Software Requirements

The next step is to install the Blockstream Satellite graphical user interface (GUI) and command-line interface (CLI) applications. Then, using either of the two interfaces, you can install the other software applications (the dependencies) required to configure and run your receiver.

Table of Contents

Software Installation

The user interface applications are provided within a single package called blockstream-satellite, which is available on multiple Linux distributions. Please follow the installation instructions according to your Linux distribution.

Ubuntu:

add-apt-repository ppa:blockstream/satellite
apt-get update
apt-get install blockstream-satellite

If command add-apt-repository is not available, install the software-properties-common package.

Fedora:

dnf copr enable blockstream/satellite
dnf install blockstream-satellite

If command dnf copr enable is not available, install the dnf-plugins-core package.

Debian:

add-apt-repository https://aptly.blockstream.com/satellite/debian/
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com \
    --recv-keys 87D07253F69E4CD8629B0A21A94A007EC9D4458C
apt-get update
apt-get install blockstream-satellite

Install gnupg, apt-transport-https, and software-properties-common, if necessary.

Raspberry Pi OS (formerly Raspbian):

add-apt-repository https://aptly.blockstream.com/satellite/raspbian/
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com \
    --recv-keys 87D07253F69E4CD8629B0A21A94A007EC9D4458C
apt-get update
apt-get install blockstream-satellite

Install gnupg, apt-transport-https, and software-properties-common, if necessary.

Alternatively, the CLI and GUI applications can be installed as Python3 packages fetched from the Python Package Index (PyPI). For more information, see the PyPI Python3 package installation section.

Receiver Configuration and Software Dependencies

Next, open the Blockstream Satellite GUI from the system applications menu or directly from the terminal by running the blocksat-gui application.

After opening it, the following home page should show up:

Note: When opening the GUI for the first time, it may ask for permission to complete some initial configurations. Complete those first, then proceed.

GUI home page

Next, navigate to the “Receiver” tab at the top bar and click on “Create Receiver Configuration.” After that, the configuration wizard will guide you through the remainder of the installation process, including the installation of software dependencies.

GUI Receiver Configuration

Finally, you can click on the “Run Receiver” button to start your receiver, as shown below. However, before doing so, make sure to connect the receiver appropriately, as discussed in the next section.

GUI Receiver Run

Further Information

Python3 Package Installation from PyPI

You can install the CLI and GUI as Python3 packages by running the following command:

sudo pip3 install blocksat-cli blocksat-gui

NOTE:

  1. The above command requires the Python3 package installer (pip3) application.

  2. If you prefer to install the CLI and GUI on your local user directory (without sudo) instead of installing it globally (with sudo), make sure to add ~/.local/bin/ to your path (e.g., with export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin/).

Receiver Configuration using the CLI

The same process described above can be achieved directly on the terminal using the CLI.

First, run the configuration helper:

blocksat-cli cfg

Then, install the required software dependencies:

blocksat-cli deps install

Once the above command completes successfully, you can move on to the next section, which discusses the receiver and host configuration.

Prev: Hardware Components - Next: Receiver Setup