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Core Cast Host Setup

The Core Cast host software is the application that runs on your remote SDR (e.g., a Raspberry Pi). Its job is to connect to your local soapyremote-server and create a secure SOCKS proxy tunnel to the main Core Cast server, allowing it to access your SDR.

There are two methods to run the host software:

  1. Recommended: systemd Service: (This guide) You build and install a .deb package that runs the host software as a reliable, auto-restarting background service.
  2. Manual: CLI: You run the script directly from your terminal, which is useful for development and testing.

This method bundles all scripts into a single Debian package that you can install, manage, and remove cleanly.

Prerequisites​

Before you begin, you must have the following tools installed on your host machine:

  • git
  • dpkg-deb (part of the dpkg package)
  • sshpass

You must also have soapyremote-server installed and running, as this script depends on it.

Step 1: Clone the Repository​

First, clone the Core Cast repository onto your host machine (the one with the SDR) and navigate into the host directory.

# Clone the main repository
git clone https://github.com/corecastsdr/corecast-host.git

# Navigate into the host build directory
cd corecast/host

Step 2: Build the .deb Package​

Run the included build script to create the package.

# Make the build script executable
chmod +x build.sh

# Run the script
./build.sh

If successful, this will create a new file named corecast-host-1.0.0.deb (or similar) in your current directory.

Step 3: Install the Package​

Install the package using dpkg. This will copy all the files to their correct locations, as defined in build.sh.

# Install the package
sudo dpkg -i corecast-host-1.0.0.deb

The installation script (postinst) will automatically create the corecast user, set permissions, and enable the systemd service.

Step 4: Configure the Service​

The service is now installed, but it won't start until you provide the configuration. The service is hardcoded to look for a file at /etc/corecast/.env.

  1. Create the directory:

    sudo mkdir -p /etc/corecast

  2. Create and edit the .env file:

    sudo nano /etc/corecast/.env

  3. Paste the following content into the file, using the example file as a guide. You must change these values.

    # /etc/corecast/.env

    # --- Server Connection ---
    # IP address of your main Core Cast server
    CORECAST_SERVER_IP=10.0.0.8

    # Port for the SSH server (from server's docker-compose.yml)
    CORECAST_SERVER_PORT=2222

    # SSH user (from server's .env file)
    CORECAST_SSH_USER=sdr_host

    # --- Local Soapy Server ---
    # The port your local soapyremote-server is running on
    SOAPY_SERVER_PORT=55132

    # --- Security ---
    # The password for the sdr_host (from server's .env file)
    CORECAST_SERVER_PASS=Your-Super-Secret-Password-From-Server

  4. Set secure permissions for this file:

    # Set the 'corecast' user as the owner
    sudo chown corecast:corecast /etc/corecast/.env

    # Make it readable only by the owner (the service)
    sudo chmod 600 /etc/corecast/.env

Step 5: Start the Service​

The package is installed and configured. Now, just start the service.

# Reload the systemd daemon (if you just installed)
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# Enable the service to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable corecast-host.service

# Start the service now
sudo systemctl start corecast-host.service

You can check its status at any time:

sudo systemctl status corecast-host.service

Method 2: Manual (CLI) Setup​

This method is ideal for development, testing, or for systems that don't use .deb packages. It runs the exact same script, but directly in your terminal.

Step 1: Clone the Repository​

Follow Step 1 from the method above to clone the repo and cd into the host directory.

Step 2: Configure​

The start_corecast_host.sh script is designed to auto-load a .env file from its own directory if it's not already running as a service.

  1. Find the example .env file in the repository (e.g., corecast-host.env.example).
  2. Copy it to the host directory and name it .env: 
    # Assuming you are in the corecast/host directory
    cp corecast-host.env.example .env
  3. Edit the .env file with your credentials: 
    nano .env
    Fill in the same variables as in Step 4 of the recommended method.

Step 3: Run the Script​

Make the script executable and run it.

# Make the script executable
chmod +x start_corecast_host.sh

# Run it!
./start_corecast_host.sh

The script will find the .env file, load the variables, check for the soapy_server, and then launch the SSH tunnel.

Alternative Run Command

You can also manually source the variables before running, which is useful for debugging. This is the command you provided:

source .env && ./start_corecast_host.sh