Installing

Beta. Linking a printer needs a place in the beta. Ask on the Klipper beta page; once you're in, it shows you the install command. During the private beta, the plugin comes as a download, communitycad-klipper.zip.

Use at your own risk#

The plugin comes with no warranty. Files on CommunityCAD are made by other people and aren't checked, and a file made for another printer can damage yours. You're responsible for your printer. Please read Safety before you install. The installer shows the same notice and asks before changing anything.

What you need#

Tested on a Raspberry Pi 4 (8 GB) with 64-bit Debian 13, and Klipper, Moonraker and Mainsail installed with KIAUH. A Pi 5 should work but hasn't been tested yet. An older 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS (Debian 12) may not have the libraries the slicer needs; the installer's check tells you.

You also need an SSH session to the Pi, as the user that runs Klipper (usually pi).

Installing#

Copy communitycad-klipper.zip to your home folder on the Pi, then run:

cd ~ && unzip communitycad-klipper.zip
cd ~/communitycad-klipper
scripts/install-all.sh

That's the whole install: CommunityCAD and slicing on the printer. It takes about 2 minutes on a Pi 4 with a good connection (OrcaSlicer is a 135 MB download, about 500 MB once installed). When it's done, reload Mainsail or Fluidd in your browser: a CommunityCAD entry appears in the navigation.

Install from the download, not a copy of the source code: the download contains the plugin's built interface, and the source doesn't. The installer's check tells you if you've got the wrong one.

The compatibility check#

Before changing anything, the installer checks your printer and shows the result: ✓ for fine, ⚠ for a warning, ✗ for a problem.

CommunityCAD:
  ✓ nginx with sub_filter
  ✓ mainsail site: /etc/nginx/sites-available/mainsail
  ✓ the plugin's interface is built
  ✓ Moonraker: 1 instance(s)
Slicing on the printer (OrcaSlicer 2.4.2):
  ✓ 64-bit OS (arm64)
  ✓ OrcaSlicer's libraries available from apt
  ✓ 7645 MB of memory
  ✓ 100788 MB free in /home/pi
  ✓ github.com reachable
Result: CommunityCAD and slicing on the printer.

What it checks:

• For CommunityCAD: nginx with sub_filter, a Mainsail or Fluidd site, the plugin's built interface, and Moonraker.
• For slicing:
  • a 64-bit OS (a 64-bit kernel on a 32-bit Raspberry Pi OS still counts as 32-bit);
  • OrcaSlicer's libraries available to install;
  • memory: ✗ under 900 MB, ⚠ under 2 GB ("small models slice, large ones may fail");
  • about 700 MB free;
  • whether github.com can be reached, which is where OrcaSlicer is downloaded from.

If something fails:

• If CommunityCAD can't be installed, the installer stops and changes nothing.
• If only slicing can't, it explains why and asks "Install CommunityCAD without slicing on the printer? [y/N]".

To run only the check, without changing anything:

scripts/install-all.sh --check

Options#

If you run several printers on one Pi with KIAUH, the installer asks which instances to install for.

The other two scripts#

Use install.sh on a 32-bit system, or if you'd rather slice on your computer. You can add slicing later with install-orca.sh.

What the installer changes#

The installer only adds files; it never edits Mainsail or Fluidd. It:

• adds an include line and two small snippet files to the nginx site that serves your interface. It tests the config with nginx -t and rolls back automatically if the test fails;
• adds a [communitycad] section to moonraker.conf, links the plugin into Moonraker, and restarts Moonraker;
• creates ~/communitycad (the plugin, and OrcaSlicer if installed) and ~/printer_data/communitycad (its settings and your link token);
• backs up every file it changes.

At the end it checks that your interface loads with CommunityCAD in it.

Updating during the beta#

Download the new communitycad-klipper.zip from your invite link, unzip it over the old folder, and run the installer again:

cd ~ && unzip -o communitycad-klipper.zip
cd ~/communitycad-klipper
scripts/install-all.sh

It's safe to run again. Your settings, your link and an installed OrcaSlicer are kept.

Once there are public releases, the plugin will update from the Update panel in Mainsail or Fluidd, like Klipper itself. If CommunityCAD ever needs a newer plugin, the plugin shows Update available, and only the actions that would fail are blocked.

Checking an install#

If something looks wrong after an update of Mainsail, Fluidd or KIAUH, run:

~/communitycad-klipper/scripts/healthcheck.sh

It catches the known ways an install can silently break. See Troubleshooting.

Uninstalling#

1. Unlink first: in the plugin's Settings → Account, choose Unlink this printer, or disconnect the printer on CommunityCAD (your profile → Printers). Uninstalling doesn't remove the printer from your account.

2. Run:

   ~/communitycad-klipper/scripts/uninstall.sh
   

It removes everything the installers added: the Moonraker section, the nginx changes and OrcaSlicer. Then it checks that your interface is back to exactly what it was before.

To remove only the slicer and keep CommunityCAD:

~/communitycad-klipper/scripts/install-orca.sh --remove

Uninstalling keeps your files: models and projects you saved, materials.cfg, print_profiles.cfg, and the plugin's settings folder (so a reinstall doesn't need re-linking). Delete ~/printer_data/communitycad yourself if you want those gone too.