ecal.ini#

eCAL has many options that can be configured via an .ini file which is located at:

  • Windows: C:\ProgramData\eCAL\ecal.ini

  • Ubuntu: /etc/ecal/ecal.ini

Loading strategy (Priority)#

The eCAL configuration file is loaded based on the following priorities, whereever it is found first. If you want a specific eCAL Node to run with another ecal.ini than the others, you can set the ECAL_DATA variable before starting the process, e.g. from a batch or shell skript. In addition, some eCAL applications support providing a path from the command line option --ecal-ini-file.

Important

This loading strategy is valid for eCAL 5.10 and up.

  • Windows:

    1. %ECAL_DATA%/ecal.ini

    2. %ProgramData%/ecal/ecal.ini

  • Ubuntu:

    1. $ECAL_DATA/ecal.ini

    2. /etc/ecal/ecal.ini (from CMAKE_INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR)

    3. /etc/ecal/ecal.ini (fallback)

      Note

      This second path is set from CMake to CMAKE_INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR/ecal/ecal.ini. Official builds are configured to use /etc. If you are compiling eCAL yourself and don’t provide the SYSCONFDIR, CMake will usually use /usr/local/etc/ecal/ecal.ini.

ecal.ini options#

[network]#

The network setting drive how and which …

network_enabled#

true / false, default: true

true = all eCAL components communicate over network boundaries

false = local host only communication

multicast_config_version#

v1 / v2, default: v1

UDP configuration version (Since eCAL 5.12.)

v1 = default behavior

v2 = new behavior, comes with a bit more intuitive handling regarding masking of the groups

multicast_group#

IPV4 Adress, default 239.0.0.1

UDP multicast group base. All registration and logging information is sent on this address.

multicast_mask#

v1 behavior:

0.0.0.1-0.0.0.255

Mask maximum number of dynamic multicast group

v2 behavior:

255.0.0.0-255.255.255.255

Mask for the multicast group. Topic traffic may be set on any of the unmasked addresses.

With multicast_group: 239.0.0.1 and multicast_mask: 255.255.255.0, topic traffic will be sent on addresses 239.0.0.0-239.0.0.255.

multicast_port#

14000 + x

UDP multicast port number (eCAL will use at least the 2 following port numbers too, so please modify in steps of 10 (e.g. 1010, 1020 …)

multicast_ttl#

0 + x

UDP ttl value, also known as hop limit, is used in determining the intermediate routers being traversed towards the destination

multicast_sndbuf#

1024 * x

UDP send buffer in bytes

multicast_rcvbuf#

1024 * x

UDP receive buffer in bytes

bandwidth_max_udp#

1048576

UDP bandwidth limit for eCAL udp layer (-1 == unlimited)

inproc_rec_enabled#

true

Enable to receive on eCAL inner process layer

shm_rec_enabled#

true

Enable to receive on eCAL shared memory layer

udp_mc_rec_enabled#

true

Enable to receive on eCAL udp multicast layer

npcap_enabled#

false

Enable to receive UDP traffic with the Npcap based receiver

[common]#

registration_timeout#

1000 + (x * 1000), default 60000

timeout for topic registration in ms

registration_refresh#

< registration_timeout/2, default 1000

topic registration refresh cylce (has to be smaller then registration timeout !)

[time]#

timesync_module_rt#

default: "ecaltime-localtime"

module (dll / so) name time sync interface. The name will be extended with debug suffix (d) and platform extension (.dll|.so)

Available modules are:

  • ecaltime-localtime local system time without synchronization

  • ecaltime-linuxptp For PTP / gPTP synchronization over ethernet on Linux (device configuration in ecaltime.ini)

  • ecaltime-simtime Simulation time as published by the eCAL Player.

[process]#

terminal_emulator#

default: ""

command for starting applications with an external terminal emulator. If empty, the command will be ignored. Ignored on Windows.

e.g:

  • /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator -e

  • /usr/bin/gnome-terminal -x

  • /usr/bin/xterm -e

[publisher]#

use_inproc#

use inner process transport layer

  • 0 = off

  • 1 = on

  • 2 = auto

default = 0

use_shm#

use shared memory transport layer

  • 0 = off

  • 1 = on

  • 2 = auto

default = 2

use_udp_mc#

use udp multicast transport layer

  • 0 = off

  • 1 = on

  • 2 = auto

default = 2

memfile_minsize           = x * 4096 kB#

default memory file size for new publisher (x * 4096 kB)

default = 4096

memfile_reserve#

dynamic file size reserve before recreating memory file if topic size changes (20 .. x)

default = 50

memfile_ack_timeout#

Publisher timeout for ack event from subscriber that memory file content is processed

default = 0

share_ttype#

share topic type via registration layer ( 0, 1)

default = 1

share_tdesc#

share topic description via registration layer ( 0, 1) If set to 0, reflection is completely disabled. It is not possible then to monitor the content of messages in the eCAL Monitor.

default = 1

[monitoring]#

Monitor settings are listed in the section monitoring

timeout#

timeout for topic monitoring in ms (1000 + (x * 1000)) If no additional registration information for the topic has be received in that time period, topics will no longer be shown in eCAL Monitor.

default = 5000

filter_excl#

topics blacklist as regular expression (will not be monitored) Per default includes all eCAL internal topics.

default = __.*

filter_incl#

topics whitelist as regular expression (will be monitored only)

default = `` ``

filter_log_con#

log messages to console (all, info, warning, error, fatal, debug1, debug2, debug3, debug4)

default = error, fatal

filter_log_file#

log messages to log file

default = error, fatal

filter_log_udp#

log messages to udp bus

default = info, warning, error, fatal

[sys]#

filter_excl#

Apps blacklist to be excluded when importing tasks from cloud.