# Feeding PlaneFinder [PlaneFinder](https://planefinder.net/) provides live flight tracking data to industries around the world with customised products for aviation, business intelligence and emerging markets alongside world class apps. The docker image [`ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder`](https://github.com/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder) contains PlaneFinder's `pfclient` feeder software and all of its required prerequisites and libraries. This needs to run in conjunction with `ultrafeeder` (or another Beast provider). ## Getting a Share Code ### Already running `pfclient` You'll need your *share code* from your existing feeder. To get your *share code*, log into your [planefinder.net](https://planefinder.net) account, and go to "Your Receivers". Your share code will be listed next to your existing receiver. You will need to make sure your existing receiver is shutdown prior to continuing. ### New to `pfclient` If you're already running `pfclient` and you've followed the steps in the previous command, you can skip this section. You'll need a *share code*. In order to obtain a PlaneFinder Share Code, we will start a temporary container running `pfclient`, which will run through a configuration wizard and generate a share code. Run the command: ```shell docker run \ --rm \ -it \ --name pfclient_temp \ --entrypoint pfclient \ -p 30053:30053 \ ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder ``` Once the container has started, you should see a message such as: ``` 2020-04-11 06:45:25.823307 [-] We were unable to locate a configuration file and have entered configuration mode by default. Please visit: http://172.22.7.12:30053 to complete configuration. ``` At this point, open a web browser and go to `http://docker.host.ip.addr:30053` You won't be able to use the URL given in the log output, as the IP address in the log output will show the private, internal IP of the docker container. In your browser, follow the steps in the configuration wizard. When finished, you'll be given a PlaneFinder Share Code. Save this in safe place. You can now kill the temporary container by pressing `CTRL-C`. You should now claim your receiver: 1. Go to 2. Create an account and/or sign in 3. Go to "Account" > "Manage Receivers" 4. Click "Add receiver" and enter your share code when prompted ## Update `.env` file with sharing key Inside your application directory (`/opt/adsb`), edit the `.env` file using your favourite text editor. Beginners may find the editor `nano` easy to use: ```shell nano /opt/adsb/.env ``` This file holds all of the commonly used variables (such as our latitude, longitude and altitude). We're going to add our `pfclient` share code to this file. Add the following line to the file: ```shell PLANEFINDER_SHARECODE=YOURSHARECODE ``` * Replace `YOURSHARECODE` with the share code that was generated in the previous step. For example: ```shell PLANEFINDER_SHARECODE=zg84632abhf231 ``` ## Deploying `pfclient` container Open the `docker-compose.yml` file that was created when deploying `ultrafeeder`. Append the following lines to the end of the file (inside the `services:` section): ```yaml pfclient: image: ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:latest # If you are running on a Raspberry Pi 5, uncomment the below line and comment out the above #ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:5.0.161_arm64 container_name: pfclient restart: unless-stopped ports: - 30053:30053 environment: - TZ=${FEEDER_TZ} - BEASTHOST=ultrafeeder - LAT=${FEEDER_LAT} - LONG=${FEEDER_LONG} - SHARECODE=${PLANEFINDER_SHARECODE} tmpfs: - /run:exec,size=64M - /var/log/pfclient ``` To explain what's going on in this addition: * We're creating a container called `pfclient`, from the image `ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:latest`. * We're passing several environment variables to the container: * `BEASTHOST=ultrafeeder` to inform the feeder to get its ADSB data from the container `ultrafeeder` * `TZ` will use the `FEEDER_TZ` variable from your `.env` file. * `LAT` will use the `FEEDER_LAT` variable from your `.env` file. * `LONG` will use the `FEEDER_LONG` variable from your `.env` file. * `SHARECODE` will use the `PLANEFINDER_SHARECODE` variable from your `.env` file. * We're using `tmpfs` for volumes that have regular I/O. Any files stored in a `tmpfs` mount are temporarily stored outside the container's writable layer. This helps to reduce: * The size of the container, by not writing changes to the underlying container; and * SD Card or SSD wear Once the file has been updated, issue the command `docker compose up -d` in the application directory to apply the changes and bring up the `pfclient` container. You should see the following output: ``` ✔ Container ultrafeeder Running ✔ Container piaware Running ✔ Container fr24 Running ✔ Container pfclient Started ``` We can view the logs for the environment with the command `docker compose logs`, or continually "tail" them with `docker compose logs -f`. At this stage, the logs will be fairly unexciting and look like this: ``` pfclient | [s6-init] making user provided files available at /var/run/s6/etc...exited 0. pfclient | [s6-init] ensuring user provided files have correct perms...exited 0. pfclient | [fix-attrs.d] applying ownership & permissions fixes... pfclient | [fix-attrs.d] done. pfclient | [cont-init.d] executing container initialization scripts... pfclient | [cont-init.d] 01-pfclient: executing... pfclient | [cont-init.d] 01-pfclient: exited 0. pfclient | [cont-init.d] done. pfclient | [services.d] starting services pfclient | [services.d] done. pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361261 [-] pfclient (4.1.1 i386) started with the following options: pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361432 [-] connection_type = 1 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361437 [-] tcp_address = ultrafeeder pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361440 [-] tcp_port = 30005 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361442 [-] data_format = 1 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361445 [-] aircraft_timeout = 30 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361448 [-] select_timeout = 10 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361450 [-] web_server_port = 30053 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361454 [-] user_latitude = -33.33333 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361458 [-] user_longitude = 111.11111 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361539 [V] Performing NTP sync (1.planefinder.pool.ntp.org)... pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361679 [-] Web server is now listening on: http://172.99.7.64:30053 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.361698 [-] Echo port is now listening on: 172.99.7.64:30054 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.362179 [-] TCP connection established: ultrafeeder:30005 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.723215 [V] NTP sync succeeded with settings: pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.723269 [V] Stratum: 3 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.723287 [V] System clock time: 1586596473.7232 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.723299 [V] Corrected clock time: 1586596473.7181 pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:14:33.723310 [V] NTP offset: -0.0052s pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:15:38.239652 [-] User location has been verified. pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:16:23.809962 [-] Successfully sent 46 aircraft updates across 10 packets (8.00KB) pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:18:14.117198 [-] Successfully sent 57 aircraft updates across 10 packets (9.00KB) pfclient | 2020-04-11 09:20:04.389081 [-] Successfully sent 53 aircraft updates across 10 packets (8.00KB) ``` Once running, you can visit `http://docker.host.ip.addr:30053` to access the `pfclient` web interface. You can also visit the PlaneFinder website, and go to "Account" > "Manage Receivers" and click your receiver to see your live data and statistics. ## Troubleshooting If you are running a Raspberry Pi 5, then you may see the following messages in your Docker Compose log output: ``` pfclient | [pfclient_daemon] /usr/local/bin/pfclient: error while loading shared libraries: pfclient | [pfclient_daemon] /usr/local/bin/pfclient: error while loading shared libraries: pfclient | [pfclient_daemon] /usr/local/bin/pfclient: error while loading shared libraries: ``` This is due to an architecture change with the Raspberry Pi 5 and can be worked around by using this Docker image in your `docker-compose.yml` file: `ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:5.0.161_arm64` This is noted in the sample provided above. See [here](https://github.com/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder/issues/34) for more information. ## Advanced If you want to look at more options and examples for the `pfclient` container, you can find the repository [here](https://github.com/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder)