Install: X-Plane

X-Plane is the E3X’s main sim integration. A companion plugin inside the sim starts and stops the E3X with your flight and feeds it live aircraft data. After you install it, you do not need to launch anything by hand. Load an aircraft you set up for the E3X (one with an e3x.json, step 3 below). The displays then come up with it, as pop-out windows and, on an equipped aircraft, on the 3D panel.

The E3X runs on Windows and Linux with X-Plane 12. The in-sim displays need X-Plane 12.1 or later.

1. Download

After you buy the E3X, download the installer from either place:

• your account page: sign in with the email address on your order and press Download installer beside your license, or
• the download link in your order email from Lemon Squeezy, which runs our checkout.

Your license key is in the same email and on the account page. Keep it at hand for the wizard.

2. Run the installer

The installer is a small starter program. It puts the program files in place, then opens a graphical setup wizard. The wizard is the same on Windows and Linux and does the real work (X-Plane folder, aircraft, license, data). The wizard runs in the E3X’s own bundled browser engine.

Windows

Run EmreliaE3X-<version>-win-x64-setup.exe. It installs per-user (for your Windows account only), so you get no administrator prompt. It shows the license agreement and unpacks the program to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\EmreliaE3X. It then adds the uninstaller (its only Start-menu entry) and launches the setup wizard.

For an unattended install, run the setup with /SILENT /LICENSEKEY=<key>. That path skips the wizard and runs the steps below on the command line. It also takes /XPLANEDIR=<folder> (otherwise the folder X-Plane’s own installer recorded), /TASKS=cockpit (also generate the sample 3D-panel aircraft) and /AIRCRAFT=<folder>|<folder> (configure those aircraft folders). Without /AIRCRAFT=, no aircraft gets an e3x.json. Nothing then starts the E3X until you add one (see Aircraft Config).

Linux

The Linux build ships as a tarball (a compressed archive file). Unpack it anywhere and run the installer script inside:

tar xzf emrelia-e3x-<version>-linux-x64.tar.gz
cd emrelia-e3x-<version>-linux-x64
./install.sh

install.sh shows the license agreement and copies the program tree to ~/.local/opt/emrelia-e3x. It runs a doctor health check and adds a desktop entry. When you have a desktop session, it also launches the setup wizard. Useful flags:

Flag	Effect
--prefix DIR	Install somewhere other than ~/.local/opt/emrelia-e3x
--key KEY	Activate this machine without a prompt for the key
--xplane DIR	Use a specific X-Plane folder (otherwise found automatically); --no-xplane skips the plugin
--cockpit	Command-line install only: also generate the sample 3D-panel aircraft
--no-shortcut	Command-line install only: skip the desktop entry
--data-pack ARG	Install navigation and chart data from a downloaded e3x-data-*.tar.zst or a pack-host URL
--data-region R	The region for a --data-pack URL that names a directory (default us)
--no-wizard	Do the install from the command line instead of the graphical wizard
--accept-license	Accept the license without a prompt
--yes	Never prompt (for scripted installs); accepts the license

install.sh is a per-user install and refuses to run as root. Use --allow-root only if you really want a root-owned install. If the health check reports missing shared libraries for the bundled browser engine, the script prints the exact apt / dnf install line for your distribution.

With --yes, --no-wizard, any of --key / --xplane / --no-xplane / --data-pack, or no desktop session, it skips the wizard. It runs the same steps on the command line, except the aircraft step, which only the wizard does. Add each aircraft’s e3x.json afterward (see Aircraft Config). Your data lives under ~/.local/share/emrelia-e3x/data.

3. The setup wizard

The wizard walks through, in order:

1. License agreement. Read and accept it to continue.

2. Your X-Plane 12 folder. A native folder picker opens, filled in with the folder X-Plane’s own installer recorded. If you keep more than one copy, choose the right one (the folder that contains Resources). Press No X-Plane to skip the plugin and the aircraft step.

