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Route ACARS/VDLM2 messages between various services

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sdr-enthusiasts/acars_router

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sdr-enthusiasts/acars_router

acars_router receives, validates, deduplicates, modifies and routes ACARS/VDLM2/HFDL/IMSL/IRDM JSON messages.

Example Feeder docker-compose.yml

version: "3.8"

volumes:
  - acarshub_run

services:
    acarshub:
    image: ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-acarshub:latest
    tty: true
    container_name: acarshub
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 8080:80
    environment:
      - ENABLE_VDLM=EXTERNAL
      - ENABLE_ACARS=EXTERNAL
      - FEED=true
      - IATA_OVERRIDE=UP|UPS|United Parcel Service;GS|FTH|Mountain Aviation (Foothills);GS|EJA|ExecJet
      - ENABLE_ADSB=true
      - ADSB_LAT=${FEEDER_LAT}
      - ADSB_LON=${FEEDER_LON}
      - ADSB_URL=${ACARS_TAR_HOST}
    volumes:
      - "acars_run:/run/acars"
    tmpfs:
      - /database:exec,size=64M
      - /run:exec,size=64M
      - /var/log

  acars_router:
    image: ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/acars_router:latest
    tty: true
    container_name: acars_router
    restart: always
    environment:
      - TZ=${FEEDER_TZ}
      - AR_ENABLE_DEDUPE=true
      - AR_SEND_UDP_ACARS=acarshub:5550;feed.airframes.io:5550
      - AR_SEND_UDP_VDLM2=acarshub:5555
      - AR_SEND_TCP_VDLM2=feed.airframes.io:5553
      - AR_SEND_TCP_HFDL=feed.airframes.io:5556
      - AR_RECV_ZMQ_VDLM2=dumpvdl2:45555
    tmpfs:
      - /run:exec,size=64M
      - /var/log

Change the GAIN, FREQUENCIES, SERIAL, TZ, ADSB_LAT, ADSB_LON and AR_OVERRIDE_STATION_NAME to suit your environment.

With the above deployment:

  • JSON messages generated by acarsdec will be sent to acars_router via UDP.
  • acars_router will connect to dumpvdl2 via TCP/ZMQ and receive JSON messages.
  • acars_router will set your station ID on all messages.
  • acars_router will then output to acarshub.

Ports

All ports are configurable. By default, the following ports will be used:

Port Protocol Description
5550 UDP ACARS ingest. Clients will send ACARS data to this port via UDP.
5550 TCP ACARS ingest. Clients will send ACARS data to this port via TCP.
5555 UDP VDLM2 ingest. Clients will send VDLM2 data to this port via UDP.
5555 TCP VDLM2 ingest. Clients will send VDLM2 data to this port via TCP.
5556 UDP HFDL ingest. Clients will send HFDL data to this port via UDP.
5556 TCP HFDL ingest. Clients will send HFDL data to this port via TCP.
5557 UDP IMSL ingest. Clients will send IMSL data to this port via UDP.
5557 TCP IMSL ingest. Clients will send IMSL data to this port via TCP.
5558 UDP IRDM ingest. Clients will send IRDM data to this port via UDP.
5558 TCP IRDM ingest. Clients will send IRDM data to this port via TCP.
15550 TCP ACARS server. Can be used for other clients to connect and get messages
15555 TCP VDLM2 server. Can be used for other clients to connect and get messages
15556 TCP HFDL server. Can be used for other clients to connect and get messages
15557 TCP IMSL server. Can be used for other clients to connect and get messages
15558 TCP IRDM server. Can be used for other clients to connect and get messages
35550 ZMQ ACARS ingest. Clients will connect to this port and send ACARS messages over ZMQ
35555 ZMQ VDLM2 ingest. Clients will connect to this port and send VDLM2 messages over ZMQ
35556 ZMQ HFDL ingest. Clients will connect to this port and send HFDL messages over ZMQ
35557 ZMQ IMSL ingest. Clients will connect to this port and send IMSL messages over ZMQ
35558 ZMQ IRDM ingest. Clients will connect to this port and send IRDM messages over ZMQ
45550 ZMQ ACARS server. Can be used for other ZMQ clients to connect and get messages
45555 ZMQ VDLM2 server. Can be used for other ZMQ clients to connect and get messages
45556 ZMQ HFDL server. Can be used for other ZMQ clients to connect and get messages
45557 ZMQ IMSL server. Can be used for other ZMQ clients to connect and get messages
45558 ZMQ IRDM server. Can be used for other ZMQ clients to connect and get messages

If you want any port(s) to be exposed outside of the docker network, please be sure to append them to the ports section of the docker-compose.yml file.

