EAS Station™ Setup Instructions

Quick Start

Installer (Recommended)

The interactive installer collects all required configuration up front and writes /opt/eas-station/.env for you:

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/KR8MER/eas-station.git
cd eas-station

# 2. Run the interactive installer
sudo bash install.sh

When the installer finishes, all services are running. Open https://your-server-ip and log in with the administrator account you created during installation.

Setup Wizard (Fine-Tuning)

After installation, the web-based setup wizard at https://your-server/setup lets you review and adjust configuration:

Navigate to: https://your-server/setup
Complete or adjust the configuration using the web interface
After saving, restart the affected services:

sudo systemctl restart eas-station-web eas-station-poller

Setup Wizard Features

The web-based setup wizard organizes configuration into seven collapsible sections instead of one long form. Location Settings and EAS Broadcast — the two every install needs — are open by default; everything else starts collapsed so hardware and streaming options you're not using don't get in the way. A section auto-expands if one of its fields fails validation, so an error is never hidden behind a collapsed header. A "Before you start" panel at the top explains what information to have ready before you begin.

Core Settings (collapsed by default)

SECRET_KEY and the four PostgreSQL connection fields — install.sh already configures these. Whenever a field already holds a valid value, the wizard blanks the input and shows "Already configured — leave blank to keep the current value" instead of re-displaying (or re-prompting for) something you never chose. Leaving it blank on save keeps the existing value; typing a new one replaces it.

Location Settings (open by default)

Timezone - Dropdown selection of US timezones
County / State - State code dropdown, county name
Zone Codes - Auto-derive from FIPS codes with one click

EAS Broadcast (open by default)

EAS Originator - Dropdown of FCC-authorized codes (WXR, EAS, CIV, PEP)
Station ID - Validated to 8 characters, no dashes
FIPS Codes - Authorized county codes for manual broadcasts, via an interactive state/county picker

Audio Ingest (collapsed by default)

Enable/disable SDR and ALSA capture sources

Icecast Streaming (collapsed by default)

Public hostname, ports, listener limits, and source/relay/admin passwords for streaming audio to remote listeners

Text-to-Speech (collapsed by default)

TTS Provider - Dropdown selection (pyttsx3, Azure, Azure OpenAI) and provider credentials

Hardware Integration (collapsed by default)

LED Sign - IP address configuration
VFD Display - Serial port configuration
OLED Module - I2C bus/address, panel size, and rotation

Troubleshooting

Configuration Not Persisting

If changes in the setup wizard don't persist after restarting:

Verify .env is a file, not a directory:

ls -la .env
# Should show: -rw-r--r-- (file), not drwxr-xr-x (directory)

Verify the application user can write to it:

ls -la /opt/eas-station/.env
sudo -u eas-station test -w /opt/eas-station/.env && echo writable

After saving configuration, restart the services:

sudo systemctl restart eas-station-web eas-station-poller

Manual Configuration (Advanced)

If you prefer to configure manually instead of using the web wizard:

# 1. Copy the example file
cp .env.example .env

# 2. Generate a secret key
python3 -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))"

# 3. Edit .env with your values
nano .env

# 4. Restart the services
sudo systemctl restart eas-station-web eas-station-poller

After Configuration

Once configured, the .env file will contain your settings. To modify:

Using the Setup Wizard (Recommended):
- Navigate to: http://localhost/setup
- Make changes
- Click "Save configuration"
Manually Editing .env:
- Edit the file: nano .env

Auto-Derive Zone Codes

The setup wizard can automatically derive NWS zone codes from FIPS county codes:

Enter FIPS codes in "Authorized FIPS Codes" field (e.g., 039001,039003)
Click "Auto-Derive" button next to "Default Zone Codes"
Zone codes will be populated automatically (e.g., OHZ001,OHC001)

This uses the existing county-to-zone mapping logic to save you from manual lookup.

Validation Features

The setup wizard validates your input:

SECRET_KEY: Minimum 32 characters
Station ID: Maximum 8 characters, no dashes. The wizard's EAS Broadcast field writes EAS_STATION_ID to .env; the Broadcast admin tab (/admin/eas_settings) writes the same value to eas_settings.station_id in the database instead. If both are set, the .env value wins — clear it if you want the database value (and the admin tab) to take effect.
DEFAULT_STATE_CODE: Must be valid 2-letter state abbreviation
Timezone: Must be valid IANA timezone
Port Numbers: Must be 1-65535

Clear error messages guide you to correct any issues.

Getting Help

GitHub Issues: https://github.com/KR8MER/eas-station/issues
Documentation: See the docs/ directory (start with docs/README.md)

Back to Documentation Index

This document is served from docs/guides/SETUP_INSTRUCTIONS.md.md in the EAS Station™ installation.