3. Choose your aircraft. The wizard lists the aircraft in your X-Plane folder, each with a suggested starting template beside it. A note shows when an aircraft already has an E3X config. The wizard starts with nothing ticked. Tick every aircraft that carries the E3X, and the wizard writes an e3x.json into each one’s folder, beside its .acf.

   That file tells the E3X what is in the panel: displays, ADAHRS (the air data and attitude sensors), engine interface, standby, autopilot controller, IFR navigators. You can edit it any time to match your panel, on the unit (Menu → Setup → Config) or by hand. The format, every option and the templates are in Aircraft Config (e3x.json).

   Keep X-Plane closed while the wizard writes the files. To add more aircraft later, run the wizard again with e3x-core wizard from the install’s core folder (./e3x-core on Linux).

4. License key. Paste the key from your order email to activate this machine. Press Demo mode to run without a key (the built-in demo and replay sources run without a license). You can activate any time later from the install’s core folder (./e3x-core on Linux):

   e3x-core license activate <KEY>

   When the machine is already activated (for example, when you run a newer installer over an existing install), this step confirms it. Press Continue. See License & Activation.

5. Navigation and base map data. The wizard downloads the navigation and base map data (about 100 MB) with a progress bar. The license you just activated authenticates the download. Charts and plates are per state: add yours afterward in Menu → Setup → Databases. You can skip this step and get all of it from there.

6. Finish. The last page lists every e3x.json the wizard wrote and links what to do next:

   • Aircraft config — the e3x.json format.
   • Navigation and chart data — in the E3X, Menu → Setup → Databases; see Data Packs.
   • Radios, LRUs and engine — in the E3X, Menu → Setup → Config, which edits the aircraft’s e3x.json for you. LRUs are line-replaceable units, the separate avionics boxes. See Radio control enables.

On Windows the program installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\EmreliaE3X. Your data (settings, activation record, navigation and chart data, flight plans) lives separately under %LOCALAPPDATA%\EmreliaE3X\data (and under ~/.local/share/emrelia-e3x/data on Linux). That means it survives an upgrade or uninstall of the program.

What the install wires up

The installer places the companion plugin at <X-Plane>/Resources/plugins/e3x_companion/. It writes the plugin’s configuration file, e3x_companion.cfg, which points back at the installed program by full path. The installer does not copy the program tree itself into X-Plane, so one install serves every X-Plane copy on the machine. You can redo this wiring any time (after moving X-Plane, say) from the install’s core folder (./e3x-core on Linux) with:

e3x-core install xplane --no-copy --root "<X-Plane folder>"

--no-copy keeps the program where it is. Without it, the command copies the whole program tree into the plugin folder. The command is safe to re-run. It rewrites the config in place, which also sets window = cockpit again. It refuses to run while X-Plane is open.

The config puts the plugin in feed-only mode (window = cockpit). The E3X draws into X-Plane’s own pop-out windows and the 3D panel, with no separate desktop window floating over the sim. That is the default on every install and needs no extra option.

A desktop display window is still available for a second monitor. Set window = auto in e3x_companion.cfg for the bundled browser engine, or window = chrome for an installed Chrome or Edge. The in-sim displays keep working either way.

First launch

1. Start X-Plane and load a flight in an aircraft you configured.

2. The plugin starts the E3X in the background and feeds the displays. Open them from Plugins → Emrelia E3X. Unit 1 PFD (primary flight display) and Unit 2 MFD (multifunction display) each pop out as an X-Plane window. Each window draws the GDU bezel (the frame of the display unit) around the screen. The (no bezel) entries open the bare screen instead (for a hardware bezel or a dedicated monitor).

   An aircraft whose 3D panel carries the E3X shows the same screens in the cockpit as well. The in-sim displays need X-Plane 12.1 or later. On an older sim the plugin says so in Log.txt.

3. Add your states’ charts in Menu → Setup → Databases (Data Packs), and the navigation data if you skipped it. Set your radios, equipment and engine display in Menu → Setup → Config.

