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Feeder node — provisioning runbook

Bench procedure for building one feeder Pi, per unit, start to finish. Do not skip steps and do not box a unit that hasn't passed step 8. The condensed pre-ship list lives in docs/shipping-checklist.md.

Hardware per unit: Pi 4 (64-bit), quality SD card, PSU, two RTL-SDR sticks (1090 + 978) with appropriate filters/antennas — one stick if the site is single-band.

1. Flash and boot

Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite 64-bit (Raspberry Pi Imager: set hostname adsb-<site>, enable SSH, set a strong password, do NOT configure WiFi yet). Boot on bench ethernet; ssh in.

2. Clone and configure

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y git
git clone https://github.com/gemivnet/adsb-vm-config.git
cd adsb-vm-config/node
cp site.env.example site.env
vi site.env

Fill in SITE_ID, SITE_NAME, surveyed coordinates and altitude of the actual install location (not the bench), SITE_DUAL_BAND, GAIN_978, and a fresh tagged (tag:adsb-node), non-ephemeral, pre-auth Tailscale key. Tagged nodes don't key-expire — the unit can sit in a closet for months and still join.

3. Serialize the SDR sticks

Device selection is by serial, never by USB index. With only the 1090 stick plugged in:

sudo scripts/serialize-sdrs.sh 1090

Re-plug and verify (rtl_eeprom should show 00001090). Repeat with only the 978 stick: sudo scripts/serialize-sdrs.sh 978 → 00000978. Label the sticks physically.

4. Install

sudo ./install.sh

Installs readsb/tar1090/graphs1090 (+dump978-fa if dual band), nftables (30005/30978/8080 reachable from tailnet + localhost only), Tailscale (adsb-<site>, tag:adsb-node, tailscale ssh), security-only unattended upgrades, volatile journal. Re-run any time to upgrade or after editing site.env.

Confirm tar1090 at http://<bench-ip>:8080 shows local traffic on both bands (or 1090 with a test antenna).

5. Pre-stage the destination WiFi

Get the exact SSID/PSK from the host beforehand; confirm the network is 2.4 GHz-visible. Ethernet stays the fallback — leave it configured.

sudo nmcli connection add type wifi ifname wlan0 con-name site-wifi \
    ssid "<SSID>" wifi-sec.key-mgmt wpa-psk wifi-sec.psk "<PSK>" \
    connection.autoconnect yes

6. Register on the hub + aggregators

The node must already appear in tailscale status as adsb-<site>. On the hub:

  1. Register the site: sites.d/<site>.env from the example (matching SITE_ID/coords, next free SITE_INDEX, fresh uuidgen for SITE_UUID).
  2. Register the site with each aggregator and fill hub/ingest/feeds/<site>/feeds.env — FR24 key, FlightAware feeder ID (generate + claim), ADSBx is automatic. Full instructions: hub/ingest/feeds/README.md.
  3. sudo hub/install.sh, then:
check-node.sh <site>
docker ps    # feeds.<site>.* containers up

All ports open, message rate > 0, feed containers running and their logs show a connected/logged-in state → proceed. (Aggregator keys can also be added later — rerun hub/install.sh whenever feeds.env changes.)

7. Foreign-LAN dress rehearsal

Reboot the Pi on an isolated network or phone hotspot (no bench ethernet) mimicking the destination LAN. It must come back on the tailnet unattended and check-node.sh <site> must pass again. This is the step that catches WiFi typos, 5 GHz-only assumptions, and firewall surprises — only then box it.

8. Ship + record

Box with PSU, antennas, labeled sticks, and a card with the host's minimal instructions ("plug into power; that's it"). The site is already registered on the hub from step 6; after the unit comes up at its destination, run check-node.sh <site> once more and check the status page row goes green.

Notes

  • There are no custom systemd units on nodes: vendor units from readsb/dump978-fa/tailscaled are configured via /etc/default/* files written by install.sh.
  • Upgrades later: git pull && sudo ./install.sh over tailscale ssh.
  • The Tailscale ACL (see docs/tailscale-acl.md) gives nodes no outbound rights on the tailnet; the hub pulls from them.