mlat changes

README.md

@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@ The sections below describe how to configure each part of the container function
 
 Note:
 
-- to enable a parameter, you can set it to any of `1`, `true`, `on`, `enabled`, `enable`, `yes`, or `y`. In the table below, we'll simply use `true` for convenience.
+* to enable a parameter, you can set it to any of `1`, `true`, `on`, `enabled`, `enable`, `yes`, or `y`. In the table below, we'll simply use `true` for convenience.
-- to disable a parameter, you can set it to anything else or simply leave it undefined.
+* to disable a parameter, you can set it to anything else or simply leave it undefined.
 
 ### General Configuration
 
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ docker exec -it ultrafeeder /usr/local/bin/autogain1090 reset
 
 In addition to (or instead of) connecting to a SDR or hardware device to get ADSB data, the container also supports ingesting data from a TCP port. Here are some parameters that you need to configure if you want to make this happen:
 
-##### Mandatory parameters
+##### Networking parameters
 
 | Environment Variable | Purpose | Default |
 |----------------------|---------|---------|
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ In addition to (or instead of) connecting to a SDR or hardware device to get ADS
 | `MLATHOST` | Legacy parameter. IP/Hostname of an MLAT provider (`mlat-client`). Note - using this parameter will not make the MLAT data part of the consolidated mlathub. The preferred way of ingesting MLAT results is using the `mlathub` functionality of the container, see below for details | |
 | `MLATPORT` | Legacy parameter used with `MLATHOST`. TCP port number of an MLAT provider (`mlat-client`) | 30105 |
 
-###### Alternate Configuration Method with `READSB_NET_CONNECTOR`
+##### Alternate Configuration Method with `READSB_NET_CONNECTOR`
 
 Instead of (or in addition to) using `BEASTHOST`, you can also define ADSB data ingests using the `READSB_NET_CONNECTOR` parameter. This is the preferred way if you have multiple sources or destinations for your ADSB data. This variable allows you to configure incoming and outgoing connections. The variable takes a semicolon (`;`) separated list of `host,port,protocol[,uuid=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX]`, where:
 
@@ -282,6 +282,33 @@ There are many optional parameters relating to the ingestion of data and the gen
 | `READSB_JSON_INTERVAL` | Update interval for the webinterface in seconds / interval between aircraft.json writes | `--write-json-every=<sec>` | `1.0` |
 | `READSB_JSON_TRACE_INTERVAL` | Per plane interval for json position output and trace interval for globe history | `--json-trace-interval=<sec>` | `15` |
 | `READSB_FORWARD_MLAT_SBS` | If set to anthing, it will include MLAT results in the SBS/BaseStation output. This may be desirable if you feed SBS data to applications like [VRS](https://github.com/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-virtualradarserver) or [PlaneFence](https://github.com/kx1t/docker-planefence) | Unset |
+| `UUID` | Sets the UUID that is sent on the `beast_reduce_plus` port if no individual UUIDs have been defined with the `READSB_NET_CONNECTOR` parameter. Similarly, it's also used with `mlat-client` (see below) if no individual UUIDs have been set with the `MLAT_CONFIG` parameter. | | unset |
+
+##### MLAT configuration
+
+The Ultrafeeder contains a capability to send MLAT data to MLAT servers to be processed, and to receive the MLAT results and integrate those with an MLAT Hub and the `tar1090` map.
+It will create a separate instance of `mlat-client` for each defined MLAT server. The parameters for these `mlat-client` instances is as follows:
+
+```yaml
+    environment:
+    ...
+      - MLAT_CONFIG=
+           mlat-server1.com,port1,return_port1,uuid=1234-5678-90123,--extra-argument hello;
+           mlat-server2.com,port2,return_port2,uuid=5678-9012-34567,--extra-argument hello
+    ...
+```
+
+where:
+
+* `mlat-server.com` is the domain name or ip address of the target MLAT server (mandatory)
+* `port` is the port (TCP or UDP) of the target MLAT server (mandatory)
+* `return_port` is the port at which the MLAT results are made available in BEAST format. We recommend to sequentially number them starting at 39000 (optional)
+* `uuid=xxxx` defines a unique user ID for this MLAT server instance. If included, the string must start with `uuid=` (optional)
+* `extra-arguments` are any additional command line arguments that you would like to use for this MLAT Client instance (optional)
+
+Note - the three optional parameters (`return_port`, `uuid=`, and `extra-arguments`) can be given in any order.
+
+If no UUID is specified with the `MLAT_CONFIG` parameter, it will use the value of the `UUID` parameter if it exists. If that fails, no UUID parameter is included with `mlat-client`. 
 
 ### Web Gui (`tar1090`) Configuration
 
@@ -291,7 +318,7 @@ The web interface is rendered to port `80` in the container. This can me mapped
 
 All of the variables below are optional.
 
-Note - due to design limitations of `readsb`, the `tar1090` graphical interface will by default ONLY show MLAT results from the aggregators/MLAT sources that were defined with the `MLAT_NET_CONNECTOR` parameter. If you want to show any additional MLAT results (for example, those from `piaware`), you should add a separate `READSB_NET_CONNECTOR` for them.
+Note - due to design limitations of `readsb`, the `tar1090` graphical interface will by default ONLY show MLAT results from the aggregators/MLAT sources that were defined with the `MLAT_NET_CONNECTOR` parameter. If you want to show any additional MLAT results (for example, those from `piaware`), you should add a separate `READSB_NET_CONNECTOR` entry for them.
 
 #### `tar1090` Core Configuration
 

rootfs/etc/services.d/mlat-client/run

@@ -54,7 +54,11 @@ if [[ -z "$ALT$READSB_ALT" ]]; then
 fi
 
 # MLAT_CONFIG has the following format:
-# MLAT_CONFIG=mlatserver_1,mlatserver_port_1[,results_port_1[,extra_params_1]];mlatserver_2,mlatserver_port_2[,results_port_2[,extra_params_2]] etc
+# MLAT_CONFIG=mlatserver_1,mlatserver_port_1,x1,y1,z1;mlatserver_2,mlatserver_port_2,x2,y2,z2 etc
+# where x1,y1,z1; x22,y2,z2; etc are optional and are interpreted as follows:
+# if it's a number, we'll assume it's a port number for return messages
+# if it starts with 'uuid=', it's a UUID number for that instance
+# anything else will be appended as extra parameter(s) to the mlat-client command line
 
 # parse MLAT_CONFIG string into mlat_configs array
 readarray -td ";" mlat_configs < <(printf '%s' "${MLAT_CONFIG// /}")
@@ -66,6 +70,9 @@ do
     # put individual params into the $params array:
     readarray -td "," params < <(printf '%s' "${instance}")
 
+    uuid_arg=false
+    extra_args=""
+
     # Check if the params array has values for the mandatory elements:
     if [[ -z "${params[0]}" ]] || [[ -z "${params[1]}" ]]
     then
@@ -75,6 +82,7 @@ do
         sleep infinity
     fi
 
+    # ------------------------------------------------
     # Build the MLAT parameter string:
     MLAT_PARAM=(--input-type "${MLAT_INPUT_TYPE}")
     MLAT_PARAM+=(--input-connect localhost:30005)
@@ -98,23 +106,59 @@ do
         MLAT_PARAM+=(--alt "${READSB_ALT}")
     fi
 
-    [[ -n "${MLAT_USER}" ]] && MLAT_PARAM+=(--user "${MLAT_USER}") || MLAT_PARAM+=(--user "${UUID}")
+    if [[ -n "${MLAT_USER}" ]]; then 
-    [[ -n "${params[2]}" ]] && MLAT_PARAM+=("--results beast,listen,${params[2]}") || true
+        MLAT_PARAM+=(--user "${MLAT_USER}")
-    [[ -n "${params[3]}" ]] && MLAT_PARAM+=("${params[3]}") || true
+    else 
+        rnd="${RANDOM}"
+        echo "[$(date)][${APPNAME}] WARNING: MLAT_USER is not set - using random number \"${rnd}\" as MLAT_USER"
+        MLAT_PARAM+=(--user "${rnd}")
+    fi
 
+    # Now process the rest of the arguments
+    # The order doesn't matter, we'll do pattern matching:
+    # If the argument is a number, then it must be the beast_results port
+    # If the argument starts with "uuid=", then it must be a UUID
+    # If the argument isn't any of the above, then it's an "extra argument"
+
+    for ((i=2; i<${#params[*]}; i++))
+    do
+        if [[ -n "${params[i]}" ]] && [[ "${params[i]}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            # It's a number so it must be the return port
+            MLAT_PARAM+=("--results beast,listen,${params[i]}")
+
+        elif header="${params[i]:0:5}" && [[ "${header,,}" == "uuid=" ]]; then
+            # It's a UUID
+            MLAT_PARAM+=("--uuid ${params[i]:5}")
+            uuid_arg=true
+
+        else
+            # It's an Extra Args string
+            extra_args="$extra_args ${params[i]}"
+
+        fi
+    done
+    # If no UUID was set in the argument strings, check if we can use the generic UUID parameter
+    if [[ $uuid_arg == false ]] && [[ -n "${UUID}" ]]; then
+        MLAT_PARAM+=("--uuid ${UUID}")
+    fi
+    # Now add the extra_args, if any:
+    [[ -n "${extra_args}" ]] && MLAT_PARAM+=("${extra_args}") || true
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------
+    # Create the command exec string:
     # shellcheck disable=SC2048,SC2086
     execstring="$(echo ${MLAT_CMD} ${MLAT_PARAM[*]} | xargs)"
 
-    # Wait a bit until readsb is established...
+    # ------------------------------------------------
-    if ! pgrep readsb >/dev/null 
+    # Ready to launch, but wait until readsb is established...
-then
+    if ! pgrep readsb >/dev/null; then
-    echo "[$(date)][mlathub] Delaying start of MLAT client(s) until container is established..."
+        echo "[$(date)][$APPNAME] Delaying start of MLAT client(s) until container is established..."
         while ! pgrep readsb >/dev/null
         do
             sleep 2
         done
-fi
+    fi
-sleep 10     # sleep a bit so everything is well established - starting readsb may take a bit
+    sleep 10     # sleep a bit so everything is well established - starting readsb may take a bit
 
     # run this Mlat_client instance in the background:
     echo  "[$(date)][${APPNAME}] starting: ${MLAT_CMD} ${MLAT_PARAM[*]}"
@@ -127,11 +171,14 @@ sleep 10     # sleep a bit so everything is well established - starting readsb m
        { exec ${execstring} >/dev/null 2>/dev/null; } &
     fi
 
+    # pid_array is indexed by the PID of each mlat_client and contains the MLAT_PARAMs for that instance
+    # This is done so we can monitor them and restart them if needed
     pid_array[$!]="${MLAT_PARAM[*]}"
     sleep 5
 done
 
-# All MLAT Clients are up, so set the flag:
+# All MLAT Clients are up, so set the flag. This flag is read by MLATHUB as a sign that it's
+# safe to start up
 touch /run/mlathub_up
 
 # Now iterate over all MLAT-client instances and check if they are still running:

rootfs/etc/services.d/mlathub/run

@@ -43,12 +43,17 @@ do
     # put individual params into the $params array:
     readarray -td "," params < <(printf '%s' "${instance}")
 
-    if [[ -n "${params[2]}" ]]
+    for ((i=2; i<${#params[*]}; i++))
-    then
+    do
-        MLATHUB_CMD+=("--net-connector=localhost,${params[2]},beast_in")
+        if [[ -n "${params[i]}" ]] && [[ "${params[i]}" =~ ^[0-9]+$ ]]; then
+            # the parameter is a number and it is assumed that this is the beast_results port
+            MLATHUB_CMD+=("--net-connector=localhost,${params[i]},beast_in")
             (( mlat_result_sources++ )) || true
+            break
         fi
+    done
 done
+
 if (( mlat_result_sources == 0 ))
 then
     echo "[$(date)][mlathub] No MLAT servers have been defined in MLAT_CONFIG - no need to start MLATHUB"