AllStar Favorites Management & Scanning Web App
See screenshot.png for an example of the AllScan GUI. AllScan is a free and open-source web app that provides Favorites Management features, AllStarLink Stats integration, and connection monitoring and control functions.
- Shows your favorites in a Dashboard summary table with Keyed status, Connected Node count and other statistics.
- Continually scans the status of each favorite using ASL's Stats API and shows which favorites are active and have recently been active.
- Allows favorites to be connected with a single click (optionally automatically disconnecting any currently connected nodes first).
- Allows the Favorites Table to be sorted by Node#, Name, Description, Location, etc.
- Favorites can be added/deleted simply by entering the node# and clicking a button.
These features finally give AllStar nodes similar memory management and scan capabilities that analog radios have had for decades. AllScan is mobile-friendly and optimized for ease of use on both small and large screens. AllScan follows the latest web development standards, with PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS cleanly partitioned, runs on both ASL and HamVOIP, and is simple to install, configure, and update.
AllScan supports multiple locations of the favorites.ini file. If no favorites.ini file is found AllScan will ask if you'd like to create the file and if so will copy the docs/favorites.ini.sample file to ./favorites.ini, which has a small list of nodes to get you started.
Prior to installing AllScan it is recommended that you have a working install of SuperMon or AllMon2. AllScan can automatically read their config files. Currently AllScan supports favorites.ini entries that refer to connecting to nodes eg. 'cmd[] = "rpt cmd %node% ilink 3 [node#]"' but may also support other types of commands in the future.
As AllScan receives data from the ASL stats server it updates the Favorites Table rows with color coded details showing the following:
Color codes for '#' column:
- Red: Node is keyed or was recently keyed (transmitting audio). Brighter shades indicate a higher percentage of time keyed over the past few minutes
- Medium Green: Node Active, Web-Transceiver enabled (may be more likely to accept connections)
- Dark Green: Node Active (registered and reporting to AllStarLink Network)
'Rx%' column: The remote node's reported TxTime divided by its Uptime, provides a general indication of how busy the node tends to be.
'LCnt' column: The reported number of Connected Links (ie. user nodes, hubs, bridges, or other links).
ASL's stats APIs are limited to 30 requests/minute per IP Address. AllScan uses a dynamic request timing algorithm to prevent exceeding this limit, even if multiple web clients are using AllScan on a node.
AllScan also implements User Authentication, User Account Administration, Login/Logout, User Settings and Cfg Management functions. After installing (or upgrading from pre-v0.45) AllScan will automatically create its Database and necessary tables, and when you first visit the allscan/ url will prompt you to create an Admin user account. By default, public (not logged-in) users will have Read-Only access and will be able to see the Connection Status and Favorites data, but will not be able to make changes or view any admin (Cfgs / Users) pages. To change this setting, Log in, click the "Cfgs" link, and edit the "Public Permission" parameter.
Additional screenshots: init.png cfgs.png users.png settings.png
Pro-tip: Multiple copies of AllScan can be installed on one node (server) if desired, each with their own separate configuration, Favorites, and/or different node numbers.
Ideally you should be using a recent (2021 or later) 2.0 Beta version of the ASL Distribution (available here) and you should have AllMon2 or Supermon properly configured and working. AllScan works fine on HamVOIP and pre-2.0 ASL releases but ASL 2.0 is the latest open-source standard and should have better support. The ASL team has been increasingly active in 2022-23 adding significant new features and bug fixes. It is highly recommended to make sure your node is running the latest 2.0 Beta ASL software. It is a fairly simple process to update existing nodes.
If you have Supermon already working, AllScan will need no additional configuration and will use the favorites.ini file in the supermon directory. See supermon-install.txt or the Supermon groups.io page for details on how to install Supermon. Confirm you are able to properly execute various functions in Supermon such as connecting and disconnecting remote nodes. Supermon is easy to set up and has some nice maintenance/debug features.
If you use Supermon2 instead of Supermon or want to put your favorites.ini file in some other folder, the favorites.ini search location(s) can be set on the AllScan Cfgs Page.
The AllScan Install/Update script automatically checks all system configuration details, changes to the web server root folder, checks if AllScan is already Installed and if so what version, and if not installed or a newer version is available will prompt you to continue with the Install/Update. Just enter 'y' and seconds later the install/update will be complete. If you prefer to install/update manually see the Manual Install / Update Instructions.
Log into your node by SSH and run the following commands:
cd ~
sudo rm AllScanInstallUpdate.php
wget 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/davidgsd/AllScan/main/AllScanInstallUpdate.php'
chmod 755 AllScanInstallUpdate.php
sudo ./AllScanInstallUpdate.php
The Install/Update script will provide detailed status messages on each step of the process. Once the update/install is complete it is recommended to delete the script ("rm AllScanInstallUpdate.php"). Then the next time you want to update just run the above commands again.
Now open a browser and go to your node's IP address followed by /allscan/, eg. http://192.168.1.23/allscan/ and be sure to add a bookmark in your browser.
If you did a new install or upgraded from pre-v0.45, AllScan will prompt you to create an admin account. Be sure to do this right after installing/upgrading. You can then configure the permission settings for AllScan. These default to Read-Only for public (not logged-in) users. This setting can be changed on the "Cfgs" page.
If you did an update, be sure to force a browser reload by pressing CTRL-[F5] or clearing your browser cache, or in mobile browsers do a long-press of the reload button, so your browser will load the updated JavaScript and CSS files.
NOTES for HamVOIP only:
- You may need to uncomment/add the following lines in /etc/php/php.ini (make sure they do not have a ';' in front)
extension=pdo_sqlite.so
extension=sqlite3.so - Then restart Lighttpd web server or restart the node
If you do not yet have a node or might like to upgrade your node, see the following Guides by AllScan's author NR9V:
How To - Build a High-Quality Radio-less AllStar Node for Under $100
How To - Build a High-Quality Full-Duplex AllStar Node for Under $150
How To - Build a Full-Duplex AllStar Node Using a Mobile Radio
AllScan nodes provide extensive features and excellent audio quality at a lower price than any other node on the market. They are easy to build by anyone with computer & electronics skills. I also provide kits and fully assembled & tested nodes at reasonable prices - see my Products Page for details.
Most nodes already have a number of Cfg files and to simplify the install process AllScan will try to use these rather than require redundant files/data to be created/entered. These files are as follows:
- astdb.txt: The ASL database file with the list of all nodes provisioned on the AllStarLink network. This file should already exist in ../supermon/astdb.txt or /var/log/asterisk/astdb.txt. If the file is not found it will be automatically downloaded into the allscan directory. If you have a properly configured node you should have a cron entry that downloads the latest astdb file at least once per week. AllScan shows the status of the above files and their last modification time in the status messages box (below the Favorites Table). If you see there is no recent astdb file (less than 1 week old) you should review your cron settings (which should have been configured when you installed ASL/AllMon and Supermon).
- allmon.ini: This defines your node number(s) and the Asterisk Manager credentials. It can usually be found in any of the following locations: ../supermon/allmon.ini, /etc/asterisk/allmon.ini.php or ../allmon2/allmon.ini.php. AllScan will search those locations in that order and use the first file found. If you see connection/stats error messages check those file locations and verify they have the correct data. If you have multiple Nodes defined in allmon.ini, AllScan will use the first Node# in the file. (A future version of AllScan may support multiple Node#s and allow these cfgs to be stored in AllScan's database.)
- global.inc: Cfg file in the supermon directory with user settings such as your name, call sign, node title, etc. AllScan will automatically import the following variables from global.inc if found: $CALL, $LOCATION, and $TITLE2. Otherwise, go to the AllScan Cfgs Page and enter your Call Sign, Location and Node Title parameters there. Once these parms have been imported or set AllScan will not read from global.inc again. The Call Sign and Location parameters are shown in the AllScan Page Header, and the Node Title parameter is shown in the Connection Status Table header.
