Out of curiosity, is the software loaded on to the system and only accessible that way? There must be a development VM that’s functional right? 
Hello @luisvillaautomata,
As I understand it, there are currently no options for end users to have access to a VM or other standalone ML PREP software environment.
Mr. @Michael_Vuke, do you know of anything that contradicts my statement?
Hey @luisvillaautomata right now the PREP software is only available loaded onto the PREP, or if you were to buy the PREP computer separately. (we looked into some VM options, but there was some legal stickiness around licenses.)
There is some stuff in development, but it won’t be available in the short term.
If you develop a protocol on 1 PREP (or liquid class, etc.) you can export it via USB or local network and import it to your other PREPs vs. making a new one every time.
(Also, I am a big fan of plugging a USB mouse/keyboard into the side of the PREP if you will be working on it for a long time. Most people prefer the touchscreen, but I just gravitate towards my peripherals)
@WilliamCham_Hamilton and @Michael_Vuke Can STAR run on VM? If not, what would you suggest doing to separate dev and prod environments? Our usage on the system is not high enough to justify two STARs for now
Hello @Automation,
Yes, VECTOR (A.K.A. VENUS) can run in a VM guest. If you use VMware, you just need to disable “Accelerate 3D graphics” as it tends to crash the 3D view of the software.
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@Automation for dev and prod environments, one suggestion is using separate branches in a Git repo. You can easily switch branches to the dev environment when you are working on it, and switch back to production for other users of the system.
Git hooks are a way to make certain files “read-only” which can prevent users from making any method or .lay changes.
Specific to Hamilton, you can set up authentication in Venus so that each user has different priviledges in ‘Method Editor’ so that changes can only be made by accounts with developer priv
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