How did you set this up on your VPS? I looked at the source on GitHub but don't know the procedure to set it up on my VPS.
1. Purchased a VPS, I personally use Hetzner as I have had great experience with them for over 10 years. I opted for a datacenter outside of the country, in this case Finland, in the event there are network disruptions in the US. The thought was I could switch my hotspot to mobile data and still get onto the talkgroups I programmed into my hotspot.
I'm currently paying 3.85EUR/mo ($4.25/mo) for 2vCPU. 2GB RAM, 40GB SSD, and have a 20TB bandwidth limit. PLENTY to run the required software.
Eventually I will be mirroring the setup on my home server for a local link, and likely picking up another VPS somewhere for a third layer of redundancy. Once everything gets registered to an FQDN via Cloudflare, high availability will be configured so if one node goes down, another node picks up.
2. Download, configure, and install the P25Parrot software:
Bash:
Clone the repository:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp$ git clone https://github.com/g4klx/P25Clients.git
Cloning into 'P25Clients'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 3529, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (774/774), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (277/277), done.
remote: Total 3529 (delta 637), reused 499 (delta 497), pack-reused 2755 (from 1)
Receiving objects: 100% (3529/3529), 3.06 MiB | 7.48 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (2373/2373), done.
List the directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp$ ls
P25Clients
Change directory into the newly download folder:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp$ cd P25Clients/
List the directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/P25Clients$ ls
LICENCE Makefile P25Clients.sln P25Gateway P25Parrot README.md
Change directory into the P25Parrot directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/P25Clients$ cd P25Parrot/
List the directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/P25Clients/P25Parrot$ ls
Makefile P25Parrot.cpp P25Parrot.vcxproj.filters StopWatch.cpp Thread.h UDPSocket.cpp prebuild.cmd
Network.cpp P25Parrot.h Parrot.cpp StopWatch.h Timer.cpp UDPSocket.h
Network.h P25Parrot.vcxproj Parrot.h Thread.cpp Timer.h Version.h
Execute the "make" command to build the file. Note: you may need to install some additional libraries to configure
your build environment within Linux. The terminal will inform you what packages may be required and they
can be installed with "apt" (assuming you are running a Debian based distribution).
Additionally, there isa "prebuild.cmd" which can be used to generate a Windows binary for use on a
non-Linux server.
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/P25Clients/P25Parrot$ make
echo "const char *gitversion = \"72d92ee769c0c8ef43a5a73e8db003be48a44a4b\";" > GitVersion.h
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Network.o Network.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o P25Parrot.o P25Parrot.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Parrot.o Parrot.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o StopWatch.o StopWatch.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Thread.o Thread.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Timer.o Timer.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o UDPSocket.o UDPSocket.cpp
c++ Network.o P25Parrot.o Parrot.o StopWatch.o Thread.o Timer.o UDPSocket.o -g -O3 -Wall -std=c++0x -pthread -lpthread -o P25Parrot
List the directory and locate the newly created binary "P25Parrot":
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/P25Clients/P25Parrot$ ls
GitVersion.h Network.o P25Parrot.o Parrot.h StopWatch.o Timer.cpp UDPSocket.h
Makefile P25Parrot P25Parrot.vcxproj Parrot.o Thread.cpp Timer.h UDPSocket.o
Network.cpp P25Parrot.cpp P25Parrot.vcxproj.filters StopWatch.cpp Thread.h Timer.o Version.h
Network.h P25Parrot.h Parrot.cpp StopWatch.h Thread.o UDPSocket.cpp prebuild.cmd
Enable execution permissions on "P25Parrot" binary:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/P25Clients/P25Parrot$ chmod +x P25Parrot
Start the P25Parrot binary and bind it to UDP port 41001. You can pass any port you would like
here, in my experience with Pi-Star, UDP ports in the 41000-41010 range are already configured to
be open. You will also need to ensure your VPS is setup to allow UDP traffic inbound/outbound on
the designated port:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/P25Clients/P25Parrot$ ./P25Parrot 41001
Opening P25 network connection
Opening UDP port on 41001
Starting P25Parrot-20240129
3. I followed this YouTube video to learn how to manually add a talkgroup to Pi-Star:
. This video is 6-years old, but the content is still generally relevant.
4. Downloaded, configured, and installed the P25Reflector software:
GitHub - nostar/DVReflectors: NXDN, P25, and YSF reflector software
Bash:
Clone the repository:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp$ git clone https://github.com/nostar/DVReflectors
Cloning into 'DVReflectors'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 91, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (11/11), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (6/6), done.
remote: Total 91 (delta 6), reused 5 (delta 5), pack-reused 80 (from 1)
Receiving objects: 100% (91/91), 1.02 MiB | 5.61 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (44/44), done.
List the directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp# ls
DVReflectors P25Clients
Change directory into the newly downloaded folder:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp$ cd DVReflectors/
List the directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors$ ls
LICENCE NXDNReflector P25Reflector README.md YSFReflector
Change directory into the P25Reflector directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors$ cd P25Reflector/
List the directory:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors/P25Reflector$ ls
Conf.cpp Log.cpp Network.cpp P25Reflector.sh Thread.cpp UDPSocket.h
Conf.h Log.h Network.h P25Reflector.vcxproj Thread.h Utils.cpp
DMRIds.dat Makefile P25Reflector.cpp P25Reflector.vcxproj.filters Timer.cpp Utils.h
DMRLookup.cpp Mutex.cpp P25Reflector.h StopWatch.cpp Timer.h Version.h
DMRLookup.h Mutex.h P25Reflector.ini StopWatch.h UDPSocket.cpp
Verify P25Reflector.ini matches the following:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors/P25Reflector$ nano P25Reflector.ini
[Output will be shown in a new screen]
[General]
Daemon=1
[Id Lookup]
Name=DMRIds.dat
Time=24
[Log]
# Logging levels, 0=No logging
DisplayLevel=1
FileLevel=1
FilePath=.
FileRoot=P25Reflector
FileRotate=1
[Network]
Port=41000
Debug=0
* Press CTRL+X to return to the terminal *
Execute the "make" command to build the file. Note: you may need to install some additional libraries to configure
your build environment within Linux. The terminal will inform you what packages may be required and they
can be installed with "apt" (assuming you are running a Debian based distribution).
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors/P25Reflector$ make
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Conf.o Conf.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o DMRLookup.o DMRLookup.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Log.o Log.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Mutex.o Mutex.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Network.o Network.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o P25Reflector.o P25Reflector.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o StopWatch.o StopWatch.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Thread.o Thread.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Timer.o Timer.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o UDPSocket.o UDPSocket.cpp
c++ -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -c -o Utils.o Utils.cpp
c++ Conf.o DMRLookup.o Log.o Mutex.o Network.o P25Reflector.o StopWatch.o Thread.o Timer.o UDPSocket.o Utils.o -g -O3 -Wall -DHAVE_LOG_H -DUDP_SOCKET_MAX=2 -std=c++0x -pthread -lpthread -o P25Reflector
List the directory and locate the newly created binary "P25Gateway":
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors/P25Reflector$ ls
Conf.cpp Log.cpp Network.cpp P25Reflector.o Thread.cpp UDPSocket.h
Conf.h Log.h Network.h P25Reflector.sh Thread.h UDPSocket.o
Conf.o Log.o Network.o P25Reflector.vcxproj Thread.o Utils.cpp
DMRIds.dat Makefile P25Reflector P25Reflector.vcxproj.filters Timer.cpp Utils.h
DMRLookup.cpp Mutex.cpp P25Reflector.cpp StopWatch.cpp Timer.h Utils.o
DMRLookup.h Mutex.h P25Reflector.h StopWatch.h Timer.o Version.h
DMRLookup.o Mutex.o P25Reflector.ini StopWatch.o UDPSocket.cpp
Enable execution permissions on "P25Reflector" binary:
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors/P25Reflector$ chmod +x P25Reflector
Start the reflector with the settings from the local P25Reflector.ini. You might need to elevate and execute the start command as the root user depending on your setup.
user@computer:/mnt/c/temp/DVReflectors/P25Reflector$ ./P25Reflector start /etc/P25Reflector.ini
I: 2024-08-19 14:32:32.941 Opening P25 network connection
I: 2024-08-19 14:32:32.941 Opening UDP port on 41000
I: 2024-08-19 14:32:32.941 Loaded 2 Ids to the callsign lookup table
M: 2024-08-19 14:32:32.941 Starting P25Reflector-20210912
I: 2024-08-19 14:32:32.941 Started the DMR Id lookup reload thread
M: 2024-08-19 14:32:36.109 Adding [Pi-Star-Name] ([Remote-IP]:[Remote Port) <-- When a hotspot associates with your server, you will see it link here.
That's about as basic of a setup as you can get. I recommend using software like "screen" or "tmux" to run the software in the background. I personally use "screen."
To start a new screen and keep P25Parrot running:
- $ screen -d -m -s parrot
- $ screen -r parrot
- <navigate to the P25Parrot directory, and start the binary with the commands above>
- ctrl A+D to disconnect from the screen
To start a new screen and keep P25Reflector running:
- $ screen -d -m -s reflector
- $ screen -r reflector
- <navigate to the P25Reflector directory, and start the binary with the commands above>
- ctrl A+D to disconnect from the screen
I hope that helps point you in the right direction. I chose a Linux based setup, but both binaries will compile in a Windows environment and can be installed as services to run in the background with the right tools.
I run it locally on a Pi 3B+. At some point I'll move it to the cloud.
You have to install DVSwitch server, then compile and add P25Reflector. In addition, if you plan on having a listed reflector, you have to request it from Jonathan/G4KLX's github page. If you're doing a private reflector, you just have to edit the P25HostsLocal.txt file on the pi-star client (or whatever they maybe be using, like Quantar-Bridge) of each user participating. If public/listed, you need to send him this info:
Ref# (pick an unused number)
IP address or host/domain
Port # (usually 41000)
If you do decide to do a private one, probably a good idea to let Jonathan know so he doesn't issue the number publicly to somebody else.
This is all spot-on advice, I wanted my reflector to be as private as possible, so I chose an obscure number and just went with it. If it gets assigned I'll end up choosing a new one. I think the odds of my talkgroup ID number being used are pretty slim. If I'm not mistaken (and there's a good change I am) Motorola talkgroups can be 000000-999999 (maybe there's one less digit, I don't recall), but that should be 10^6 giving 1,000,000 distinct possibilities.