- favorites.ini: The favorites file can be found in the supermon directory or in the allscan directory. Or if you have the file somewhere else (eg. ../supermon2/) you can set that location in the 'Favorites.ini Locations' Cfgs Parameter. If not found in any of those locations you will be prompted to create a new favorites.ini file in the allscan directory. A future version of AllScan will store the favorites in its database instead of in a file but will still support import/export functions.
All AllScan Cfg parameters can be viewed and set on the Cfgs page if you are logged in as an Admin user. Just click the 'Cfgs' link and all Cfgs are then shown along with an Edit form.
For any issues including directory/file permissions issues or issues with SQLite not being available it is recommended to first always run the update script. The script will check if you have the latest version of AllScan and update your install if not, and will validate all directory and file permissions and update/upgrade any out-of-date OS packages. Refer to the "Automatic Install / Update" section above and run the update script and then see if the issue was resolved.
HamVOIP users: See this Blog Post by KJ7T for detailed steps on how to enable the SQLite3 extension in php.ini.
If you have somehow corrupted your install and running the install/update script does not fix it, run "sudo rm -rf /etc/allscan /var/www/html/allscan /srv/http/allscan" to completely uninstall AllScan, and then run the installer again.
If you get a permissions error when trying to Add a Favorite, check that the /var/www/html/allscan and supermon dirs have 775 permissions and www-data group, and that the favorites.ini file exists in one or both directories and has 664 permissions and www-data as the group. These settings should already be that way if your Supermon install is properly working, or it would not be able to edit and save the favorites.ini file. But if not the following commands should correct the permission settings:
cd /var/www/html || cd /srv/http # Change to www root folder (works on ASL and HamVOIP)
cd supermon
sudo touch favorites.ini favorites.ini.bak
sudo chmod 664 favorites.ini favorites.ini.bak
sudo chmod 775 .
# For ASL set group to www-data
sudo chgrp www-data favorites.ini favorites.ini.bak .
# else for HamVOIP set group to http
# sudo chgrp http favorites.ini favorites.ini.bak .
A common fix for many issues is simply to reboot your node. You might be surprised how many issues end up being resolved with nothing more than a reboot. Nodes are complex systems running Linux and 100's of processes, and sometimes strange things happen and they need a reboot.
If you are still unable to get things working after trying the above, email me at the contact info below and provide as much detail as possible on the issue you see along with the following info:
- All messages shown when you run the install/update script.
- Directory listing of the web root folder and the allscan folder. Do this by running "cd /var/www/html; ls -la . allscan" (or for HamVOIP "cd /srv/http; ls -la . allscan").
If you have any questions email david at allscan.info. Also see AllScan.info, and the AllScan FB Group.
I have received many Thank You's and offers for a cup of coffee and other donations, which are much appreciated. I would also encourage contributions to AllStarLink.org, who have put in many years of work maintaining the free & open-source ASL ecosystem. See this link to donate to Allstarlink Inc. To contribute to AllScan feel free to send any amount by paypal or venmo to chc_media at yahoo.com. Even $5 does help cover web server expenses and enable me to spend more time on further development. Thank you for your support, and with helping spread the word about AllScan and ASL.
As of version 0.65, AllScan implements the main features I originally planned, and works very well for the use case of personal nodes that have one or two primary users and/or a small number of occasional other users. A future version of AllScan will add enhanced support for a larger number of simultaneous web-client users (which will require ASL stats caching so that numerous web-clients would not each be making separate ASL stats requests which would significantly slow down the stats scanning functions). However this is not a common use case and I have not had any requests to support this so it's not a current priority. AllScan will also at some point more fully support nodes with more than one node number eg. allowing the local node to be selected from a select box control, however this has also not yet been requested. Other changes planned:
- Enhanced Favorites management features, saving favorites in AllScan DB rather than in other folders, editing favorites text, reordering table. Enable auto update check such that AllScan will check once every few days to see if a new version is available and highlight the Update link if so
- Enhanced stats features, caching of stats data to AllScan DB
- Other features that are highly requested or that seem like a good fit
v0.75 2023-11-05
Update install/update script with changes from WA3WCO to support additional Linux versions, see github.com/Allan-N/ for details.
