Pick one installation route

Do not install the whole internet

A receiver needs a decoder. It does not need every decoder. Two installers may each assume they control the same radio, web port or configuration file. A working station can become a small committee of services, all convinced that the USB stick belongs to them.

Choose the route that you can update and recover. Before any install, save configuration and account identifiers privately. Read the current upstream requirements, including supported operating systems and CPU architectures. An old tutorial can explain a concept while still giving an unsuitable command.

These are documentation-reviewed paths. This edition does not claim that Skylark performed a physical install on every supported board. Version-specific install commands stay with their maintainers rather than being copied here to age quietly.

Route A: an ADSB.im appliance

ADSB.im is a receiver image and management project, backed by the adsb-feeder-image repository. It is a sensible route to investigate when you want to configure reception and sharing through a guided interface instead of assembling services individually. [1] [2]

1. Open the project's current hardware and download links. Match the image to the exact device, not merely the processor family.
2. Image verified spare storage. Double-check the disk you are about to erase.
3. Start the receiver and use the project's documented local setup address or find its address in your router.
4. Configure the receiver and location privately. Verify the local map before selecting feeds.
5. Enable only the services you chose. Visit their own status pages to confirm acceptance.

Your completion test is a local map with your own positions, a recorded configuration, and recovery after a restart. Check how this image handles updates and backups before leaving it unattended.

Route B: a FlightAware-first PiAware station

PiAware is both a familiar name for a complete receiver image and the name of FlightAware's forwarding software. The underlying decoder is a separate component. The client repository is not the same thing as a bootable image. [3] [4]

Follow FlightAware's build guide for the supported image, local setup and station claim. Confirm the receiver appears in the intended account, and enter the station details accurately. Verify local reception independently of the remote account page. [5]

To add another network later, look for its instructions for an existing receiver. Do not reimage a working station just to obtain a second sharing key. Record which project now owns each installed service.

Route C: Docker with ultrafeeder

Ultrafeeder bundles readsb, the tar1090 interface, monitoring and multi-feed facilities in a container-oriented setup. Its documentation describes the available outputs and MLAT arrangements. Some destinations still need their own client or container. Treat a sample configuration as a starting point to understand, not a form to fill by guesswork. [6] [7]

1. Check host architecture, USB-device access and the project's prerequisites.
2. Identify the radio explicitly. Only the intended receiver process should own it.
3. Set persistent configuration and storage paths deliberately. Keep credentials outside version control.
4. Bring up the local decoder and map first. Check logs for device errors or restart loops.
5. Add destinations one at a time, using the documented raw-data and MLAT connections.
6. Record image versions or digests and a rollback procedure. Restart the host and test recovery.

Do not publish every container port on the public internet. A reachable web interface and a healthy decoder are separate checks.

Route D: a native decoder on a host you maintain

Use a native readsb or dump1090-fa installation when you want direct control of its service and configuration and are comfortable maintaining the operating system. Readsb's README describes its supported build and installation arrangements. FlightAware maintains dump1090-fa in its dump1090 repository. [8] [4]

Before changing anything, discover what is already running. On a systemd-based Linux host, these read-only checks can help. A unit not found is information about your installation, not permission to install a replacement immediately.

systemctl status readsb --no-pager
systemctl status dump1090-fa --no-pager
lsusb
ss -ltn

Identify the actual decoder, its service configuration and its output paths. Add a map or feeder that consumes that output. Do not copy a JSON path or port number from another machine without checking your own.

The handover to your future self

Write down the installation route, host model, decoder and version, how to open the local map, how to view logs, where the private configuration is backed up, and which services receive data. Test that you can find those facts without this browser tab.

Before a major change, retain a known-good configuration or storage image according to your platform's instructions. A recovery plan that depends on remembering which tutorial you used is not much of a recovery plan.