mikenye/virtualradarserver

Docker container for Virtual Radar Server (http://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk).

Builds and runs on x86_64, arm32v7 and arm64v8 (and possibly other architectures).

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Virtual Radar Server

Virtual Radar Server (VRS) plots aircraft positions on a map.

VRS is an open-source .NET application that runs a local web server.

You can connect to the web server with any modern browser and see the aircraft plotted on a map.

This container is designed to work in conjunction with a Mode-S / BEAST provider. Check out mikenye/readsb or mikenye/piaware for this, or BYO.

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Quick Start

NOTE: The Docker command provided in this quick start is given as an example and parameters should be adjusted to suit your needs.

Launch the VRS docker container with the following commands:

docker volume create vrsconfig
docker run -d \
    --name=vrs \
    -p 8080:8080 \
    -e USERNAME=vrsadmin \
    -e PASSWORD=very_secure_password_123 \
    -e BASESTATIONHOST=readsb \
    -v vrsconfig:/config \
    mikenye/virtualradarserver 

Browse to http://dockerhost:8080/VirtualRadar/ to access the VRS GUI.

Browse to http://dockerhost:8080/VirtualRadar/WebAdmin/Index.html to access the Admin area.

Usage

docker run [-d] \
    --name=vrs \
    [-e <VARIABLE_NAME>=<VALUE>]... \
    [-v <HOST_DIR>:<CONTAINER_DIR>[:PERMISSIONS]]... \
    [-p <HOST_PORT>:<CONTAINER_PORT>]... \
    mikenye/virtualradarserver

Parameter	Description
-d	Run the container in background. If not set, the container runs in foreground.
-e	Pass an environment variable to the container. See the Environment Variables section for more details.
-v	Set a volume mapping (allows to share a folder/file between the host and the container). See the Data Volumes section for more details.
-p	Set a network port mapping (exposes an internal container port to the host). See the Ports section for more details.

Environment Variables

To customize some properties of the container, the following environment variables can be passed via the -e parameter (one for each variable). Value of this parameter has the format <VARIABLE_NAME>=<VALUE>.

Variable	Description	Default
TZ	[TimeZone] of the container. Optional. Timezone can also be set by mapping /etc/localtime between the host and the container.	Etc/UTC
USERNAME	Username for the admin area. Required.
PASSWORD	Password for the admin area. Required.
BASESTATIONHOST	IP/hostname of dump1090/readsb or another program/device providing Basestation protocol data. Optional.
BASESTATIONPORT	TCP port for program/device providing Basestation protocol data.	30003

Data Volumes

The following table describes data volumes used by the container. The mappings are set via the -v parameter. Each mapping is specified with the following format: <NAMED_VOL>:<CONTAINER_DIR>[:PERMISSIONS].

Container path	Permissions	Description
/config	rw	This is where the application stores its configuration, log, operator flags and silhouette images, and any other files needing persistency. If mounted, this must be a named volume.

As mentioned above, /config needs to be a named volume. A bind mount won't work properly.

The docker run command initializes the newly created volume with any data that exists at the specified location within the base image. However, this only works for named volumes, not bind mounts (see moby/moby#17470).

If you want to map the container's /config to a specific path on your system, you can:

1. Use the docker volume create command with arguments, eg:

docker volume create vrsconfig --opt o="bind" --opt device="/path/to/vrs/config" --opt type="none"

2. If using docker-compose, use the following syntax in your docker-compose.yml, eg:

version: '2.0'

volumes:
  vrsconfig:
    driver: local
    driver_opts:
      type: 'none'
      o: 'bind'
      device: '/path/to/vrs/config'

services:
  virtualradarserver:
    image: vrstest:latest
    tty: true
    container_name: vrs
    restart: always
    volumes:
      - vrsconfig:/config
    ports:
      - 8077:8080
    environment:
      - USERNAME=vrsadmin
      - PASSWORD=vrsadmin
      - BASESTATIONHOST=readsb

Change /path/to/vrs/config to a directory on your system. Please be mindful that the contents of this directory (if it exists) will be overwritten with the contents of /config from the docker image.

Ports

Here is the list of ports used by the container. They can be mapped to the host via the -p parameter (one per port mapping). Each mapping is defined in the following format: <HOST_PORT>:<CONTAINER_PORT>. The port number inside the container cannot be changed, but you are free to use any port on the host side.

Port	Mapping to host	Description
8080	Recommended	Port used to access VRS's web GUI.

Docker Compose File

Here is an example of a docker-compose.yml file that can be used with Docker Compose.

Make sure to adjust according to your needs.

version: '2.0'
volumes:
  vrsconfig:
services:
  vrs:
    image: mikenye/virtualradarserver
    tty: true
    container_name: vrs
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    environment:
      - USERNAME=vrsadmin
      - PASSWORD=very_secure_password_123
      - BASESTATIONHOST=readsb
    volumes:
      - vrsconfig:/config

Support or Contact

Having troubles with the container or have questions? Please create a new issue.