v0.74 2023-10-03
Support reading temp sensor on RPi2's. Readme updates.
v0.73 2023-08-23
Allow account email addresses from domain names with long suffixes. Add checks to prevent some possible "Undefined array key" PHP warning messages.
v0.72 2023-06-18
Add functions for checking free and total disk space, and log files > 50MB in size. Display this info in startup messages. Add _tools/checkFs.php script which can be called to delete any files in /var/log/ or /var/log/asterisk > 50MB in size. This is not called from AllScan but can be called from cron by running 'sudo crontab -e' and adding a line similar to "0 * * * * (/var/www/html/allscan/_tools/checkFs.php cron)" to the bottom of the file, to check for and delete excessively large log files once per hour. These features can help monitor free disk space and take corrective action if space is running low.
v0.71 2023-05-28
Fix php log notice on nodes/VMs with no temperature sensor. Optimize stats request timing for case when there are only a small number (<~5) of favorites in which case stats do not need to be read as often.
v0.70 2023-05-20
Implement retrieval of EchoLink node name/callsign data from AMI for display in the Favorites and Connection Status tables. Handle issue where astdb.txt file downloads (downloaded by AllMon/Supermon astdb.php script) can sometimes fail resulting in a 0 byte file. AllScan will now detect this, show a useful log message, check other file locations or download the file if needed.
v0.68 2023-03-25
Allow EchoLink Node #s to be Added to Favorites.
v0.67 2023-03-01
If Call, Location, and Title Cfgs have not yet been set and are read in from global.inc, validate those values before saving to AllScan's Cfgs. Prevents case of invalid text being read in from a global.inc file that was not yet configured. (Note that the global.inc Call, Location, and Title Cfgs are used only in the page header menu bar and are entirely separate from any User account settings.)
v0.66 2023-02-27
Fix issue where DTMF command function would not accept digits A-D. Note that for mobile browsers the Node#/Command text field is specified as inputmode="tel" so that a numeric keypad with large keys appears on phones, making it easier to type in node numbers. For a standard keyboard (supporting letters ie. A-D), delete the "inputmode="tel"" text from include/viewUtils.php line 35.
v0.65 2023-01-28
Fix issue where Connection Status table would not update after 'Restart Asterisk' button used.
v0.64 2023-01-26
Fix issue in v0.63 with creating new user accounts. Update Users page to allow Superusers to edit other Superuser accounts. Various optimizations.
v0.62 2023-01-25
Update handling of JS offline/online and EventSource error events to reinit EventSource and Stats functions rather than reload page. Update Favs table sort function to use case-insensitive string sort option.
v0.61 2023-01-24
Support 'Favorites.ini Locations' Cfgs setting. Optimizations to Favorites Add/Delete functions, support cases of blank or nonexistent files. Minor optimizations. Link Connection Status table node names to ASL stats page. Adjust Favs table highlight colors.
v0.59 2023-01-23
Support old PHP versions (< 7.3.x) setcookie function w/SameSite parameter. Fixes login issues in v0.53-0.58 on nodes with < PHP 7.3. Enable cookie options to be set with cookieSameSiteOpt and cookieUseRootPath variables in include/UserModel.php. Fix issue where allmon.ini search path used by API files could be different than used by main files. Add additional debug log messages during login process.
v0.56 2023-01-22
Optimizations to Keyed node status detection. ASL stats API data for many nodes shows a 0 stats.keyed value even when the node is in fact keyed. Testing revealed that stats.totalkeyups count and stats.totaltxtime are usually valid however and thus keyed status can be detected from changes in these values between stats requests. Implement moving average calculation of Tx activity level based on stats.keyed or total time keyed divided by elapsed time between the 2 most recent stats requests. The Favorites Table '#' column for each node is now highlighted in a variable shade of red corresponding to the average Tx activity over the past few minutes.
