ChirpStack for OptixEdge

Deploy ChirpStack LoRaWAN Network Server (v4) on Rockwell Automation OptixEdge devices using Portainer.

Quick Start

1. In Portainer, navigate to Stacks → Add stack
2. Name your stack (e.g., chirpstack)
3. Choose one of:
   • Repository: https://github.com/asqi-carter/chirpstack-docker-Optix-Edge
   • Web editor: Paste the contents of docker-compose.yml
4. Add optional env vars seen in .env.example
5. Click Deploy the stack
6. Wait for config-init to complete (shows "Exited" status)
7. chirpstack-service will have some mqtt log errors on first deployment. stop and start the Portainer stack after first deployment to resolve
8. Access ChirpStack at http://<optixedge-ip>:8080

Default credentials:

• Username: admin
• Password: admin

How This Works

This setup is optimized for OptixEdge devices, which restrict direct host filesystem access through Portainer.

Traditional ChirpStack Docker deployments mount configuration files directly from the host. Since OptixEdge doesn't allow this, we use a different approach:

The config-init service:

1. Runs once during deployment
2. Clones the official ChirpStack Docker repository
3. Copies all configuration files to Docker volumes
4. Auto-generates your API secret
5. Exits (showing "Exited" status is normal)

This gives you:

• All upstream ChirpStack configurations automatically
• No manual file management
• Works within OptixEdge/Portainer constraints
• Stays synchronized with official releases

Configuration files persist in Docker volumes and are reused on subsequent starts.

Configuration (Optional)

All env vars are optional.

To customize, add environment variables in Portainer when deploying the stack:

Variable	Default	Description
CHIRPSTACK_API_SECRET	auto-generated	Override the auto-generated API secret
CHIRPSTACK_REGION	eu868	LoRaWAN region for gateway bridge
CHIRPSTACK_NETWORK_ID	000000	LoRaWAN Network ID (3 bytes hex)
CHIRPSTACK_HTTP_PORT	8080	Web UI port
GATEWAY_UDP_PORT	1700	Semtech UDP gateway port
GATEWAY_BASICSTATION_PORT	3001	BasicStation gateway port

Supported Regions

Region	Description
eu868	Europe 863-870 MHz
us915_0 - us915_7	United States (sub-bands)
au915_0 - au915_7	Australia (sub-bands)
as923, as923_2, as923_3, as923_4	Asia Pacific
cn470_0 - cn470_11	China (sub-bands)
in865	India
kr920	South Korea
ru864	Russia
cn779	China 779 MHz
eu433	Europe 433 MHz
ism2400	ISM 2.4 GHz

Connect a Gateway

Semtech UDP Packet Forwarder

Configure your gateway with:

• Server address: <optixedge-ip>
• Server port: 1700

Example gateway configuration:

{
  "gateway_conf": {
    "server_address": "192.168.1.100",
    "serv_port_up": 1700,
    "serv_port_down": 1700
  }
}

ChirpStack MQTT Forwarder

If your gateway runs ChirpStack Gateway Bridge or MQTT Forwarder:

[integration.mqtt]
server="tcp://<optixedge-ip>:1883"

Ensure the topic_prefix matches your CHIRPSTACK_REGION setting.

Importing device repository

Import pre-configured device profiles from The Things Network's lorawan-devices repository:

1. In Portainer, go to Containers
2. Click chirpstack-server
3. Click Console → select /bin/sh as command and root as user
4. Click Connect
5. Run:

apk add --no-cache git && \
git clone https://github.com/brocaar/lorawan-devices /tmp/lorawan-devices && \
chirpstack -c /etc/chirpstack import-legacy-lorawan-devices-repository -d /tmp/lorawan-devices

6. Wait 5-10 minutes for import to complete
7. Device profile templates will appear in the ChirpStack web UI

This will clone the lorawan-devices repository and execute the import command of ChirpStack.

Note: an older snapshot of the lorawan-devices repository is cloned as the latest revision no longer contains a LICENSE file.

Troubleshooting

Stack Won't Start

Check the config-init container logs for errors. Ensure:

• OptixEdge has internet access to clone the git repository
• All previous stack containers are stopped

MQTT Connection Errors

If you see MQTT connection errors in ChirpStack logs after first deployment:

1. In Portainer, go to Stacks
2. Click your stack name
3. Click Stop → wait for all containers to stop
4. Click Start

This timing issue typically resolves after one restart.

Reset to Defaults

To completely reset and redeploy:

1. In Portainer, delete the stack
2. Go to Volumes → delete all volumes starting with your stack name
3. Redeploy the stack

Warning: This deletes all data including devices, gateways, and your API secret.

Architecture

This deployment includes:

Service	Description	Port
chirpstack-postgres	PostgreSQL 14 database	Internal
chirpstack-redis	Redis 7 cache	Internal
chirpstack-mosquitto	MQTT broker	1883
chirpstack-server	ChirpStack network server	8080
chirpstack-gateway-bridge	Semtech UDP gateway bridge	1700/udp
chirpstack-gateway-bridge-bs	BasicStation gateway bridge	3001
chirpstack-rest-api	REST API interface	8090
config-init	One-time initialization	-

The config-init service clones configuration files from the official ChirpStack repository on first deployment and exits (normal behavior).

Links

• ChirpStack Documentation
• ChirpStack Community Forum
• Original ChirpStack Docker Repository
• OptixEdge Documentation

License

ChirpStack is licensed under the MIT License. See the ChirpStack LICENSE for details.