FlightAware's PiAware docker container including support for bladeRF, RTLSDR. Includes dump1090-fa (but not yet dump978, see endnote). Builds and runs on linux/amd64, linux/arm/v6, linux/arm/v7 and linux/arm64 (see below).
Can optionally operate in "net only" mode and pull ADS-B data from another host/container running readsb/dump1090.
For more information on what PiAware is, see here: FlightAware - PiAware
Note: bladeRF is untested - I don't own bladeRF hardware, but support for the devices is compiled in. If you have bladeRF and this container works for you, please let me know!
latestshould always contain the latest released versions ofrtl-sdr,bladeRF,tcllauncher,tcllib,piaware,dump1090,mlat-client,SoapySDRanddump978. This image is built nightly from themasterbranchDockerfilefor all supported architectures.development(devbranch,Dockerfile,amd64architecture only, built on commit, not recommended for production)- Specific version and architecture tags are available if required, however these are not regularly updated. It is generally recommended to run
latest. - There are also
latestand version-specific tags appended with_nohealthcheckwhere the container healthchecks have been excluded from the image build. See issue #43.
- Thanks to Jan Collijs for contributing to the 3.7.1, 3.7.2 and 3.8.0 releases.
- Thanks to ShoGinn for many contributions to the 3.8.0 release and tidy up of code & readme.
Currently, this image should pull and run on the following architectures:
linux/amd64: Built on Linux x86-64linux/arm/v6: Built on Odroid HC2 running ARMv7 32-bitlinux/arm/v7: Built on Odroid HC2 running ARMv7 32-bitlinux/arm64: Built on a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B running ARMv8 64-bit
Before this container will work properly, you must blacklist the kernel modules for the RTL-SDR USB device from the host's kernel.
To do this, create a file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtl2832.conf containing the following:
# Blacklist RTL2832 so docker container piaware can use the device
blacklist rtl2832
blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu
blacklist rtl2832_sdrOnce this is done, you can plug in your RTL-SDR USB device and start the container.
Failure to do this will result in the error below being spammed to the container log.
2019-04-29 21:14:31.642500500 [dump1090-fa] Kernel driver is active, or device is claimed by second instance of librtlsdr.
2019-04-29 21:14:31.642635500 [dump1090-fa] In the first case, please either detach or blacklist the kernel module
2019-04-29 21:14:31.642663500 [dump1090-fa] (dvb_usb_rtl28xxu), or enable automatic detaching at compile time.
2019-04-29 21:14:31.642677500 [dump1090-fa]
2019-04-29 21:14:31.642690500 [dump1090-fa] usb_claim_interface error -6
If you get the error above even after blacklisting the kernel modules as outlined above, the modules may still be loaded. You can unload them by running the following commands:
sudo rmmod rtl2832_sdr
sudo rmmod dvb_usb_rtl28xxu
sudo rmmod rtl2832- You need to specify a feeder-id for the container, as this is used by FlightAware to track your PiAware instance.
Make sure you set your feeder ID via the FEEDER_ID environment variable. Failure to do this will cause a new FlightAware site ID to be generated every time you launch the container.
See below for more info.
You'll need your feeder-id from your existing feeder.
To get your feeder-id, log onto your feeder and issue the command:
piaware-config -show feeder-idYou'll need a feeder-id. To get one, you can temporarily run the container, to allow it to communicate with the FlightAware servers and get a new feeder ID.
Run the commands:
docker pull mikenye/piaware:latest
timeout 60 docker run --rm -e LAT=YOURLATITUDE -e LONG=YOURLONGITUDE mikenye/piaware:latest | grep "my feeder ID"Be sure to change the following:
- Replace
YOURLATITUDEwith the latitude of your antenna (xx.xxxxx) - Replace
YOURLONGITUDEwith the longitude of your antenna (xx.xxxxx)
The command will run the container for 30 seconds, which should be ample time for the container to receive a feeder-id.
For example:
$ timeout 30 docker run --rm -e LAT=-33.33333 -e LONG=111.11111 mikenye/piaware:latest | grep "my feeder ID"
Set allow-mlat to yes in /etc/piaware.conf:1
Set allow-modeac to yes in /etc/piaware.conf:2
Set allow-auto-updates to no in /etc/piaware.conf:3
Set allow-manual-updates to no in /etc/piaware.conf:4
2020-03-06 06:16:11.860212500 [piaware] my feeder ID is acbf1f88-09a4-3a47-a4a0-10ae138d0c1g
write /dev/stdout: broken pipe
TerminatedAs you can see from the output above, the feeder-id given to us from FlightAware is acbf1f88-09a4-3a47-a4a0-10ae138d0c1g.