v0.53 2023-01-21
Performance optimizations. Fix issue that would cause an unnecessary database write on every page load/stats request for logged-in users. Fix JS console warning re. no SameSite cookie parameter. Specify AllScan's dir ($urlbase/) for cookie paths.
v0.52 2023-01-19
Minor bug fix: If after a new install or update an error was detected in dbInit(), an error would occur resulting in a blank page rather than normal page load and a useful error message being displayed.
v0.51 2023-01-18
Optimizations to Cfgs module. Add 'DiscBeforeConn Default' Cfg parameter which determines if the 'Disconnect Before Connect checkbox' is checked by default. To have the checkbox be Off by default, go to the Cfgs page and set 'DiscBeforeConn Default' to Off.
v0.50 2023-01-17
Add 'Node Stats' button. Implement Call Sign, Location and Node Title Cfgs, these are automatically imported from global.inc as before but once imported they are now managed on the Cfgs page and global.inc will no longer be read (unless these cfgs are later deleted). Fix issue where API files would require a logged in user prior to checking the 'Public Permission' cfg, resulting in Connection Status data not being shown for non-logged in users.
v0.49 2023-01-16
Add user authentication and permissions checks to all API files. Add DTMF command button. Updates and optimizations to installer/updater: Fix issue where updater would exit prior to completing all checks if install was up-to-date, provide more detail about all commands executed, prompt user before executing any apt-get/pacman update/upgrade actions.
v0.48 2023-01-11
Implement User Authentication, User Admin, Login/Logout, User Settings and Cfg Management functions. Major refactoring and additions. AllScan now defaults public (not logged-in) users to Read-Only access. This can be changed to None (no public access), Read/Modify, or to Full (no logins needed). Upon install of this version, AllScan will automatically verify the system configuration, create its Database and necessary tables, and when you first visit the allscan url it will prompt you to create an Admin user account, with detailed usage notes. Add additional log messages to dbUtils checkTables(). Change default order of possible allmon.ini locations to look in ../supermon/ prior to /etc/asterisk/ as supermon may be more likely to have valid AMI credentials. Update install/update script to update & upgrade OS packages (fixes issue seen on RPi4 w/latest ASL 2.0 where failed to find SQLite php extension).
v0.42 2023-01-08
JavaScript optimizations. Update page Title with node PTT/COS status to allow status to be seen when browser tab is not active.
v0.4 2023-01-02
Only show CPU Temp if data is available. Reduce favs table CSS cell padding from 4 to 3 px. Update InstallUpdate script to verify favorites.ini file in supermon dir is writeable by web server if dir exists. Readme updates. Minor optimizations. Add API to eventually support stats caching and additional stats features. Update CPU temp data once per minute.
v0.38 2022-12-24
For EchoLink nodes don't link node Name text to ASL stats page. Revise Green/Yellow CPU Temp range threshold from 120 to 130 °F. Support 7-digit (EchoLink) node numbers when reading in favorites.ini. Fix issue where stats request scanning would stop once it reached an EchoLink node number in the Favorites Table. Properly handle case of invalid node number in favorites file. Download ASTDB file if not found in allscan, allmon or supermon locations.
v0.35 2022-12-21
Optimize stats request timing to more quickly populate the favorites table after page load, then go to a reduced request rate over time, to reduce the chance of the ASL stats request limit (30 per minute) being exceeded if there are multiple AllScan web clients on a node. Link Favorites table Names text to the ASL stats page. Add default global.inc file docs/global.inc.sample and give user option to configure and save this to ./global.inc if file was not found in . or ../supermon/. Documentation updates. GUI optimizations. Add default favorites file docs/favorites.ini.sample and give user option to copy this to ./favorites.ini if file was not found in . or ../supermon/.