Environment Variables

All env variables with SEND or RECV in them can have multiple destinations. Each destination should be separated by a ;. For example, SEND_UDP_ACARS=acarshub:5550;acarshub2:5550 will send UDP ACARS messages to both acarshub and acarshub2.

The nomenclature for the environment variables is as follows:

Nomenclature used in variable naming

Input/Inbound data

  • Receiver: ACARS router will connect out to a remote host and receive data from it. (TCP/ZMQ)
  • Listener: ACARS router will listen on a port for incoming data (UDP) or incoming connection based on socket type (TCP/ZMQ)

Output/Outbound data

  • Sender: ACARS router will connect out to a remote host and send data to it. (TCP/ZMQ)
  • Server: ACARS router will send data to a remote host (UDP) or listen for incoming connection (TCP/ZMQ) and send data to it.

Outbound data

Env Variable Command Line Switch Default Description
AR_SEND_UDP_ACARS --send-udp-acars unset UDP host:port to send ACARS messages to
AR_SEND_UDP_VDLM2 --send-udp-vdlm2 unset UDP host:port to send VDLM2 messages to
AR_SEND_UDP_HFDL --send-udp-hfdl unset UDP host:port to send HFDL messages to
AR_SEND_UDP_IMSL --send-udp-imsl unset UDP host:port to send IMSL messages to
AR_SEND_UDP_IRDM --send-udp-irdm unset UDP host:port to send IRDM messages to
AR_SEND_TCP_ACARS --send-tcp-acars unset TCP host:port to send ACARS messages to
AR_SEND_TCP_VDLM2 --send-tcp-vdlm2 unset TCP host:port to send VDLM2 messages to
AR_SEND_TCP_HFDL --send-tcp-hfdl unset TCP host:port to send HFDL messages to
AR_SEND_TCP_IMSL --send-tcp-imsl unset TCP host:port to send IMSL messages to
AR_SEND_TCP_IRDM --send-tcp-irdm unset TCP host:port to send IRDM messages to
AR_SERVE_TCP_ACARS --serve-tcp-acars 15550 TCP port to serve ACARS messages to
AR_SERVE_TCP_VDLM2 --serve-tcp-vdlm2 15555 TCP port to serve VDLM2 messages to
AR_SERVE_TCP_HFDL --serve-tcp-hfdl 15556 TCP port to serve HFDL messages to
AR_SERVE_TCP_IMSL --serve-tcp-imsl 15557 TCP port to serve IMSL messages to
AR_SERVE_TCP_IRDM --serve-tcp-irdm 15558 TCP port to serve IRDM messages to
AR_SERVE_ZMQ_ACARS --serve-zmq-acars 45550 ZMQ port to serve ACARS messages to
AR_SERVE_ZMQ_VDLM2 --serve-zmq-vdlm2 45555 ZMQ port to serve VDLM2 messages to
AR_SERVE_ZMQ_HFDL --serve-zmq-hfdl 45556 ZMQ port to serve HFDL messages to
AR_SERVE_ZMQ_IMSL --serve-zmq-imsl 45557 ZMQ port to serve IMSL messages to
AR_SERVE_ZMQ_IRDM --serve-zmq-irdm 45558 ZMQ port to serve IRDM messages to

