shortcut, and a shortcut will be placed on your desktop. 



  4. Go to your desktop and click the shortcut to open your Designer. You'll notice that name of your Designer is also the name of the shortcut (i.e., Controller). 

    The Designer Launcher will now notify users if it detects that an updated version of the launcher is available from either the app or a shortcut. Depending on the change, the launcher may allow you to upgrade at a later time, or require a new designer launcher before launching the application.  

Designer Launcher Settings

You have the option of customizing your Designer Launcher Settings.

  1. To access Designer Launcher Settings, click Settings on the top right of any Designer Launcher window. 



  2. When the Designer Launcher Settings window opens, you can choose to use the default settings or customize each Designer. When finished, click Save Changes.

Launcher Settings - Configurations for the Launcher
Property SettingDescriptionJSON Name
Default ApplicationWhen set, the Launcher will attempt to automatically launch the specified Application when running. If left blank/null, an Application will not automatically start
default.application
Logging LevelLevel of logging that will be used for the launcher: INFO, TRACE, DEBUG, WARN, and ERROR.
logger.level
Multicast AddressThe address that will be used to listen for multicast broadcasts from Gateways.
multicast.address
Multicast PortThe port that will be used to listen for multicast broadcasts from Gateways.
multicast.receive.port
Auto Exit on LaunchAutomatically close the launcher window when a client is started.
autoexit
Application Defaults - Default Configurations for New Applications
Property SettingDescriptionJSON Name
TimeoutMaximum number of seconds allowed for any Gateway communication. Any communication that exceeds this amount will cause the client launcher to abort the communication and try again if configured.
timeout
Retries

The number of times a Client will to attempt to contact a gateway again if an error occurred during communication. Available values are:

  • -1 : Retry indefinitely, or until the launcher is manually closed.
  • 0 : Zero retries, or abort after the first failure.
  • 1 (or more): Determines the number of retries: i.e., a value of "5" means five retries.
retries
Initial HeapAmount of memory to be allocated at startup.
init.heap
Max HeapMaximum amount of memory allocation for heap size.
max.heap
JVM ArgumentsArguments to append to client startup. These should start with a '-D'  and be separated by semi-colons.
jvm.arguments


Adding Additional Designers

If you're adding a Designer for the first time or adding additional Designers, this process is the same since the Designer Launcher does all the work for you.  

  1. With the Designer Launcher open, click the Add Designer button.



  2. The Designer Launcher will browse and list all the available Gateways on your local network as well as someone else's on the same network. Select from any of the available networks and press the Add Selected Gateway button. You can only select and add one Gateway at a time.  




  3. If you don't see the Gateway you're looking for, but know the IP address, you can enter it manually. Click the Manually Add Gateway button in the upper right corner and enter the Gateway URL. It will inform you if you have a valid host name. If so, click Add Gateway. 



  4. Once it's added, it will appear your My Designers list. 

Designer Application Settings Reference

Setting NameDescription
Application NameThe name of the Designer application, as it appears in the launcher.
TimeoutThe maximum number of seconds to allow for any gateway communication. Any communication that exceeds this amount will cause the Vision client launcher to abort the communication and try again if configured.
Retries

How many times to attempt to contact a gateway again if an error occurred during communication. Available values are:

  • -1 : Retry indefinitely, or until the launcher is manually closed.
  • 0 : Zero retries, or abort after the first failure.
  • 1 (or more): Determines the number of retries: i.e., a value of "5" means five retries. If the number of retries is exceeded, then the launcher will attempt to launch the Fallback Application.
Initial HeapThe initial heap size (memory) for the client.
Maximum HeapThe maximum heap size (memory) for the client.
JVM ArgumentsAdditional JVM arguments to add to that specific application if desired. The defaults are created from the global jvm-args that exist at the time of the creation of the application. These can then be modified and the modifications will persist and never be updated again from the global setting.


Security Certificates

Trusted Certificates

The following feature is new in Ignition version 8.0.13
Click here to check out the other new features
As of release 8.0.13 you can add security certificates to the launcher.  To utilize this feature, you must have installed a launcher from a version 8.0.13+ gateway.

While attempting to launch an application, the launcher will check against the application's host gateway, and attempt to automatically download any required certificates.  In addition, certificates can be manually added using the example below.

  1. Access Designer Launcher Settings by clicking Settings on the top right of any Designer Launcher window. 
  2. In the Trusted Certificates section, click the Add  icon.



  3. Navigate to the location of the certificate on your system and choose Open. 
  4. Information about the certificate is displayed. To view complete details, click the Expand  icon next to Details. If everything looks OK, click Trust Certificate.



  5. Once a certificate is imported, you can view its details by clicking the Information  icon.

Delete a Certificate

  1. To delete an imported certificate, access Designer Launcher Settings by clicking Settings on the top right of any Designer Launcher window. 
  2. In the Trusted Certificates section, select the certificate you want to delete. 
  3. Click the Delete  icon.
  4. You'll get a confirmation window. If the certificate is the correct one you want to delete, click the Delete button.

Export a Certificate

  1. To export an imported certificate, access Designer Launcher Settings by clicking Settings on the top right of any Designer Launcher window. 
  2. In the Trusted Certificates section, select the certificate you want to export. 
  3. Click the Export icon.
  4. Navigate to the location you want to save the certificate and click Save.

Self-Signed Certificates

When using a self-signed SSL certificate, the certificates for the gateway must be locally accessible to the client launcher in the following directory:

{user folder}\.ignition\clientlauncher-data\certificates

When a certificate is placed in the directory above, the launcher will attempt to automatically add the certificate(s) to the local KeyStore upon application launch.


Troubleshooting

If the Designer Launcher fails to launch a designer for some reason, the log file can be found at:

{user folder}\.ignition\clientlauncher-data\designer.log

This log should contain any errors that occurred.


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