I recently encountered an issue with the Vision Client Launcher used for the Ignition Platform by Inductive Automation. The system I set up to view the various HMI screens openSUSE Tumbleweed VM sitting on a protected part of the network, hidden away from the scary internet. The trouble was, the client would just not launch so after some digging, I figured out the problem and I thought sharing my experience might save someone else some time and frustration.
Bottom Line Up Front: It’s a small issue but a show stopper as the client will not launch nor provide feedback, even when running in the terminal. After finding the logs and installing one RPM package, the application is completely usable, once again.
Background
My current field of employment, which also is the absolute most fun, yet busy as I have ever been. I have been able to play with new technologies, and troubleshoot rather interesting problems. Although not directly a problem for anyone else in the company, this was a problem for me.
Ignition is a comprehensive and modular software platform developed by Inductive Automation, primarily used for industrial automation, SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), and MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems). You can look up more at the site, but the important part here is that, this a cross-platform, industrial automation system that will run just as happily on Linux as it does on Windows. It also has a much, much, much more permissive licensing system making it ideal for smaller businesses or even hobbyists in this space.
After setting up numerous machines with Ignition’s Vision Client Launcher, including my own Framework 13 Laptop running openSUSE Tumbleweed, I was not able to set up a purpose built VM with the software. Without the ability to access the Ignition HMI views remotely, I would be unable to provide technical support from wherever my location may be. Since I live in Michigan and the processing plant is in Texas, there is quite the commute and I know that waiting for me to arrive on site is not an option. Granted, the likelihood of needing to provide this assistance is incredibly low, I also wanted to be able to watch, study and understand the processes better.
Vision Client Launcher
The Vision Client Launcher is a lightweight native desktop application provided by Inductive Automation. It serves as the primary way to launch Vision clients which are the traditional HMI (Human-Machine Interface) windows used in industrial automation, manufacturing, and process control systems. Instead of relying on browser-based or Java Web Start methods, the Launcher, automatically discovers Ignition Gateways on the network and lists available Vision projects that are organized by gateway. It all allows one-click launching of those projects as full desktop applications which Supports advanced features like command-line launching, fullscreen modes, window management, and configuration export/import.
It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it ideal for deploying reliable operator workstations or remote support stations across mixed environments. On Linux distributions like openSUSE Leap or Tumbleweed, it sometimes requires additional system libraries (such as GTK-related packages) to run correctly. In short: Think of it as the convenient “app launcher” for Ignition’s classic Vision HMI clients — much more robust and user-friendly than older Java-based shortcuts.
To install Vision Client Launcher download it from the site here:
https://inductiveautomation.com/downloads/ignition
Select the Vision Client Launcher option which is only available in 64-bit.
Download this archive, then extract it.
Then put the extracted folder in the location you want it to live. For me, I have a folder under home called “Applications” for any local, user-level applications. This just happens to be where AppImageLauncher puts applications by default so I am just running with it.
Run install.sh and you should see the Vision Client Launcher in your system application menu where you can launch it. When you do try to launch it, it won’t launch, however.
If you find that the application isn’t in your application menu, you may have to run this in the terminal and or check to see that install.sh is executable. You can also run the installer in the terminal if that is how you want to run it. Using my configuration as an example, start by making install.sh executable:
chmod +x ~/Applications/visionclientlauncher/install.shThen go into that folder and run the file
cd ~/Applications/visionclientlauncher/./install.shThen you will have the application in your menu.
The Problem
I was setting up a VM with openSUSE Tumbleweed to run the Vision Client Launcher but it simply wouldn’t start. There was no immediate feedback or error message to guide me. Looking at the executable, visionclientlauncher.sh in detail, I didn’t get a clear understanding of why it wasn’t launching or where it could possibly be failing.
Finding the Logs
With the help of a few keyword searches I found where the logs were stored for the Vision Client Launcher. The location is:
~/.ignition/clientlauncher-data/visionclientlauncher.logThe Error
Logs are a beautiful thing and it was very clear where the error was. Reading through the logs, I found this error message:
java.lang.RuntimeException: java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no glassgtk3 in java.library.path: /usr/java/packages/lib:/usr/lib64:/lib64:/lib:/usr/libThis error suggested that there was a missing library or a path issue preventing the launcher from starting so I performed another web search with the right keywords which was all I needed to correct this nagging hangup.
The Solution
After digging around, I discovered that the problem was due to a missing GTK library. The solution was pretty straightforward as it is but a single RPM package that needed to be installed.
Open a terminal and run:
sudo zypper install libgthread-2_0-0This command installs the required software containing the GTK thread library which the Vision Client Launcher needs to run properly on openSUSE or likely any SUSE family of distributions.
After the Fix
Once I installed libgthread-2_0-0, the Vision Client Launcher started working perfectly. No more errors, and I could happily use my Ignition setup on openSUSE Tumbleweed without issues.
Final Thoughts
Troubleshooting can sometimes lead you down a rabbit hole, but finding and fixing this issue was quite rewarding. If you’re running into similar problems with the Vision Client Launcher on Linux distributions like openSUSE, check your logs, and ensure you have all the necessary libraries installed. Hopefully, this post helps you get back to work faster!
Although this fix is directed towards my distribution of choice, let me know in the comments if you’ve faced similar issues with Ignition on other distributions or if you have other troubleshooting tips for Ignition on Linux!
References
https://inductiveautomation.com/ignition/
https://inductiveautomation.com/downloads/ignition/
https://get.openSUSE.org
https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/error-installing-ignition-8-1-on-suse-sles-15sp4-libglassgtk3/66398/2
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