Inbound data

Env Variable Command Line Switch Default Description
AR_RECV_ZMQ_ACARS --recv-zmq-acars unset ZMQ host:port to receive ACARS messages from
AR_RECV_ZMQ_VDLM2 --recv-zmq-vdlm2 unset ZMQ host:port to receive VDLM2 messages from
AR_RECV_ZMQ_HFDL --recv-zmq-hfdl unset ZMQ host:port to receive HFDL messages from
AR_RECV_ZMQ_IMSL --recv-zmq-imsl unset ZMQ host:port to receive IMSL messages from
AR_RECV_ZMQ_IRDM --recv-zmq-irdm unset ZMQ host:port to receive IRDM messages from
AR_RECV_TCP_ACARS --recv-tcp-acars unset TCP host:port to receive ACARS messages from
AR_RECV_TCP_VDLM2 --recv-tcp-vdlm2 unset TCP host:port to receive VDLM2 messages from
AR_RECV_TCP_HFDL --recv-tcp-hfdl unset TCP host:port to receive HFDL messages from
AR_RECV_TCP_IMSL --recv-tcp-imsl unset TCP host:port to receive IMSL messages from
AR_RECV_TCP_IRDM --recv-tcp-irdm unset TCP host:port to receive IRDM messages from
AR_LISTEN_TCP_ACARS --listen-tcp-acars 5550 TCP port to listen for ACARS messages from
AR_LISTEN_TCP_VDLM2 --listen-tcp-vdlm2 5555 TCP port to listen for VDLM2 messages from
AR_LISTEN_TCP_HFDL --listen-tcp-hfdl 5556 TCP port to listen for HFDL messages from
AR_LISTEN_TCP_IMSL --listen-tcp-imsl 5557 TCP port to listen for IMSL messages from
AR_LISTEN_TCP_IRDM --listen-tcp-irdm 5558 TCP port to listen for IRDM messages from
AR_LISTEN_UDP_ACARS --listen-udp-acars 5550 UDP port to listen for ACARS messages from
AR_LISTEN_UDP_VDLM2 --listen-udp-vdlm2 5555 UDP port to listen for VDLM2 messages from
AR_LISTEN_UDP_HFDL --listen-udp-hfdl 5556 UDP port to listen for HFDL messages from
AR_LISTEN_UDP_IMSL --listen-udp-imsl 5557 UDP port to listen for IMSL messages from
AR_LISTEN_UDP_IRDM --listen-udp-irdm 5558 UDP port to listen for IRDM messages from
AR_LISTEN_ZMQ_ACARS --listen-zmq-acars 35550 ZMQ port to listen for ACARS messages from
AR_LISTEN_ZMQ_VDLM2 --listen-zmq-vdlm2 35555 ZMQ port to listen for VDLM2 messages from
AR_LISTEN_ZMQ_HFDL --listen-zmq-hfdl 35556 ZMQ port to listen for HFDL messages from
AR_LISTEN_ZMQ_IMSL --listen-zmq-imsl 35557 ZMQ port to listen for IMSL messages from
AR_LISTEN_ZMQ_IRDM --listen-zmq-irdm 35558 ZMQ port to listen for IRDM messages from

General Options

Env Variable Command Line Switch Default Description
AR_VERBOSITY --verbose info Verbosity level. Valid values are debug, info, warning, error
AR_ENABLE_DEDUPE --enable-dedupe false Enable message deduplication. Valid values are true or false
AR_DEDUPE_WINDOW --dedupe-window 2 Window for how long a message will be considered a duplicate if the same message is received again.
AR_SKEW_WINDOW --skew-window 5 If a message is older then the skew window it will be automatically rejected, in seconds. If you are receiving only ACARS/VDLM2 1 or 2 seconds is a good value. With HFDL you will need to increase the window.
AR_MAX_UDP_PACKET_SIZE --max-udp-packet-size 60000 Maximum UDP packet size. Messages greater then this will be send in multiple parts
AR_ADD_PROXY_ID --add-proxy-id true Append to the message a header indicating that acars router processed the message
AR_OVERRIDE_STATION_NAME --override-station-name unset Change the station id field (identifying your station name for unstream clients) is set to this instead of what was in the message originally
AR_STATS_EVERY --stats-every 5 How often to print stats to the log in minutes
AR_STATS_VERBOSE --stats-verbose false Print verbose stats to the log
AR_REASSEMBLY_WINDOW --reassemble-window 1.0 If a message comes in, but part of the message is missing, this value will be used to keep the partial message fragment around while attempting to wait for the second (or subsequent) part(s)
AR_DISABLE_ACARS --disable-acars false Disable ACARS processing. Valid values are true or false
AR_DISABLE_VDLM2 --disable-vdlm false Disable VDLM processing. Valid values are true or false
AR_DISABLE_HFDL --disable-hfdl false Disable HFDL processing. Valid values are true or false
AR_DISABLE_IMSL --disable-imsl false Disable IMSL processing. Valid values are true or false
AR_DISABLE_IRDM --disable-irdm false Disable IRDM processing. Valid values are true or false