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Running WeeWX

WeeWX can be run either directly, or as a daemon. When first trying WeeWX, it is best to run it directly because you will be able to see sensor output and diagnostics, as well as log messages. Once everything is working properly, run it as a daemon.

Running directly

To run WeeWX directly, invoke the main program, weewxd. To stop it, type ctrl-c (press and hold the control key then hit the c key).

weewxd

Note

Depending on device permissions, you may need root permissions to communicate with the station hardware. If this is the case, use sudo: 

sudo weewxd

Note

If your configuration file is named something other than weewx.conf, or if it is in a non-standard place, then you will have to specify it explicitly on the command line. For example:

weewxd --config=/some/path/to/weewx.conf

If your weather station has a data logger, the program will start by downloading any data stored in the logger into the archive database. For some stations, such as the Davis Vantage with a couple of thousand records, this could take a minute or two.

WeeWX will then start monitoring live sensor data (also referred to as 'LOOP' data), printing a short version of the received data on standard output, about once every two seconds for a Vantage station, or considerably longer for some other stations.

Running as a daemon

For unattended operations it is best to have WeeWX run as a daemon, so that it is started automatically when the computer starts up.

If you installed WeeWX from DEB or RPM package, the daemon configuration is done automatically; the installer finishes with WeeWX running in the background.

For a pip install, you will have to configure the daemon yourself. See the section Run as a daemon in the pip quick start guide.

After the daemon is configured, use the tools appropriate to your operating system to start and stop WeeWX.

# For Linux systems that use systemd, e.g., Debian, Redhat, SUSE
sudo systemctl start weewx
sudo systemctl stop weewx

# For Linux systems that use SysV init, e.g., Slackware, Devuan, Puppy
sudo /etc/init.d/weewx start
sudo /etc/init.d/weewx stop

# For BSD systems, e.g., FreeBSD, OpenBSD
sudo service weewx start
sudo service weewx stop

# For macOS systems.
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.weewx.weewxd.plist
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.weewx.weewxd.plist

When weewxd runs in the background, you will not see sensor data or any other indication that it is running. However, there are several approaches you can take to see what's happening: