BlueNode is an open-source monitoring, control, intelligence, and automatic-recovery dashboard for AllStarLink v3 nodes.
Status: 0.1.6-alpha.1 — alpha release for early testing. See validation status for completed lab checks and remaining limits before choosing a version to evaluate.
Development update — October 3, 2026: Dashboard work is continuing with more reliable sign-in and resume handling, searchable Recent Events, verified DTMF connect/disconnect shortcuts with local history, and 24-hour timestamps. These improvements are in the current source; the latest packaged release remains 0.1.6-alpha.1. Find Activity conversation-detection experiments are still being evaluated and are not included in this update. See the changelog.
Open On Air to browse short-lived invitations and find someone to talk with over AllStar.
New here? Learn what each dashboard item does →
Current dashboard with synthetic example observations. See Testing and radio-origin limits.
- Live AllStar, Asterisk, Internet, CPU, memory, disk, and uptime monitoring
- HEALTHY / DEGRADED / FAULT health states
- Connection/session tracking with friendly node names
- Passive backend local-RF and adjacent-peer telemetry with explicit attribution limits
- Cached callsign and registered-location enrichment for active remote nodes
- Cached layered diagnostics for LAN, gateway, DNS, Internet, and AllStar connectivity
- Verified connect/disconnect and explicit node switching, with failed-phase diagnostics
- Favorites shared across phone and PC through the monitored node; browser-local recent nodes
- Retained activity summaries and optional prolonged-activity notifications while the page is open
- Optional DODROPIN controls and read-only SkywarnPlus observations
- Event logging and incident correlation
- BlueNode Intelligence summaries and recommendations
- Automatic Asterisk recovery with verification, cooldown, and lockout protection
- Automated Operations status, persistent Maintenance Mode, and repeated-failure backoff
- Deliberate persistent Emergency Mode for high-attention operational views
- Passive Node Behavior and Network Courtesy monitoring with conservative operator-review thresholds
- Desktop/mobile web dashboard
- Preview and download a privacy-filtered troubleshooting report
- systemd startup and installer support
- Python standard library only
AllStarLink v3 (Debian/systemd), Python 3.11 or newer, Asterisk with rpt, systemd, sudo, and a Linux service user. SkywarnPlus is optional.
Download BlueNode Setup for Windows
Open the app, enter your node's address and Linux login, confirm your station, then click Install BlueNode and Open dashboard. No terminal commands or configuration-file editing. The app creates the private connection for you. Keep it open while using the dashboard. It also opens existing installations.
Requires Windows x64 and an existing working Debian 12 / ASL3 node with SSH and sudo access. It does not install ASL3 on a blank Pi. The alpha app is unsigned; Windows may show an unknown-publisher warning. No separate .NET installation is needed.
Windows walkthrough and help →
On an existing working Debian 12 / ASL3 node, open your SSH terminal and paste:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BlueKF0OZX/BlueNode/v0.1.6-alpha.1/install/bootstrap.sh | sudo bashThe installer detects local nodes, asks for your callsign and dashboard access, creates the service account, and prints your dashboard link after checking it. No configuration-file editing or second installer run is needed. Existing installations are checked and left unchanged unless you explicitly choose an update.
Step-by-step setup and help → · Read the downloader · Download this release
New installs keep automatic recovery off. Home-network access requires explicit confirmation and is for trusted networks only; SSH-only access is the default. Setup preserves Asterisk/radio configuration and does not restart Asterisk.
The public checkout includes shared BlueNode features and example settings. An operator's customized dashboard may contain integrations or behavior absent from this repository. See Public builds and local customizations before using another station's screenshot as an installation reference.
Start from the public checkout on a working ASL3 node:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install git python3 sudo iproute2 iputils-ping curl nano
git clone https://github.com/BlueKF0OZX/BlueNode.git
cd BlueNode
sudo useradd --system --user-group --home-dir /opt/nodesmart --no-create-home --shell /usr/sbin/nologin bluenode
sudo NODESMART_USER=bluenode bash ./install/install.shThe first run creates configuration and stops. Edit it with
sudo nano /opt/nodesmart/config/nodesmart.json, set your node number and
callsign, then rerun the installer with the same NODESMART_USER.
New installs listen on 127.0.0.1:8080 and leave automatic Asterisk recovery disabled. Choose a trusted LAN IPv4 listener deliberately, or use an SSH local forward. The installer does not change firewall/network settings or Asterisk/radio configuration and does not restart Asterisk.
Follow Installation for dashboard access, prerequisites, verification, optional integrations, updates, recovery, and troubleshooting. See Configuration for operator settings.
See Upgrade and rollback before updating an existing node. The separate maintainer deployment workflow requires an existing installed Git checkout.
Optional authenticated remote access is disabled by default. Its preparation,
security model, direct Apache mode, and provider-neutral tunnel guidance are in
docs/REMOTE_ACCESS.md.
Optional application-level Remote Admin is also disabled by default. It adds
expiring sessions, CSRF protection, fixed action/log allowlists, and a minimal
audit trail without exposing shell access. See docs/REMOTE_ADMIN.md for the
security model and safe initialization procedure.
Soft Radio is parked/disabled pending a verified read-only audio tap.
docs/SOFT_RADIO_RX.md records the experimental design and safety gates; it is
not part of new-user installation. Net Mode/NetMap remain deferred.
Emergency Mode reprioritizes existing health, connectivity, Skywarn, connected
node, Intelligence, incident, recovery, and event information without changing
radio or recovery behavior. See docs/EMERGENCY_MODE.md.
Node Behavior monitoring passively analyzes bounded recent telemetry for link
churn, unconfirmed connection attempts, extended or rapidly cycling local COR,
frequent controls, and repeated BlueNode recovery activity. It never performs
corrective actions. See docs/NODE_BEHAVIOR.md.
BlueNode installs a project-specific sudoers file with a root-owned command broker, fixed helpers, and an exact restart permission. Services run as an unprivileged account; application code is root-owned.
Authentication is disabled on a default installation. Keep the dashboard on loopback or a trusted network. Remote access requires deliberately configured authenticated HTTPS and application-level Remote Admin; see the linked guides.
SkywarnPlus observations require an existing installation at /usr/local/bin/SkywarnPlus/. BlueNode does not enable, disable, or execute SkywarnPlus.
Current Weather Alerts use an optional, version-checked observer of SkywarnPlus's
existing collection cycle. See Weather Alerts for the
explicit installation check, freshness rules and update compatibility. Without
the observer, alert telemetry is unavailable. Manage SkywarnPlus directly through its own tools.
The example friendly_nodes mapping includes 50241 to DODROPIN. Existing operator mappings are preserved. Node controls verify fresh App_Rpt state; unavailable observations do not count as successful connections. Manual controls do not depend on the online node directory.
config/ Example configuration
core/ Monitoring, health, intelligence, recovery, web backend
docs/ Installation and configuration documentation
install/ Installer, helpers, sudoers template
systemd/ Service template
web/ Dashboard
Runtime directories (events/, history/, logs/, state/) and the live config/nodesmart.json are ignored by Git.
This is an alpha release. Test it on a node you can access directly before relying on automatic recovery or remote controls.
For an initial evaluation, follow the early testing guide.
BlueNode was originally created and developed by BlueKF0OZX.
MIT. See LICENSE.