dump1090 SBS-1 Message Forwarder to DataSet

This project provides a utility to capture SBS-1 format messages from dump1090's output and then forwards them to SentinelOne's DataSet for further analysis and storage.

Table of Contents

• About ADS-B
• About dump1090 and SBS-1
• About DataSet (formerly Scalyr)
• Setting Up dump1090 with rtl_sdr
• Requirements
• Getting Started
• Running Services with pmtr
• Setting up pmtr as a launchd service
• Contributions
• License

About ADS-B

Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) is a surveillance technology in which an aircraft determines its position via satellite navigation and periodically broadcasts it, enabling the aircraft to be tracked. The information can be received by air traffic control ground stations as a replacement for secondary radar. It can also be received by other aircraft, providing situational awareness and potentially allowing for self-separation. ADS-B is an integral part of the NextGen modernization program by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aiming to replace radar-based surveillance and navigation systems.

About dump1090 and SBS-1

dump1090 is a popular ADS-B Mode S decoder built specifically for RTL-SDR devices. When run, it outputs aircraft data in SBS-1 format on port 30003. This format provides real-time information about airborne aircraft, including details like speed, position, altitude, and more.

About DataSet (formerly known as Scalyr)

SentinelOne's DataSet, formerly known as Scalyr, offers high-speed logging and server metrics for engineers. It's known for its lightning-fast search capabilities. Engineers often rely on DataSet to troubleshoot server issues, understand application behaviors, and ensure smooth operations.

Setting Up dump1090 with rtl_sdr

To get dump1090 producing SBS-1 messages from an RTL-SDR:

1. Ensure you have an RTL-SDR dongle.

2. Install dump1090:

   sudo apt-get install dump1090
   

3. Run dump1090 in interactive mode:

   dump1090 --interactive
   

4. SBS-1 formatted data will be available on port 30003. Ensure no firewall or other network restrictions block this port.

Requirements

• Rust
• Cargo (Comes bundled with Rust)
• dump1090 (or a derivative, like dump1090-fa or dump1090-mutability) or PiAware

Getting Started

1. Clone this repository.

2. If not installed, install Rust and Cargo.

3. Compile the project:

   cargo build --release
   

   This will create a self-contained binary ./target/release/adsb-rust-dataset.

4. Ensure dump1090 is running and emitting SBS-1 messages. By default with the --net argument, it will emit these messages on port 30003.

5. Run the utility via command-line arguments or environment variables:

   • --dump1090_host or DUMP1090_HOST: Set the dump1090 host. e.g., --dump1090_host=utilities.33901.cloud or DUMP1090_HOST=utilities.33901.cloud
   • --dump1090_port or DUMP1090_PORT: Set the dump1090 port. e.g., --dump1090_host=30003 or DUMP1090_HOST=30003
   • --dataset_api_write_token or DATASET_API_WRITE_TOKEN: Specify the API token used to write to DataSet

   You can also optionally configure the batch size of how many messages to transmit to DataSet in each batch using the --batch_size argument or the BATCH_SIZE environment variable. If unset, this defaults to 500.

   For example:

   ./adsb-rust-dataset --dataset_api_write_token YOUR_TOKEN_HERE --dump1090_host utilities.33901.cloud --dump1090_port 30003 --batch_size 10
   

Running Services with pmtr

pmtr is a versatile tool for running background services. It restarts services that fail and can manage both dump1090 and this project as services.

Create a pmtr.conf configuration file in /etc:

job {
  name dump1090
  cmd /path/to/dump1090 --net
}

job {
  name sbs1-forwarder
  cmd /path/to/adsb_binary
}

Replace /path/to/ with the appropriate paths.

Start the services with:

pmtr -c /etc/pmtr.conf

Both dump1090 and the SBS-1 forwarder will now run as managed background services. pmtr will restart them if they fail.

Setting up pmtr as a launchd service

Option 1: RPM

A RHEL/CentOS 7 x86_64 RPM package for pmtr can be found here.

Option 2: Build from source

1. Install the prerequisite tools:

   Ubuntu:

   sudo apt install git build-essential autoconf automake
   

   RedHat/CentOS:

   sudo yum install git gcc autoconf automake make
   

2. Clone pmtr:

   git clone https://github.com/troydhanson/pmtr.git
   

3. Build and install:

   cd pmtr
   ./autogen.sh
   ./configure --bindir=/usr/bin --sysconfdir=/etc
   make
   sudo make install
   sudo touch /etc/pmtr.conf
   

4. Set up initscript to start pmtr automatically at boot:

   cd initscripts
   sudo ./setup-initscript --auto
   

This is where pmtr reports on starting jobs, or on any errors in parsing the configuration file. Any output generated by the jobs also appears in the syslog by default.

Contributions

Pull requests are welcome! Please ensure that contributions adhere to the current coding style.

License

This code is licensed under the MIT License.