Installing

Raspberry Pi images

You only need a micro SD card (minimum 8GB, recommended 16GB) and a computer with an SD card reader.

  • Download your preferred OpenPlotter edition from the Raspberry Pi images section in Downloading chapter.

  • Download and install the Raspberry Pi Imager program for your OS.

  • Put the SD card you will use with your Raspberry Pi into the SD card reader and run Raspberry Pi Imager.

  • Click on CHOOSE OS and then on Use custom:

../_images/imager.png

  • Select the file of your OpenPlotter edition (you do not need to unzip it).

  • Click on CHOOSE STORAGE and select your SD card.

  • Click on WRITE and take a coffe.

  • Remove the SD card from the reader, insert it into the Raspberry Pi and you are done.

Unless you are using the OpenPlotter À la Carte edition, after the first boot you should customize and localize your system changing some important settings like the password or the system language. You can do this in Main ‣ Preferences ‣ Raspberry Pi configuration.

../_images/configuration.png

Danger

You MUST change the default password for the user pi. Otherwise, anyone will be able to access your system easily.

Headless

If you are using the OpenPlotter Headless edition, you should see the SSID of the access point after a few seconds of inserting the SD into the Raspberry and turning it on.

These are the access data to connect remotely to OpenPlotter when you use this headless edition:

Access Point
SSID:

openplotter

Password:

12345678

IP
IP:

10.10.10.1

Address:

openplotter.local

SSH
Command:

ssh pi@openplotter.local

Password:

raspberry

Remote desktop
Address:

openplotter.local

Port:

5900

User:

pi

Password:

raspberry

Danger

You MUST change the default access point password using the OpenPlotter Network app. Otherwise, anyone will be able to access your system easily.

Note

Using OpenPlotter À la Carte edition you will be able to configure all these parameters and more by filling in a form before downloading your custom OpenPlotter.

Backups

Once you are satisfied with your final setup, it is highly recommended to make a backup to replace the SD card in case it gets damaged. This is especially recommended if we have installed a paid nautical chart because if we have to reinstall the system, we will surely lose the license.

Raspberry Pi OS incorporates an excellent application to make a backup of the entire SD card called SD Card copier that you can find in Main ‣ Accessories

../_images/sdCardCopier.png

You will need to connect an external USB card reader with a new SD card the same size or larger than the internal one. In Copy From Device field you should select the internal card (something like /dev/mmcblk0) and in Copy To Device field you should select the external card. The name of the external reader may vary, connect and disconnect the external reader several times to be sure which name appears and disappears.

Important

DO NOT check the option New Partition UUIDs. Some programs require the original and the copy to be exactly the same in order to function properly.

Desktop and laptop

Danger

Each new version of OpenPlotter should only be installed on the indicated system. OpenPlotter v3 will work only on Debian 11 Bullseye, Ubuntu 20.04 Focal, Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy or any of their derivatives. If you try to force an installation of OpenPlotter v3 over OpenPlotter v2 (based on Debian 10 Buster), your system will become unstable.

First of all you have to install some dependencies. Open a terminal and type:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-wxgtk4.0 python3-ujson python3-pyudev vlc matchbox-keyboard

Now you have to install the OpenPlotter Settings app from the .deb file you will found in Desktop and laptop section in Downloading chapter

After downloading the .deb file, you can install it by double click or typing this in a terminal replacing x.x.x-stable by your version:

sudo dpkg -i openplotter-settings_x.x.x-stable.deb

And that’s all. Open OpenPlotter Settings app typing this in a terminal:

openplotter-settings

You have to install the rest of OpenPlotter apps from this app. Read the Settings chapter to learn how.

Every time OpenPlotter needs to perform an action that requires administrator permission, it will ask for the password. To avoid having to continuously enter your administrator password you can add your user to the sudoers list. Do this only if you know what you are doing:

sudo visudo

Add this line to the end of the document replacing myuser by your user name and save:

myuser ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL