Startup Options

There are no mandatory command line options for MAVProxy. An exception to this is the --master option if there is more than 1 APM connected to the system.

Note that MAVProxy can only connect to 1 vehicle at a time. If control of multiple vehicles is desired, multiple MAVProxy sessions should be used - one session for each vehicle.

--master

Specifies which port (serial, USB or network address/port) the UAV is communicating on.

Multiple --master can be used. MAVProxy will sort the packets into a single stream automatically. This is useful if independent redundant links are being used.

If an IP address is specified, it must be the local computer’s IP address, or loopback address. The IP connection type (TCP or UDP) must be prefixed to the IP address.

If a serial port is specified, an optional comma-separated baud rate may also be specified. If present, this overrides the rate given by --baudrate.

mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyUSB0
mavproxy.py --master="com14"
mavproxy.py --master=tcp:192.168.1.1:14550
mavproxy.py --master=udp:192.168.1.1:14550 --master=/dev/ttyUSB0
mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyUSB0,57600
mavproxy.py --master=udp:127.0.0.1:14550
mavproxy.py --master=tcp:0.0.0.0:14550

If connecting to a remote IP address, the udpout or tcpout arguments should be used:

mavproxy.py --master=udpout:10.10.1.1:14550
mavproxy.py --master=tcpout:10.10.1.1:14550

--quadcopter

Use quadcopter controls.

--baudrate

Specify baudrate of --master and --out ports. Only applicable for serial links.

--out

Forward the MAVLink packets to a remote device (serial, USB or network address/port). Useful if using multiple ground station computers or relaying the stream through an intermediate node.

MAVlink usually uses port 14550 for IP-based packet forwarding, though other ports can be used if needed.

If a serial port is given (for example a radio device connecting an airborne MAVProxy instance with the GCS), a link-specific baud rate can be given after the device, delimited by a comma. This overrides the global default baudrate specified by --baudrate.

If forwarding to a network address via tcp or udp, this must be prefixed before the IP address.

A UDP broadcast can be made via the udpbcast:<ip>:<port> that starts as UDP broadcast then locks onto the first client that connects. <ip> specifies the valid client range. For example, udpbcast:192.168.2.255:14550 will connect to the first client in the 192.168.2.0 to 192.168.2.254 range on port 14550.

mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyUSB0 --out=udp:192.168.1.1:14550
mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyACM0,115200 --out=/dev/ttyUSB0,57600
mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyACM0,115200 --out=COM17,57600
mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyACM0,57600 --out=udpbcast:192.168.2.255:14550

--sitl

Host and port to send simulated RC input for the Software in the loop (SITL) simulator. Usually --sitl=127.0.0.1:5501

--streamrate

MAVLink stream rate.

--source-system

MAVLink source system for this GCS.

--source-component

MAVLink source component for this GCS.

--target-system

MAVLink target master system.

--target-component

MAVLink target master component.

--logfile

Name of MAVLink master logfile. Default is mav.tlog.

--append-log

Append to latest log file, rather than creating a new one. Useful if re-connecting mid-flight.

--setup

Startup in the APM’s command line interface (CLI) mode.

--nodtr

Disable DTR drop on close.

--show-errors

Show MAVLink error packets.

--speech

Use text-to-speech. Requires the speechd software on Linux.

--aircraft

Name of the aircraft being flown. If used, logfiles will be stored in /Logs/AircraftName/Date/flightNumber/flight.tlog. Useful for keeping flight logs organised.

--cmd

Initial commands to run in MAVProxy. Delimited by ;

mavproxy.py --master=/dev/ttyUSB0 --cmd="param load init.parm; module load map;"

--console

Load the GUI console module on startup.

--map

Load the moving map module on startup.

--load-module

Load the specified module on startup. Can be used multiple times, or with a comma separated list.

--mavversion

Specify MAVLink version. Can be 1.0 or 2.0. Otherwise MAVProxy will autodetect the MAVLink version

--auto-protocol

Auto detect MAVLink protocol version.

--continue

Continue logs.

--nowait

Don’t wait for HEARTBEAT packets on startup.

--dialect

MAVLink dialect. Uses the APM dialect by default.

--rtscts

Use RTS/CTS hardware flow control.

--mission

Give the current mission a name. If used, the flight log will be stored as /Logs/aircraftname/missionname rather than the default /Logs/aircraftname/currentdatetime.

--daemon

Run in daemon mode (as a background process). No interactive shell will be started.

--state-basedir

The base directory will logs are stored, if it is not the current directory.

--version

Return version information about MAVProxy.

--moddebug

Controls the level of debugging output displayed on the console. Default is 0 (no debug output). A value of 3 is useful for debugging crashes or errors in MAVProxy and its modules.

--default-modules

A comma separated list of the modules to load on startup by default. The default value of this parameter is log,signing,wp,rally,fence,param,relay,tuneopt,arm,mode,calibration,rc,auxopt,misc,cmdlong, battery,terrain,output,adsb,layout

--non-interactive

Do not start interactive shell

--udp-timeout

Timeout for udp clients in seconds