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acarsserv

Stores what acarsdec and dumpvdl2 decode into a SQLite database

What it does

Listens on a UDP port for the JSON messages acarsdec, dumpvdl2 and their relatives emit, and writes them into a SQLite database: message text, aircraft registration, flight number, timestamp and the station that heard it, with the reassembly of multi-part messages done on the way in.

Why you would want it

A decoder prints messages and forgets them. This is what turns a receiver into a record you can query -- how often an airframe passes, what a particular flight number sends, what was heard overnight. Because the result is an ordinary SQLite file, anything that speaks SQL can read it, which is a great deal more useful than a log file.

Before it will work

A decoder configured to send JSON to it -- acarsdec and dumpvdl2 both do. Somewhere to put the database file. Nothing else; it does not touch a radio.

How it installs

  • git (make) — https://github.com/TLeconte/acarsserv at a191e1f3eea3e476500333740a03c20b6933b3fd
  • build dependencies: build-essential, pkg-config, libsqlite3-dev
  • the project's build system has no install rule; the binaries listed below are copied into the prefix instead
  • Built from this commit in a Debian 13 container on 2026-08-28: make exits 0 with no flags at all and produces acarsserv. Re-tested with the permissive flags this catalog uses elsewhere and the result was the same, so none are carried -- a flag that is not needed is a claim that something is wrong with the code.

Binaries this produces:

  • acarsserv

Known problems

Upstream is archived and has not been touched since 2018-12-19. It still builds cleanly and still does what it says, and no one is going to fix it if that changes. The manifest's pin review is due annually and its real job is to notice a successor rather than a release. The database schema is fixed and undocumented beyond the source; treat the file as something to read rather than something to build a schema-dependent tool on. It listens on a UDP port with no authentication -- bind it to localhost unless you meant otherwise.

Keeping it current

  • probe: none
  • strategy: rebuild
  • Archived upstream, last commit 2018-12-19. There is nothing to probe and nothing will change. Watch for a successor rather than for a release -- the pin review is due annually and that is what it is due for.

Where to get help with the software itself

Thierry Leconte. The repository is archived, so issues are closed; GPL-2.0, read from LICENSE at the pinned commit.

Source: catalog/packages/acarsserv.yaml