Installation Guide

Installation Guide

This guide is based on README.md and is intended for Docker Compose deployments.

Prerequisites

• A running ADS-B feeder station using one of: ultrafeeder, tar1090, dump1090[-fa], or readsb
• SBS output enabled on TCP port 30003
• Docker and Docker Compose available on the host

1. Create a Project Directory

If you are not adding Planefence to an existing stack:

sudo mkdir -p -m 0777 /opt/planefence
sudo chmod a+rwx /opt/planefence
cd /opt/planefence

Important note from README.md: if you are using adsb.im, place Planefence in its own directory (for example, /opt/planefence).

2. Get docker-compose.yml

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-planefence/main/docker-compose.yml > docker-compose.yml

3. First Container Start

• Update TZ in docker-compose.yml.
• Start Planefence:

docker compose up -d

• Watch logs:

docker logs -f planefence

On first start, warnings about missing planefence.config are expected.

4. Configure Planefence

Edit and rename the generated config template:

cd /opt/planefence
nano planefence-config/planefence.config.RENAME-and-EDIT-me
mv planefence-config/planefence.config.RENAME-and-EDIT-me planefence-config/planefence.config

Recreate the service:

docker compose up -d planefence --force-recreate

5. Optional Setup

• planefence-ignore.txt for filtering planes from Planefence
• airlinecodes.txt for custom flight-prefix-to-airline mapping
• Reverse proxy setup: see README-nginx-rev-proxy.md
• Screenshot support via screenshot service in docker-compose.yml
• OpenAIP layer by setting PF_OPENAIP_LAYER=ON with a valid PF_OPENAIPKEY

Restart and Update

Restart:

pushd /opt/planefence
docker compose up -d planefence --force-recreate
popd

Update image:

pushd /opt/planefence
docker compose pull planefence
docker compose up -d planefence
popd