4. Quitting X-Plane closes the E3X with it, and so does loading an aircraft that has no e3x.json.

Move and size each window by its title bar and edges. X-Plane reopens them where you left them at the next launch, including which monitor. Double-click the top strip of the window’s content (just below the title bar) to fill the monitor with no title bar, and again to return. That is how the screen fills a hardware bezel’s display. The same toggle is the e3xtouch/cockpit/popup_1_fullscreen / popup_2_fullscreen command in X-Plane’s keyboard settings.

Then fly the First Flight walkthrough. On Linux, to run the display at your desk without the sim, use the Emrelia E3X desktop entry (its Demo (no simulator) action). The Windows install has no demo shortcut.

A sample 3D-panel aircraft

The installer does not generate an E3X-equipped aircraft. That is an aircraft-maker’s job, and any aircraft wired for the E3X shows the displays on its 3D panel. If you want a ready-made one to try, you can build an E3X-equipped Cessna 172 SP from your stock 172 (X-Plane 12.1+). Run this from the install’s core folder (./e3x-core on Linux):

e3x-core install xplane --no-copy --cockpit

Or run e3x-core install aircraft for the aircraft alone. Running it again refreshes the generated aircraft in place.

Linux: more than one monitor

X-Plane on Linux only ever sees one monitor by itself. A PFD or MFD window you put on a second screen therefore comes back on the main one at the next launch. Laminar’s fix is to tell X-Plane the layout on its command line. Use one left,top,width,height group per monitor, in desktop pixels from the top-left corner of the whole desktop:

"/opt/X-Plane 12/X-Plane-x86_64" --monitor_bounds=0,0,2560,1440,2560,0,1920,1200

That example is a 2560×1440 main screen with a 1920×1200 one to its right. xrandr --listactivemonitors prints your own geometry. Put the same argument on the Exec= line of your X-Plane desktop entry (~/.local/share/applications/) so every launch has it. X-Plane’s log then lists every monitor (I/WMG: Monitor 0/1/2…), and the E3X windows return to the monitor you left them on.

This is X-Plane’s own limitation, not the E3X’s. Laminar documents it in Multiple Monitors with Linux (written for X-Plane 11, still exactly how X-Plane 12 behaves). Laminar documents the general multi-monitor setup in the X-Plane 12 manual. It applies to X-Plane’s own pop-out windows too, not only the E3X’s.

The E3X handles two smaller Linux quirks for you. X-Plane restores a window a title-bar height lower each launch. A maximized or full-screen window would also come back as a plain window. The plugin remembers each window’s true placement and state (e3x_companion.windows beside the plugin, safe to delete) and puts it back once after every launch.

If something does not come up, run e3x-core doctor from the install’s core folder (./e3x-core on Linux). It checks the install, plugin wiring, data, license and browser engine in one run. See also Troubleshooting.

Updating

Download the new installer from your account page and run it (or install.sh from the new tarball) over the existing install. Your settings, activation, data and each aircraft’s e3x.json carry over untouched. When the machine is already activated, the license step confirms it and you press Continue. The wizard’s aircraft page starts with nothing ticked: leave the aircraft you already configured unticked to keep your edits. Ticking one regenerates its entry in the e3x.json, keeping only the power wiring.

Uninstall

Windows: use Uninstall Emrelia E3X from the Start menu (or Windows Apps). Linux: run ~/.local/opt/emrelia-e3x/uninstall.sh.

Both remove the program and the X-Plane plugin wiring. Both first check that the simulator has fully closed. If it has not, they remove nothing and ask you to close it and retry.

You then get two questions, both defaulting to keep:

• Release this machine’s license activation? Keep it if you plan to reinstall. The key stays bound to this machine and a reinstall picks it straight up. Release it if the machine is going away, or free the slot later from your account page.
• Delete the data folder? This removes the downloaded navigation and chart data (several GB, slow to download again) and your settings, activation record, panel layout and flight plans. Keeping it makes a future reinstall smooth. On Linux, deleting it releases this machine’s slot first. On Windows it does not: deleting the data without releasing leaves the slot in use, so free it from your account page.