sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder

Docker container running PlaneFinder's's pfclient. Designed to work in tandem with sdr-enthusiasts/docker-readsb-protobuf. Builds and runs on x86_64, 386, arm64 and arm32v7 (see below).

pfclient pulls ModeS/BEAST information from a host or container providing ModeS/BEAST data, and sends data to PlaneFinder.

For more information on what pfclient is, see here: https://planefinder.net/sharing/client.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR USERS ON PI5/libpthread.so.0

Planefinder client 5.0.161 will see the following error on startup:

error while loading shared libraries: libpthread.so.0: ELF load command address/offset not page

This, at least at the moment, is not something we can fix and will require the upstream developers to fix. Alternative, in this issue you can find a work around which involves switching to a different kernel.

Supported tags and respective Dockerfiles

• latest (master branch, Dockerfile)
• Version and architecture specific tags available
• development (dev branch, Dockerfile, not recommended for production)

Obtaining a PlaneFinder Share Code

First-time users should obtain a PlaneFinder 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.

To do this, run the command:

docker run \
    --rm \
    -it \
    --name pfclient_temp \
    --entrypoint /firstrun \
    -p 30053:30053 \
    ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:latest

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://dockerhost:30053. Replace dockerhost with the IP address of your host running Docker. You won't be able to use the URL given in the log output, as the IP address given will be the private IP of the docker container.

In your browser, go through the configuration wizard. When finished, you'll be given a PlaneFinder Share Code. Save this in safe place.

You can now kill the container by pressing CTRL-C.

If you're not a first time user and are migrating from another installation, you can retrieve your sharing key by logging into your planefinder.net account, and going to "Your Receivers".

Up-and-Running with docker run

docker run \
 -d \
 --rm \
 --name pfclient \
 -p 30053:30053 \
 -e TZ="YOURTIMEZONE" \
 -e BEASTHOST=YOURBEASTHOST \
 -e LAT=YOURLATITUDE \
 -e LONG=YOURLONGITUDE \
 -e SHARECODE=YOURSHARECODE \
 ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:latest

You should obviously replace YOURBEASTHOST, YOURLATITUDE, YOURLONGITUDE and YOURSHARECODE with appropriate values.

For example:

docker run \
 -d \
 --rm \
 --name pfclient \
 -p 30053:30053 \
 -e TZ="Australia/Perth" \
 -e BEASTHOST=readsb \
 -e LAT=-33.33333 \
 -e LONG=111.11111 \
 -e SHARECODE=zg84632abhf231 \
 ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:latest

Up-and-Running with Docker Compose

version: "2.0"

services:
  pfclient:
    image: ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefinder:latest
    container_name: pfclient
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 30053:30053
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Perth
      - BEASTHOST=readsb
      - LAT=-33.33333
      - LONG=111.11111
      - SHARECODE=zg84632abhf231

Claiming Your Receiver

Once your container is up and running, you should claim your receiver.

1. Go to https://www.planefinder.net/
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

Runtime Environment Variables

There are a series of available environment variables:

Environment Variable	Purpose	Default
BEASTHOST	Required. IP/Hostname of a Mode-S/BEAST provider (dump1090/readsb)
BEASTPORT	Optional. TCP port number of Mode-S/BEAST provider (dump1090/readsy)	30005
SHARECODE	Required. PlaneFinder Share Code
LAT	Required. Latitude of the antenna
LONG	Required. Longitude of the antenna
TZ	Optional. Your local timezone	GMT

Ports

The following ports are used by this container:

• 30053 - pfclient web GUI. Suggest mapping this port for the web GUI.
• 30054 - pfclient "echo port". Suggest leaving this port unmapped.

Logging

• All processes are logged to the container's stdout, and can be viewed with docker logs [-f] container.

Getting Help

You can log an issue on the project's GitHub.

I also have a Discord channel, feel free to join and converse.