Minor issues in Container setup installation guide

[neverstoppedaskingwhy]

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• I've checked the how-to guides
• I've checked previous questions
• I've checked (recent) previous issues and their solutions
• I've checked the logfiles (when applicable)

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Help with installation or upgrade

Description

First of all, thanks for the continued work and maintenance on this project!
I'm testing the migration from 5.12.0 to 6.x and run into some issues.

• The command in the guide "sudo podman-compose systemd -a create-unit" results in an error: (with podman 4.3.1 on debian bookworm aarch64 )

"podman-compose: error: argument command: invalid choice: 'systemd'"

• At step 5 the guide asks to test with port 7777 although the github compose.yml maps the port 7777 to 80 and 7779 to 443

• For ser2net, the guide states entering the corresponding network settings in the data logger configuration. However no details are provided on how to do this.

When trying to use the compose.env file to enter the parameters for ser2net via ENV vars, these don't seem to be considered:

DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_INPUT_METHOD=ipv4
DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_NETWORK_HOST=host.containers.internal
DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_NETWORK_PORT=4000

Finally, after following through the guide (using :development branch for the container image) some issues remain:

Generally, database migration steps were performed OK. Containers start.

User UID: 1002
User GID: 1002
───────────────────────────────────────────────────
DSMR Reader version: 6.0rc12
DSMR Reader Docker version: development
...
[ OKAY ] svc-nginx | Webinterface socket ready
...

d93526416e7a 2026-02-14 11:03:08,730 ERROR    mixins       run_once                        105 | dsmr_datalogger.management.commands.dsmr_datalogger: [!] Exception raised. Traceback (most recent call last):
d93526416e7a   File "/opt/venv/lib/python3.14/site-packages/serial/serialposix.py", line 322, in open
d93526416e7a     self.fd = os.open(self.portstr, os.O_RDWR | os.O_NOCTTY | os.O_NONBLOCK)
d93526416e7a               ~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
d93526416e7a FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/dev/ttyUSB0'

--> in the compose.yml the 'devices' section is commented out, since I intend to use ser2net.
----> an attempt to start with device mapping results in tty/USB0 permission issue
user dsmrreader (1002) was added to dialout(20)

[ INFO ] init-devices | Mapped /dev/ttyUSB0 (gid=65534) -> add app to group nogroup
[ WARN ] init-devices | Could not chmod /dev/ttyUSB0 to 666
using podman version: 4.3.1
podman exec --interactive --tty dsmr sh
# ls -la /dev/ttyUSB0
crw-rw---- 1 nobody nogroup 188, 0 Feb 13 20:17 /dev/ttyUSB0
# id app
uid=1002(app) gid=1002(app) groups=1002(app),10(uucp),20(dialout),29(audio),65534(nogroup)

--> in the compose.env, DSMRREADER_BACKEND_HIBERNATE=True was set, to try DSMR with the restored backup first. Still the web interface is not responsive. An attempts to access the device via http on port 7777 (with correct mapping in compose.yml) shows a TCP connection is established, a GET / results in a TCP ack, but no response or force close of the port (RST,ACK from port 7777).

DSMR-reader version

6.01

DSMR-reader platform

Podman (e.g. default installation)

Optional: Debug info dump (of DSMR-reader)

Optional: Smart meter telegram

[dennissiemensma]

Thanks for the headsup!

The podman error is probably caused by a mismatch of versions. The guide is based on Trixi, which contains Podman 5.x. For older versions we'll have to look for a workaround, as I'm unable to test all combinations.

---

The remote datalogger settings are for remote datalogger, which is a bit of a different context. For reading ser2net you can use the webinterface Datalogger settings to configure it:

E.g. for me; http://192.168.178.50:7777/admin/dsmr_datalogger/dataloggersettings/1/change/

---

The device should not be needed anymore with ser2net. Any other issues you may want to share more logsd, e.g. if the webinterface does not work.

[neverstoppedaskingwhy]

Thanks for the feedback Dennis!
I just tried updating to the images pushed today (Build-date: 20260214-0807) but no change in the startup behavior.

When the web interface does not start / is not reachable, possibly due to the error of the missing ttyUSB0?, is there another way to (permanently) configure the use of ser2net?

[dennissiemensma]

What is the current config? You may omit the values of passwords etc.

Also, if you do not need ttyUSB0 then you can disable it. Maybe that fixes it as well.

[neverstoppedaskingwhy]

I did a clean install of trixi on the raspberrypi, this gets rid of the podman-compose systemd create-unit error.
cu / ser2net are working.
I'm now also running with uid 1001.

I tried again with empty user/password:
DSMRREADER_ADMIN_USER=
DSMRREADER_ADMIN_PASSWORD=

on startup the following is logged:

[ FAIL ] init-validate | DSMRREADER_ADMIN_USER is not set

I tried once more with trixi and new podman version to map the /dev/ttyUSB0, but setting permissions still fails.

I commented out the device mapping in the compose.yml

Also, I use the original port mapping 7777:80 / 7779:443 in the compose.yml

It seems without password, startup may not progress. No further log messages appear

[ FAIL ] init-validate | DSMRREADER_ADMIN_USER is not set
68239f98ff31 s6-rc: info: service init-container-secrets successfully started
68239f98ff31 s6-rc: warning: unable to start service init-validate: command exited 1
68239f98ff31
68239f98ff31 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
68239f98ff31
68239f98ff31 ___ ___ __ __ ___ ___ _
68239f98ff31 | / | / | _ \ | _ _ __ _ | |_ _ _
68239f98ff31 | |) __ \ |/| | / | / -) / _ / -) '|
68239f98ff31 |/|/| |||\ ||__,_,_||
68239f98ff31 __ _
68239f98ff31 | \ ___ | |___ _ _
68239f98ff31 | |) / _ / | / / -) '|
68239f98ff31 |/_/_|____||
68239f98ff31
68239f98ff31 DSMR-protocol reader, telegram data storage and
68239f98ff31 energy consumption visualizer.
68239f98ff31
68239f98ff31
68239f98ff31 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────68239f98ff31
68239f98ff31 User UID: 1001
68239f98ff31 User GID: 1001
68239f98ff31 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
68239f98ff31 DSMR Reader version: 6.0.1
68239f98ff31 DSMR Reader Docker version: 20260214.380
68239f98ff31 Build-date: 20260214-0846
68239f98ff31 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
68239f98ff31
[ INFO ] init-useradd | Setting up directories and permissions
68239f98ff31 s6-rc: info: service init-useradd successfully started
68239f98ff31 s6-rc: info: service init-datalogger-mode: starting
[ INFO ] init-datalogger-mode | Starting
[ OKAY ] init-datalogger-mode | Running as STANDALONE (local server + datalogger)
68239f98ff31 s6-rc: info: service init-datalogger-mode successfully started

[dennissiemensma]

What is your current compose config? You may omit the values of passwords etc.

[reinierkops]

Same here. I update to latest image, and webserver is not running anymore.

[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-start | Starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.440149274Z s6-rc: info: service legacy-cont-init successfully started
2026-02-16T16:51:45.444371783Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-start | Architecture: X64
2026-02-16T16:51:45.455061305Z s6-rc: info: service init-start successfully started
2026-02-16T16:51:45.455290906Z s6-rc: info: service init-validate: starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.455646806Z s6-rc: info: service init-useradd: starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.456004607Z s6-rc: info: service init-devices: starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.456340308Z s6-rc: info: service init-container-secrets: starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.471502640Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-validate | Starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.471533240Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-useradd | Starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.472087141Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-devices | Starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.472148541Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-devices | Checking tty devices (/dev/ttyUSB*, /dev/ttyAMA*, /dev/ttyACM*)
2026-02-16T16:51:45.473663444Z s6-rc: info: service init-devices successfully started
2026-02-16T16:51:45.475596448Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-validate | Operation mode: standalone
2026-02-16T16:51:45.479653357Z s6-rc: info: service init-container-secrets successfully started
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484271866Z
[ �[00;31mFAIL�[0m ] init-validate | Remote datalogger variables detected, but CONTAINER_RUN_MODE is 'standalone'
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484306866Z
[ �[00;31mFAIL�[0m ] init-validate | These variables are only valid when CONTAINER_RUN_MODE=remote_datalogger
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484467667Z
[ �[00;31mFAIL�[0m ] init-validate | Found: DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_SERIAL_PARITY
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484497667Z DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_NETWORK_PORT
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484505667Z DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_SERIAL_BAUDRATE
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484511867Z DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_INPUT_METHOD
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484517367Z DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_SERIAL_BYTESIZE
2026-02-16T16:51:45.484522767Z DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_NETWORK_HOST
2026-02-16T16:51:45.485277869Z s6-rc: warning: unable to start service init-validate: command exited 1
2026-02-16T16:51:45.499628999Z usermod: no changes
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502832805Z
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502862205Z ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502871205Z
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502876605Z ___ ___ __ __ ___ ___ _
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502882005Z | / | / | _ \ | _ _ __ _ | |_ _ _
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502888205Z | |) __ \ |/| | / | / -) / _ / -) '|
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502894605Z |/|/| |||\ ||__,_,_||
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502900505Z __ _
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502905705Z | \ ___ | |___ _ _
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502911105Z | |) / _ / | / / -) '|
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502916605Z |/_/_|____||
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502922305Z
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502927206Z DSMR-protocol reader, telegram data storage and
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502932406Z energy consumption visualizer.
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502937806Z
2026-02-16T16:51:45.502942706Z
2026-02-16T16:51:45.503192706Z ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
2026-02-16T16:51:45.507632515Z User UID: 1000
2026-02-16T16:51:45.511861724Z User GID: 1000
2026-02-16T16:51:45.511892224Z ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
2026-02-16T16:51:45.512096725Z DSMR Reader version: 6.0.1
2026-02-16T16:51:45.512108825Z DSMR Reader Docker version: 20260216.388
2026-02-16T16:51:45.512114325Z Build-date: 20260216-1130
2026-02-16T16:51:45.512196725Z ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
2026-02-16T16:51:45.512207325Z
2026-02-16T16:51:45.512473126Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-useradd | Setting up directories and permissions
2026-02-16T16:51:45.532216567Z s6-rc: info: service init-useradd successfully started
2026-02-16T16:51:45.532515768Z s6-rc: info: service init-datalogger-mode: starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.552784310Z
[ �[00;34mINFO�[0m ] init-datalogger-mode | Starting
2026-02-16T16:51:45.552957210Z
[ �[00;32mOKAY�[0m ] init-datalogger-mode | Running as STANDALONE (local server + datalogger)
2026-02-16T16:51:45.554276713Z s6-rc: info: service init-datalogger-mode successfully started

[reinierkops]

for me the fix was:

delete all DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_* variables, and restart container

[dennissiemensma]

@neverstoppedaskingwhy What is your current compose config? You may omit the values of passwords

[dennissiemensma]

I'll move this one to Discussions, Gituhb will copy all content and comments so far. Then I'll delete this one.

[xirixiz]

Hi, make sure to pull the latest v6 release. Earlier there was a validation done incorrectly of the DSMRREADER_REMOTE_DATALOGGER_* vars in combination with some CONTAINER_RUN_MODES. These issues have been confirmed as resolved with the latest build.

    DSMR Reader version: 6.0.1                   
    DSMR Reader Docker version: 20260218.407
    DSMR Reader Docker build-date: 20260218-0821