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Setup Wizard Guide
The Setup Wizard runs the first time you open http://sentryusb.local. It walks you through 11 steps. You can re-run it anytime from Settings → Re-run Setup Wizard.
Confirms the device is reachable and shows any existing configuration detected from a previous install (e.g., from a sentryusb.conf you dropped on the SD card's boot partition).
Click Get Started.
Lists every outbound data flow Sentry USB will make and asks you to confirm an Analytics opt-in choice before the wizard moves on. Both buttons carry equal visual weight — pick whichever you actually want.
- Opted out (default) — no device fingerprint ever leaves the Pi. Update checks still happen but carry no identifier.
- Opted in — a one-way salted hash of your board's serial number is attached to update-check telemetry, so we can count unique installs without double-counting reinstalls.
Either choice takes effect immediately and persists if you back out of the wizard. You can change it any time at Settings → Privacy. Full per-flow disclosure is on the Privacy page.
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Device Hostname — defaults to
sentryusb. Leave it unless you have a reason to change. The Pi is reachable athttp://<hostname>.local. - WiFi Access Point (optional) — broadcast a backup WiFi network from the Pi itself. Useful when you're away from home WiFi and want to reach the web UI from your phone.
Pick how much of the SD card each "virtual USB drive" gets. The remainder is used for snapshots (saved and sentry clips). Defaults are sensible — most users only touch Dashcam Size.
- Dashcam Size — the rolling dashcam partition. 40–60 GB is recommended. Bigger isn't better: Tesla writes ~7–10 GB per hour, but it also needs free space to save Sentry clips. If the dashcam partition is too large, recent clips may fail to save.
- Music (optional) — separate partition for Tesla's music drive. Leave empty if you don't need it. If you set a size, you can also point it at a folder on your archive server to auto-sync.
- LightShow / Boombox (optional) — same idea, for custom light shows and boombox sounds.
- External Data Drive (optional) — point Sentry USB at a USB or NVMe drive instead of the SD card. Best for heavy users. The selected drive will be wiped.
- Use ExFAT filesystem — on by default. Leave it on unless you have a specific reason to use FAT32.
EU users: Tesla's RecentClips retention is 10 minutes in the EU (vs 1 hour in North America). You'll need to lower the Snapshot Interval to 480 seconds (8 minutes) on the Advanced step, otherwise recent clips can roll off before they get archived.
Toggle two optional features:
- Community Wraps — browse and apply community-made vehicle wrap previews.
- Community Chimes — replace the default lock chime with sounds from the community library.
Both are stored on the cam drive — no extra partition needed.
Pick where your clips get backed up.
| Option | What it is |
|---|---|
| CIFS / SMB | Network share on a Windows PC, Mac, or NAS |
| rsync | SSH-based file sync — for Linux/Unix servers |
| rclone | Cloud storage (Google Drive, S3, Backblaze, Dropbox, etc.) |
| NFS | Network File System — common on Linux NAS devices |
| None | No archiving — clips stay on the SD card until overwritten |
See Archive Methods for setup details for each.
Tesla's Sentry Mode shuts off after the car sleeps. Keep Awake holds the car awake so the Pi keeps getting power.
| Option | Requires |
|---|---|
| Bluetooth LE | Pair the Pi to your car once (free, no subscription) |
| TeslaFi | TeslaFi paid subscription |
| Tessie | Tessie paid subscription |
| Webhook | Your own service (e.g., Home Assistant) |
| None | Use the car's built-in Sentry/Camp modes manually |
Pick one or more push notification providers. Sentry USB will notify you about archive failures, full drives, BLE pairing issues, etc.
See Notifications for the full list of providers and how to get API keys for each.
Set a Web Username and Web Password for the web UI.
Leave both empty to disable web auth entirely — only do this if your network is fully trusted.
- Timezone — pick yours from the list (used for log timestamps and notification times).
- Archive Delay (seconds) — how long to wait after WiFi connects before archiving starts. Default 20 is fine.
- Snapshot Interval (seconds) — how often the Pi looks for new saved clips to archive. Default works for most users. EU users: set this to 480 (8 min) because Tesla rotates RecentClips faster in the EU. Rule of thumb: set ~2 minutes shorter than the car's RecentClips retention.
- Temperature Unit — °C or °F for the temperature monitoring widget.
Final summary of every choice. Click Apply to write the configuration and reboot. The Pi will come back up at the new hostname (http://sentryusb.local by default) in about a minute.
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