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Installation on Debian systems

This is a guide to installing WeeWX from a DEB package on systems based on Debian, including Ubuntu, Mint, and Raspberry Pi OS.

WeeWX V5 requires Python 3.6 or greater, which is only available as a Debian package, with required modules, on Debian 10 or later. For older systems, install Python 3 then install WeeWX using pip.

Configure apt

The first time you install WeeWX, you must configure apt so that it will trust weewx.com, and know where to find the WeeWX releases.

  1. Tell your system to trust weewx.com.

    sudo apt install -y wget gnupg
wget -qO - https://weewx.com/keys.html | \
    sudo gpg --dearmor --output /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/weewx.gpg

  2. Tell apt where to find the WeeWX repository.

    echo "deb [arch=all] https://weewx.com/apt/python3 buster main" | \
    sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/weewx.list

Install

Use apt to install WeeWX. The installer will prompt for a location, latitude/longitude, altitude, station type, and parameters specific to your station hardware. When you are done, WeeWX will be running in the background.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install weewx

Verify

After about 5 minutes (the exact length of time depends on your archive interval), copy the following and paste into a web browser. You should see your station information and data.

/var/www/html/weewx/index.html

If things are not working as you think they should, check the status: 

sudo systemctl status weewx
and check the system log: 
sudo journalctl -u weewx
See the Troubleshooting section of the User's guide for more help.

Configure

If you chose the simulator as your station type, then at some point you will probably want to switch to using real hardware. This is how to reconfigure.

# Stop the daemon
sudo systemctl stop weewx
# Reconfigure to use your hardware
weectl station reconfigure
# Delete the old database
rm /var/lib/weewx/weewx.sdb
# Start the daemon
sudo systemctl start weewx

Customize

To enable uploads, or to enable other reports, modify the configuration file /etc/weewx/weewx.conf using any text editor such as nano:

nano /etc/weewx/weewx.conf

The reference Application options contains an extensive list of the configuration options, with explanations for what they do. For more advanced customization, see the Customization Guide, as well as the reference Skin options.

To install new skins, drivers, or other extensions, use the extension utility.

WeeWX must be restarted for the changes to take effect. 

sudo systemctl restart weewx

Upgrade

Upgrade to the latest version like this:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install weewx

The upgrade process will only upgrade the WeeWX software; it does not modify the configuration file, database, or any extensions you may have installed.

If modifications have been made to the configuration file or the skins that come with WeeWX, you will be prompted whether you want to keep the existing, modified files, or accept the new files. Either way, a copy of the option you did not choose will be saved.

For example, if /etc/weewx/weewx.conf was modified, you will see a message something like this:

Configuration file `/etc/weewx/weewx.conf'
  ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
  ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
  What would you like to do about it ?  Your options are:
            Y or I  : install the package maintainer's version
            N or O  : keep your currently-installed version
              D     : show the differences between the versions
              Z     : start a shell to examine the situation
         The default action is to keep your current version.
*** weewx.conf (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?

Choosing Y or I (install the new version) will place the old configuration in /etc/weewx/weewx.conf.dpkg-old, where it can be compared with the new version in /etc/weewx/weewx.conf.

Choosing N or O (keep the current version) will place the new configuration in /etc/weewx/weewx.conf.X.Y.Z, where X.Y.Z is the new version number. It can then be compared with your old version which will be in /etc/weewx/weewx.conf.

Note

In most cases you should choose N (the default). Since WeeWX releases are almost always backward-compatible with configuration files and skins, choosing to keep the currently-installed version will ensure that your system works as it did before the upgrade. After the upgrade, you can compare the new files to your existing, operational files at your leisure.

Uninstall

To uninstall WeeWX, but retain configuration files and data:

sudo apt remove weewx

To uninstall WeeWX, deleting configuration files but retaining data:

sudo apt purge weewx

When you use apt to uninstall WeeWX, it does not touch WeeWX data, logs, or any changes you might have made to the WeeWX configuration. It also leaves the weewx user, because data and configuration files were owned by that user. To remove every trace of WeeWX:

sudo apt purge weewx
sudo rm -r /var/www/html/weewx
sudo rm -r /var/lib/weewx
sudo rm -r /etc/weewx
sudo rm /etc/default/weewx
sudo gpasswd -d $USER weewx
sudo userdel weewx
sudo groupdel weewx
sudo rm /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/weewx.gpg
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/weewx.list