Track Folder — v0.9.0
Link a recordings folder and run the current Alloy Edge client
If your recorder already writes MCAP files to a folder, Alloy Edge can watch that folder and upload each completed recording to Mesh Storage.
Need Alloy to provide the ROS 2 recorder and supporting processors too? A Docker deployment is also available from Mesh Storage → Add device.
The device needs outbound HTTPS access on port 443. It does not need an inbound port.
1. Install Alloy Edge
Open Mesh Storage → Add device, choose the binary for the device's operating
system and architecture, and put alloy-edge on PATH.
For a standalone Linux binary:
chmod +x alloy-edge
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
mv alloy-edge ~/.local/bin/2. Link the recordings folder
Use the provisioning key shown by Add device. Reading it from stdin keeps it out of shell history:
printenv ALLOY_PROVISIONING_KEY | alloy-edge link \
--provisioning-key-stdin \
--track-folder /data/recordingsThe default is a user installation. link validates the credential, creates the
configuration, waits briefly for approval, and prints the matching run command.
It does not start a background process.
| Installation | Link option | Configuration and state |
|---|---|---|
| User (default) | no scope option | ~/.config/alloy-edge and ~/.local/state/alloy-edge |
| Folder-local | --local | /data/recordings/.alloy |
| System | --system (run link with sudo) | /etc/alloy-edge and /var/lib/alloy-edge |
3. Run Alloy Edge
For the default user installation:
alloy-edge run --userKeep run in the foreground under a supervisor you control. For the other scopes,
use alloy-edge run --local from the tracked folder or
sudo alloy-edge run --system.
To validate the selected installation without backend calls or child processes:
alloy-edge run --user --dry-runOn Linux, alloy-edge config --user systemd print previews a service unit and
alloy-edge config --user systemd install installs it. Replace --user with the
scope used during link.
4. Approve and verify
If the device is pending, open devices/ in Mesh Storage and select Approve.
After approval, Last Seen updates and completed recordings appear under the
device's folder.
For local retention, upload, or pipeline tuning, use the advanced v0.9.0 Configuration reference.