Auterion Simulator reference
Install, configure, and troubleshoot Auterion Simulator on Ubuntu.
Use this reference for installation, configuration, performance, and troubleshooting details. For the Flight Tester workflow, see Auterion Simulator.
Requirements
Auterion Simulator runs on Ubuntu only. Released packages support Ubuntu 22.04, 24.04, 25.04, 25.10, and 26.04.
The simulator has been tested on these systems:
Asus G14 — AMD Ryzen 9 HX 370, RTX 5080 Max-Q, 32 GB RAM.
Lenovo Yoga Pro 9 — Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, RTX 4070, 32 GB RAM.
Tower PC — AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, RX 7700 XT, 64 GB RAM.
Tower PC — AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, RTX 4070 SUPER, 32 GB RAM.
KVM is required for practical performance. Without it, QEMU fully emulates each VM.
Verify virtualization support:
sudo apt install cpu-checker
sudo kvm-okOn on ubuntu 25 and above gazebo runs on docker
Every vehicle instance has its own VM. Its vCPU and RAM settings scale fleet demand.
Content packages consume several gigabytes. Each vehicle also keeps a private rootfs clone.
Installation
Add the Auterion package repository:
Install the beta channel with:
Switch back with sudo apt install auterion-simulator.
Stable and beta share everything the only difference is the method of obtaining them.
The launcher grants required privileges to your current user, so you can run everything without needing to use sudo every time.
Install AMC from Auterion Suite. Then follow the Installation.
Simulation modes
Each mode includes the capabilities of the preceding mode.
Minimal simulation + no camera runs PX4 SIH inside each VM. It has no Gazebo, Unreal, or video.
Gazebo physics + basic camera runs VMs and Gazebo. The camera is a Gazebo sensor.
Gazebo physics + Unreal camera runs VMs, Gazebo, and Unreal. Unreal renders the camera. This is the default.
In SIH, vehicle home comes from sih_model_home. In Gazebo and Unreal, it comes from the Gazebo world origin.
Presets
A preset saves a scenario. It stores the vehicle types, spawn counts, and required settings.
Use Apply for the selected preset. Use Save… to create one. Use Load… to import one.
Shipped presets and user presets are separate. User presets are stored in ~/.auterion-simulator/presets/.
Use Restore shipped presets to restore the built-in set.
The vehicles section is authoritative. Any vehicle absent from a preset is set to zero. A general-only preset leaves the fleet unchanged.
Live controls
Installed content supplies controls for a running simulation. Available controls can include:
Infrared/EO switching, time of day, camera noise, and blur distance.
Set heading, catapult launch, and interceptor launch.
Open the Live Control panel during a run. Open its menu and choose More controls for controls offered by that run.
Detach the panel to create an always-on-top window.
Controls appear only while the simulation is Running. Their supplying package must belong to the active run.
Unreal look and performance
Configure Unreal under Settings → Simulation → Unreal.
Graphics quality (Unreal) ranges from Low to Cinematic. The default is Epic.
Time of day accepts a preset name,
HH:MM, or a decimal hour.Unreal extra arguments passes extra launch arguments to Unreal.
Print camera FPS helps diagnose camera performance.
Unreal renders offscreen. It has no visible window or dock icon.
AMC integration
Start AMC after the simulator reaches Running. For lower video latency, set Settings → General → Video → Low Latency Mode to ON.
When installed content provides terrain and imagery, the launcher provisions an offline AMC map. It creates map and elevation tiles, centers AMC, and clears stale tiles.
AMC may close and relaunch while those settings apply. Reopen it when prompted.
Map setup is best-effort. It never blocks a simulation run. It requires gdal-bin and python3-pil.
Updating
Use Versions → Check for updates to check the current channel.
Use Select version… to install any published stable or beta version. Downgrades are supported. Older versions are marked ❗.
Use Changelog to review release notes. The launcher also shows a what's-new dialog after a new version first starts.
At startup, choose Update now, Not now, Ignore this version, or Never. The corner badge remains visible after Never.
Updates are refused while a simulation is running. The launcher offers to restart after updating.
Diagnostics
Use Help → Send report to upload diagnostics. Use Help → Save report… to write a ZIP file.
The Log panel's Report menu provides the same actions.
Reports include launcher, Gazebo, flight-stack, and Unreal logs. They also include system information, simulation configuration, and installed packages.
Create a report while the simulation runs. Otherwise per-run logs are incomplete. The launcher warns and can boot the simulation first.
Daily launcher logs are stored at:
Live controls
With the live controls tab you can change the current simulation, for now only unreal parameters are supported, and lunching raider catapult is done from here.
VM's tab
The vm's tab will show you the current status of your fleet, whether any of the devices are having issues, and from there you can control them finely. You can
Drop a machine, in case you dont wish to use it anymore, but warning this remove the gazebo model, just the vm itself.
Wipe it, so it reinstall fresh while the run is still ongoing.
Kick the FMU, which restart it.
And just restart the machine itself.
You can see the status of your CPU and RAM usage inside the machine. And have a convenient access to the web interface by clicking the ip hyperlink.
Files and reset
Simulator state persists across reinstalls:
The instances directory stores per-VM state. Delete ~/.auterion-simulator/ to factory-reset the simulator.
The launcher prompts before forced wipes and when an image changed underneath a VM. Use the reset action in Settings for a guided reset.
Never pre-create an empty VM storage/ directory. Virtual Skynode treats it as fresh storage and wipes the VM.
Advanced
For physical-device simulation, see Hardware in the Loop.
Headless and CI
Run the backend without the launcher:
Start a simulation with POST /api/sim/start and a configuration JSON. Read state with GET /api/sim/state.
Open /docs for the interactive API reference. The backend uses a 1 Hz heartbeat watchdog.
Headless mode bypasses GUI lifecycle handling.
Swarm backend
Swarm backend is auto installed and autoenabled if supported vehicles are detected.
The first start installs mavlink-router on demand.
Troubleshooting
Camera spawns inside the vehicle
Check the vehicle's camera configuration and model alignment.
Vehicle is underground or has no video
Ensure the Virtual FMU model name matches gz_model_name. Check the vehicle apps at http://10.41.200.2/apps.
Ctrl+C also kills all processes for the Simulator
Preflight-checks
The pre-flight checks tab will show you any issues that need to be solved before you can run the sim. You can ignore them.
Uninstall
Remove the stable package:
Remove the beta package with sudo apt remove auterion-simulator-beta.
Package removal keeps ~/.auterion-simulator/. Delete that directory to remove downloaded multi-gigabyte content and all simulator state.
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