Installing WeeWX¶

Required skills¶

In the world of open-source hobbyist software, WeeWX is pretty easy to install and configure. There are not many package dependencies, the configuration is simple, and this guide includes extensive instructions. There are thousands of people who have successfully done an install. However, there is no "point-and-click" interface, so you will have to do some manual configuring.

You should have the following skills:

The patience to read and follow this guide.
Willingness and ability to edit a configuration file.
Some familiarity with Linux or other Unix derivatives.
Ability to do simple Unix tasks such as changing file permissions and running commands.

No programming experience is necessary unless you wish to extend WeeWX. In this case, you should be comfortable programming in Python.

If you get stuck, there is a very active User's Group to help.

Installation overview¶

This is an outline of the process to install, configure, and run WeeWX:

Check the Hardware guide. This will let you know of any features, limitations, or quirks of your hardware. If your weather station is not in the guide, you will have to download the driver after you install WeeWX.
Install WeeWX. Use the step-by-step instructions in one of the installation methods.
If the driver for your hardware is not included with WeeWX, install the driver as explained in the installing a driver section.
Configure the hardware. This involves setting things like the onboard archive interval, rain bucket size, etc. You may have to follow directions given by your hardware manufacturer, or you may be able to use the utility weectl device.
Run WeeWX by launching the weewxd program, either directly, or as a daemon.
Customize the installation. Typically, this is done by changing settings in the WeeWX configuration file weewx.conf. For example, you might want to register your station, so it shows up on a world-wide map of WeeWX installations. To make changes to reports, see the Customization Guide.

Installation methods¶

There are several different ways to install WeeWX.

Installer	Systems	Best for...
Debian	including Ubuntu, Mint, Raspberry Pi OS, Devuan	This is the fastest and easiest way to get up and running. The Debian, Redhat, and SUSE package installers use apt, yum, and zypper, respectively. You will need root access to install and run.
Redhat	including Fedora, CentOS, Rocky
SUSE	including openSUSE
pip	any operating system	The pip installer will work on any operating system. Use this approach for macOS or one of the BSDs, or if you are using an older operating system. When used in a Python "virtual environment" (recommended), this approach is least likely to disturb other applications on your computer. This is also a good approach if you plan to do a lot of customization, or if you are developing a driver, skin, or other extension. Root access is not needed to install, but may be needed to run.
git	any operating system	If you want to install WeeWX on a system with very little storage, or if you want to experiment with code that is under development, then you may want to run directly from the WeeWX sources. Root access is not needed to install, but may be needed to run.

Installing a driver¶

If your hardware requires a driver that is not included with WeeWX, use the WeeWX extension management utility to download and install the driver.

First locate the driver for your hardware - start by looking in the drivers section of the WeeWX Wiki. You will need the URL for the driver release; the URL will refer to a zip or tgz file.

Then install the driver, using the driver's URL:

weectl extension install https://github.com/path/to/driver.zip

Finally, reconfigure WeeWX to use the driver:

weectl station reconfigure

See the documentation for weectl extension and weectl station for details.

Installing a skin, uploader or other extension¶

There are many skins and other extensions available that add features and functionality to the core WeeWX capabilities. Use the WeeWX extension management utility to download, install, and manage these extensions.

Start by looking in the extensions section of the WeeWX Wiki. When you find an extension you like, make note of the URL to that extension. The URL will refer to a zip or tgz file.

Then install the extension, using the URL:

weectl extension install https://github.com/path/to/extension.zip

Some extensions work with no further changes required. Others might require changes to the WeeWX configuration file, for example, login credentials required to upload data to an MQTT broker. If so, modify the WeeWX configuration file using a text editor such as nano, and see the extension documentation for details.

In most cases, you will then have to restart WeeWX.

See the documentation for weectl extension for details.