You'll now want to "claim" this feeder.
To do this, go to: FlightAware PiAware Claim and follow the instructions there.
Firstly, plug in your USB radio.
Run the command lsusb and find your radio. It'll look something like this:
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:2832 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL2832U DVB-TTake note of the bus number, and device number. In the output above, its 001 and 004 respectively.
Start the docker container, passing through the USB device:
docker run \
-d \
--rm \
--name piaware \
--device /dev/bus/usb/USB_BUS_NUMBER/USB_DEVICE_NUMBER \
-e TZ="YOUR_TIMEZONE" \
-e LAT=LATITUDE_OF_YOUR_ANTENNA \
-e LONG=LONGITUDE_OF_YOUR_ANTENNA \
-p 8080:80 \
mikenye/piawareFor example, based on the lsusb output above:
docker run \
-d \
--rm \
--name piaware \
--device /dev/bus/usb/001/004 \
-e TZ="Australia/Perth" \
-e LAT=-33.33333 \
-e LONG=111.11111 \
-p 8080:80 \
mikenye/piawareAfter running for the first time, it is strongly suggested to get your feeded ID from the container logs, and re-create the container with the FEEDER_ID environment variable set.
For example:
docker logs piaware | grep -i 'my feeder id'...should return something like:
2020-02-19 16:17:03.153071500 [piaware] my feeder ID is c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37You would then re-create your container:
docker run \
-d \
--rm \
--name piaware \
--device /dev/bus/usb/001/004 \
-e TZ="Australia/Perth" \
-e LAT=-33.33333 \
-e LONG=111.11111 \
-e FEEDER_ID=c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37 \
-p 8080:80 \
mikenye/piawareFirstly, plug in your USB radio.
Run the command lsusb and find your radio. It'll look something like this:
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:2832 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL2832U DVB-TTake note of the bus number, and device number. In the output above, its 001 and 004 respectively. This is used in the devices: section of the docker-compose.xml. Change these in your environment as required.
An example docker-compose.xml file is below:
version: '2.0'
services:
piaware:
image: mikenye/piaware:latest
tty: true
container_name: piaware
restart: always
devices:
- /dev/bus/usb/001/004:/dev/bus/usb/001/004
ports:
- 8080:80
- 30003:30003
- 30005:30005
environment:
- TZ="Australia/Perth"
- LAT=-33.33333
- LONG=111.11111
After running for the first time, it is strongly suggested to get your feeded ID from the container logs, and re-create the container with the FEEDER_ID environment variable set.
For example:
docker logs piaware | grep -i 'my feeder id'...should return something like:
2020-02-19 16:17:03.153071500 [piaware] my feeder ID is c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37You would then update your docker-compose.yml file:
version: '2.0'
services:
piaware:
image: mikenye/piaware:latest
tty: true
container_name: piaware
restart: always
devices:
- /dev/bus/usb/001/004:/dev/bus/usb/001/004
ports:
- 8080:80
- 30003:30003
- 30005:30005
environment:
- TZ="Australia/Perth"
- LAT=-33.33333
- LONG=111.11111
- FEEDER_ID=c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37... and issue a docker-compose up -d to re-create the container.
Start the docker container, passing the hostname (and port if not using 30005) of the external Mode-S/BEAST provider as environment variables:
docker run \
-d \
--rm \
--name piaware \
-e TZ="YOUR_TIMEZONE" \
-e LAT=LATITUDE_OF_YOUR_ANTENNA \
-e LONG=LONGITUDE_OF_YOUR_ANTENNA \
-e BEASTHOST=beasthost \
mikenye/piawareFor example, based on the lsusb output above:
docker run \
-d \
--rm \
--name piaware \
-e TZ="Australia/Perth" \
-e LAT=-33.33333 \
-e LONG=111.11111 \
-e BEASTHOST=beasthost \
mikenye/piawareAfter running for the first time, it is strongly suggested to get your feeded ID from the container logs, and re-create the container with the FEEDER_ID environment variable set.
For example:
docker logs piaware | grep -i 'my feeder id'...should return something like:
2020-02-19 16:17:03.153071500 [piaware] my feeder ID is c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37
You would then re-create your container:
docker run \
-d \
--rm \
--name piaware \
-e TZ="Australia/Perth" \
-e LAT=-33.33333 \
-e LONG=111.11111 \
-e BEASTHOST=beasthost \
-e FEEDER_ID=c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37 \
mikenye/piawarePass the hostname (and port if not using 30005) of the external Mode-S/BEAST provider as environment variables:
An example docker-compose.xml file is below:
version: '2.0'
services:
piaware:
image: mikenye/piaware:latest
tty: true
container_name: piaware
restart: always
environment:
- TZ="Australia/Perth"
- LAT=-33.33333
- LONG=111.11111
- BEASTHOST=beasthost
After running for the first time, it is strongly suggested to get your feeded ID from the container logs, and re-create the container with the FEEDER_ID environment variable set.
For example:
docker logs piaware | grep -i 'my feeder id'...should return something like:
2020-02-19 16:17:03.153071500 [piaware] my feeder ID is c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37
You would then update your docker-compose.yml file:
version: '2.0'
services:
piaware:
image: mikenye/piaware:latest
tty: true
container_name: piaware
restart: always
environment:
- TZ="Australia/Perth"
- LAT=-33.33333
- LONG=111.11111
- BEASTHOST=beasthost
- FEEDER_ID=c478b1c99-23d3-4376-1f82-47352a28cg37... and issue a docker-compose up -d to re-create the container.
There are a series of available environment variables:
| Environment Variable | Purpose | Default |
|---|---|---|
LAT |
Antenna's latitude (required) | |
LONG |
Antenna's longitude (required) | |
TZ |
Your local timezone (optional) | GMT |
DUMP1090_DEVICE |
Select RTL-SDR device by index or serial number (optional) | |
ALLOW_MLAT |
Used for setting piaware-config variable allow-mlat (optional) |
yes |
ALLOW_MODEAC |
Used for setting piaware-config variable allow-modeac (optional) |
yes |
RTLSDR_PPM |
Used for setting piaware-config variable rtlsdr-ppm (optional) |
0 |
RTLSDR_GAIN |
Optimizing gain (optional) -- See FlightAware -- Optimizing Gain | -10 (max) |
BEASTHOST |
Optional. IP/Hostname of a Mode-S/BEAST provider (dump1090/readsb). If given, no USB device needs to be passed through to the container. | |
BEASTPORT |
Optional. TCP port number of Mode-S/BEAST provider (dump1090/readsb). | 30005 |
FEEDER_ID |
Your FlightAware feeder ID (required) | |
BINGMAPSAPIKEY |
Optional. Bing Maps API Key. If set, it is configured in dump1090's config.js. |
|
VERBOSE_LOGGING |
Optional. Set to true for more verbose logs. |
For an explanation of piaware-config variables, see FlightAware PiAware Advanced Configuration.
The following ports are used by this container:
80- PiAware Status page and dump1090 web interface (Skyaware) - optional but recommended so you can check status and and watch the planes fly around.8080- dump1090 web interface (Skyaware) only. If you just want the map, you can use this instead of port80.30001- dump1090 TCP raw input listen port - optional, recommended to leave unmapped unless explicitly needed30002- dump1090 TCP raw output listen port - optional, recommended to leave unmapped unless explicitly needed30003- dump1090 TCP BaseStation output listen port - optional, recommended to leave unmapped unless explicitly needed30004- dump1090 TCP Beast input listen port - optional, recommended to leave unmapped unless explicitly needed30005- dump1090 TCP Beast output listen port - optional, recommended to leave unmapped unless explicitly needed30104- dump1090 TCP Beast input listen port - optional, recommended to leave unmapped unless explicitly needed
Since version 3.8.0 the flightaware-user and flightaware-password configuration options are no longer used; please use the normal site-claiming mechanisms to associate sites with a FlightAware account.
Check out the images:
- All processes are logged to the container's stdout, and can be viewed with
docker logs [-f] container. lighttpd(which provides SkyAware & SkyAware978) is configured to not log (except for a startup message on container start)
dump978 and its prerequisites (SoapySDR) compile in this docker image, however I don't have a suitable RTLSDR radio I can use to test this with. The FlightAware Pro Stick Plus Blue that I own has a 1090MHz bandpass filter built in, so it is basically useless for 978MHz. Furthermore, 978MHz is not yet used by aircraft in Australia. If anyone lives where 978MHz is used and wants to work on this project to include support for dump978, please get in touch! If you're interested in testing this yourself, the dump978 binaries provided by flightaware/dump978 are included in the image, but for now you will have to run them manually.
/usr/local/bin/dump978-fa/usr/lib/piaware/helpers/faup978/usr/local/bin/skyaware978
Please feel free to open an issue on the project's GitHub.
I also have a Discord channel, feel free to join and converse.
See the project's commit history.