ESP8266 Community Forum

How to use NodeMCU ESP8266 on Linux/Ubuntu?

I have an old PC dual-booted with Windows XP and Ubuntu 12.02.4 LTS. Using Windows XP, I attached a NodeMCU ESP8266 using LuaLoader with a USB cable to COM5 and everything works well. I can load and run LUA programs on the ESP8266 with no problems.

Now I would like to do the same thing using the Ubuntu system, but I don't know where to start. Is there a Linux program similar to LuaLoader? If not, how do I load and run a Lua program using Linux/Ubuntu on COM5? I don't know a lot about Ubuntu, so basic instructions would be helpful. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Since posting the question above, I have done the following in Ubuntu:
sudo apt-get install screen
screen /dev/ttyUSB0

This actually worked and I received the command prompt from the ESP8266 and was able to enter several commands. This was much simpler than I expected. Now I want to figure out how to upload LUA program files to the ESP8266. Any advice on the easiest way to do that would be appreciated.

ditch lua and go with arduino, its plug'n'play on linux, easier than windows/osx as no drivers to install.

sej7278: do you mean that the Ardiuno IDE communicates directly with the ESP8266 via the USB port/cable, or do I have to have a Arduino board also, and connect the ESP8266 to the Arduino board?