Greetings,
Is there any advantage to installing VNCSERVER?
The one I know of is the simplicity of cloning a uSD card. There is a “Copy SD Card” option.
Thank you!
Best regards,
Fred
What operating system do you want want to install VNCServer on?
When you ask “Is there any advantage …”, the obvious answer is: only if it’s useful to you.
1 Like
It would be installed on a RPi, specifically the one that PiAware is running on.
I do not know what I do not know, which happens to be universal. I guess filling in blank spots would be nice and I suspect others might have a clue as to what those blank spots are.
So I will rephrase my question:
Do you have VNCSERVER installed and running, and, if yes, how do you use it?
Thank you!
Best regards,
Fred
Bear in mind that VNCSERVER is only useful if the machine you want to look at remotely is running a graphical interface. The PiAware SD card image does not have a graphical interface, it has a command line interface. So if you are using the SD card image then VNCSERVER will not work. For remote access you will need to use SSH to get a command line shell.
Do you even know what VNC server does? VNC is a remote desktop software. It has nothing to do with uSD cloning.
I do use VNC server because my Pi is mounted outside on the building with no monitor hanging on it. VNC allow me to monitor and manage Pi without having to climb out there and plug a monitor and mouse and keyboard into my Pi.
Raspberry Pi OS with GUI has a menu item to clone the operational microSD card to anther microSD card plugged into USB port of the RPi through a card reader.
Above facility is lacking in SSH even if Raspi OS has GUI. This facility can be availed if
(1) Raspberry Pi OS has GUI
(2) a VNC server is installed on Pi
(3) a VNC Client is installed on Windows or Mac Desktop / Laptop.
Opening SD Card Copier from Accessories Menu
1 Like
Or Linux, or BSD. 
If you are asking me, I absolutely do know. I have a multitude of RPi’s performing various tasks. On several, I use the desktop. In fact, I used one of them to clone the SD card for my PiAware system to create a back up and to create a second PiAware for 978MHz.
The one advantage of using the RPi desktop is the SD Card Copier. Yes, it can be done using the CLI but it is not as simple.
I suspected that.
Thank you!
1 Like
It’s always way way easier to schedule a task on Pi and have it run on itself. A slight bit more work to set up, but almost 0 maintenance. VNC has way more use than just using the SD card copier. And do not ignore the constant 20% CPU usage from just idling the server. It will absolutely impact performance on any CPU intensive tasks.
Yes, you are right, it is possible, but not as simple as the “SD Card Copier” in accessories menu of Raspberry Pi OS with desktop (GUI).
Below is one CLI method I habe successfully used to clone a booted microSD card:
https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/how-i-created-a-4gb-backup-from-a-16gb-microsd-card/63632/17
1 Like
Apart from noting your unique user-id I’m not sure of any great advantage in backing up or cloning a system. Maybe if one has multiple feeds but reinstalling raspianOS then adding PiAware and dump1090 is very straightforward.
After updating system I think it is just 3 or 4 lines,
- Install repository
- Dump1090
- PiAware
4 configure user-id
Reboot and done.
When your SD card fails and
- You don’t have access to a computer* in order to burn an image to a new card and start over.
- You feed many different airplane-tracking websites and don’t want to spend time to look up each one’s website, find and run their script installations, then reset your latitude, longitude, altitude and feeder ID in each one.
- Due to the pandemic you can’t just run out and buy a new SD card anywhere but instead have to order it online then wait for shipping and delivery, which also take longer due to the pandemic, and you don’t want your feeder to be offline for days or weeks.
- You’ve spent a lot of time customizing your Pi’s system, UI and feeders and don’t want to have to do it all over again after a fresh install.
*Your desktop or laptop computer could be having problems due to an update or upgrade, have a hardware failure, got lost or stolen, you’re having your house or office painted or renovated so it’s packed and put away, you spilled a beverage on it… there are many reasons why you may be unable to burn a new image to an SD card due to a computer failure or unavailability.
1 Like
Take care to reset the feeder ID (in /var/cache/piaware) if cloning an existing install to run a second copy of it, or the server side will be confused about the identity/configuration of your feeders.
Take care to reset the feeder ID (in /var/cache/piaware) if cloning
Absolutely! I have two running at the moment, one for 1090 and the second for 978.
I am going to put a “combined” unit together for another location soon as well.
If feeding multiple sites, then sharing code/key of other sites should also be taken care of in following files if cloning an existing install to run a second copy of it:
FlightRadar24 key in file: /etc/fr24feed.ini
RadarBox24 key in file: /etc/rbfeeder.ini
AdsbExchange key in file: /etc/default/adsbexchange
PlaneFinder key in file: /etc/pfclient-config.json
Opensky-network by command sudo dpkg-reconfigure opensky-feeder
Guess much depends if one is a cup half full or cup half empty person. Not criticising back ups at all. All depends on one’s own system set up and of course users individual views as to time versus effort.
Geoff
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.