OUTDATED: Setup raspberry Pi as a camera server

System setup

Install Raspbian

• via MicroSD card reader, install Raspian image as described at this link. Use the lite version, as we don't really need desktop functionality and this frees up a lot of space.
• Enable ssh access, put MicroSD card into reader (Sarah has one) and add a file named ssh with no extension to the top directory (boot)

Configure hunstman user

• If accessing the pi locally, you can just use ssh [email protected] for the first login. Use default username and password: pi, raspberry
• Add user for huntsman: sudo adduser huntsman. If it asks for room number etc, just press enter until it asks if your information is correct.
• Add huntsman user to necessary groups for sudo and hardware access: sudo usermod -a -G sudo,dialout,plugdev,netdev,users,input,spi,i2c,gpio huntsman.
• Logout and login as huntsman.

Set hostname

• Change hostname: sudo nano /etc/hostname
• Also change hostname in here: sudo nano /etc/hosts
• Reboot to have hostname change take effect.

Security

• Delete default user account: sudo deluser pi
• Configure Fail2Ban and automatic security updates following the instructions in steps 3 & 4 in this link: http://kamilslab.com/2017/01/29/5-best-basic-security-tips-and-tricks-every-raspberry-pi-user-needs-to-take/
• To auto ssh into the Pi itself from e.g. the control computer, follow instructions at this link.
• Use ssh-copy-id to enable autologin to control computer.

Disable LEDs, unused systems

Edit /boot/config.txt (using, for example, sudo nano /boot/config.txt) and add the following to the end of the file:

# Huntsman Pi customisation for Raspberry Pi 3B+

# Disable HDMI to save power
hdmi_blanking=2

# Disable WiFi to save power
dtoverlay=disable-wifi

# Disable Bluetooth to save power
dtoverlay=disable-bt

# Disable ethernet port LEDs
dtparam=eth_led0=14
dtparam=eth_led1=14

# Disable activity LED
dtoverlay=act-led
dtparam=act_led_trigger=none
dtparam=act_led_activelow=off  

# Disable power LED
dtparam=pwr_led_trigger=none
dtparam=pwr_led_activelow=off

Note, some of these commands will differ for different types of Raspberry Pi (e.g. 3B+, 4B) and may require up to date firmware. The available options for the latest Raspbian firmware are documented here: https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/blob/master/boot/overlays/README

Camera server setup

Setting up a docker-less version

See this link.

Setting up a docker version

Install packages

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install git python3-pip byobu vim grc

Install drivers for ZWO cameras and filterwheels

Download and install SDKs here.

Set-up environment variables

echo -e "\n#HUNTSMAN-POCS" >> ~/.bashrc
echo "export PANDIR=/var/huntsman" >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export HUNTSMAN_POCS=$PANDIR/huntsman-pocs' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Install minimal Huntsman-POCS

sudo mkdir -p $PANDIR
sudo chown -R huntsman $PANDIR
cd $PANDIR
git clone https://github.com/AstroHuntsman/huntsman-pocs.git

Install and set-up docker

sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https ca-certificates software-properties-common -y
curl -fsSL get.docker.com -o get-docker.sh && sh get-docker.sh
sudo usermod -aG docker huntsman
sudo pip3 install docker-compose

Pull the camera docker image

docker pull huntsmanarray/camera:latest