v0.3 2022-12-19
Implement ASL Stats functions, color coding of Favorites Table and new 'Rx%' and 'LCnt' columns. Enable automatic reading of astdb.txt file from allscan's directory or from ../supermon/ or /var/log/asterisk/. Enable automatic reading of allmon.ini file from allscan's directory or from /etc/asterisk/, ../supermon/, or ../allmon/allmon.ini.php. Show detailed messages on any issues found when trying to read various files.
v0.23 2022-12-18
Add print of astdb.txt file Last Update times. CSS optimizations. Add Asterisk Restart button. Improvements to log messages. Support Disconnect before Connect feature. This sends AMI an 'rpt cmd ilink 6' (Disconnect all links) command and waits 500mS before executing a Connect request, if 'Disconnect before Connect' checkbox is checked and any nodes are connected.
v0.2 2022-12-15
Add Asterisk API. Code refactoring. Add Message Stats div, set up JS functions to output detailed status and error messages during all event processing. Add info links and CPU temp display. Enable sortable columns on Favorites Table. GUI Updates.
v0.1 2022-12-13
Initial Commit.
Q: How can the Admin user password be reset?
A: If you have only one admin user defined (Superuser permission level) and lose the password, the only way to reset it is to delete the AllScan database file. This can be done by executing "sudo rm /etc/allscan/allscan.db" by SSH. This will delete ALL AllScan User accounts and Cfgs.
Q: Will AllScan at some point be able to directly scan nodes ie. by connecting to nodes in the Favorites list and scanning through the list until activity is found?
A: I had originally intended to implement such a feature but it turns out that it is not needed, and could cause issues. Unlike a radio which can scan any number of memory channels quickly and easily, making connections on AllStar requires IAX connections to be opened, which results in connection announcements on some nodes and systems. I would not want AllScan to be the cause of any annoyance to repeater system admins or users if frequent "Node X Connected" messages were broadcast every time an AllScan user enabled scanning. ASL's excellent statistics database and API enables AllScan to show highly reliable Tx & Rx activity stats without needing to directly connect to any nodes, and this has enabled my original goals for AllScan to be achieved in a simple way that does not result in any extra load being placed on other nodes.
Also, checking a list of nodes for activity can be done in a more direct way using the Local Monitor function. For example you could set up a 2nd node where you do a permanent Local Monitor connect to all nodes you want to monitor, and then monitor that on a separate frequency or with an IAX/SIP phone/app. You can then monitor the "monitoring" node and if you hear a call, a net or something else interesting then switch to your main node and connect to the active node there. This would be easy to set up. You probably wouldn't want to connect to more than a handful of nodes at a time in Local Monitor mode but it could be a good way to monitor 5 or so nodes simultaneously and not miss any activity. The 2nd node could even be a cloud Linux server with no node hardware needed. Just monitor it through a VOIP phone app such as "Linphone" or "GS Wave" which are excellent free SIP phone apps.
Q: What is the blinking icon for?
A: AllScan's blinking 'lighting bolt' icon is a status indicator similar the 'spinny' in supermon or the blinking asterisk ('*') in allmon, which toggles on/off as each Connection Status event message is received from the node (ie. from AllScan's astapi/server.php file who reads status info from a socket connection to Asterisk on the node and then forwards that data every 500mS to AllScan's JavaScript in the browser.) If it stops blinking that means there is a communication issue between the browser and your node.
Q: If I ever wanted to uninstall AllScan how can this be done?
A: To uninstall just delete the allscan folder in the web server root directory (/var/www/html/ on ASL or /srv/http/ on HamVOIP). cd to that folder, then execute "sudo rm -rf allscan" to delete the AllScan folder. AllScan also keeps a database file in /etc/allscan/ that can be deleted by executing "sudo rm -rf /etc/allscan".
Thanks to all ASL Developers. Thanks to KK6QMS, N6ATC, KJ7T, WA3WCO, and K5LK for help with Beta testing. And thanks to all repeater owners who have integrated AllStar.