Get 64 bit NO desktop and enable SSH & WiFi from the imager

Install tailscale VPN

100 devices on the free tier
https://login.tailscale.com/admin/

curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh  
sudo tailscale up  

Base pi config

sudo raspi-config

system options -> boot/auto login -> console autologin

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mikecarper/MeshtasticInstallScripts/refs/heads/main/InstallFiles.sh
chmod +x InstallFiles.sh
./InstallFiles.sh

sudo apt update
sudo apt -y upgrade
sudo apt -y install git jq ntp virtualenvwrapper curl pipx pip fonts-noto-color-emoji npm software-properties-common mosquitto mosquitto-clients python3-poetry socat nmap iptables-persistent shellcheck python3-rpi.gpio screen shfmt i2c-tools tmux cmake libdbus-1-dev xvfb arp-scan 
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname GeoBBS

Port forward node to PI's IP over talescale

cd ~
sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/setup_forwarding.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mikecarper/MeshtasticInstallScripts/main/PortForwardingNode.sh
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/setup_forwarding.sh
/usr/local/bin/setup_forwarding.sh

Setup multiple wifi connections

sudo nmcli dev wifi list
sudo nmcli dev wifi connect "John Doe’s iPhone" password "setec astronomy"

Verify the saved SSID

sudo nmcli connection show

Update firmware on the g2

https://github.com/mikecarper/meshfirmware

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/mikecarper/meshfirmware.git
cd meshfirmware
chmod +x firmware.sh
./firmware.sh

Install Meshtastic CLI

https://meshtastic.org/docs/software/python/cli/installation/

cd ~
sudo pip3 install --upgrade pyserial --break-system-packages
sudo pip3 install --upgrade pytap2 --break-system-packages
pipx install "meshtastic[cli]"

OR if not on raspberry pi os

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:meshtastic/daily
sudo apt update
sudo apt install meshtasticd

Admin keys

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/remote-admin/#remote-admin-config-client-availability
Run this on the every day carry node that will be used to control the remote nodes

meshtastic --get security.public_key
# base64:EUBO1PaqmYSb9nuc2RoDyKuXaZuEAxhJusick1VRA8k=

head -c 32 /dev/urandom | base64 was used to make the above string

Run this on the rooftop node that will need to be configured remotely

meshtastic --set security.admin_key "base64:EUBO1PaqmYSb9nuc2RoDyKuXaZuEAxhJusick1VRA8k="

Device init config

https://meshtastic.org/docs/software/python/cli/#--set-config_sectionoption-value
https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/region-by-country/#u
https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/lora/#region

meshtastic --set lora.tx_power 10 # (1w) station g2. 14 (2.5w) max with no distortion https://wiki.uniteng.com/en/meshtastic/station-g2#summary-for-lora-power-amplifier-conduction-test
meshtastic --set lora.region US

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/bluetooth/#bluetooth-config-client-availability

meshtastic --set bluetooth.mode FIXED_PIN
meshtastic --set bluetooth.fixed_pin 123456

Rename Device

https://meshtastic.org/docs/software/python/cli/#--set-owner-set_owner

deviceShortName=$(meshtastic --info | grep 'Owner' | sed -n 's/.*(\(.*\)).*/\1/p')
echo $deviceShortName

meshtastic --set-owner "G2 mcar NEBell bbsbot DM $deviceShortName"
meshtastic --set-owner-short "🤖"

Set Location

https://meshtastic.org/docs/software/python/cli/#--setalt-setalt
https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/position/#position-config-client-availability

meshtastic --set position.gps_mode NOT_PRESENT
meshtastic --setalt 86 --setlat 47.625127 --setlon -122.1019996

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/channels/#setting-position-precision

meshtastic --ch-set module_settings.position_precision 17 --ch-index 0

Set mode of Device

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/device/#cli

meshtastic --set device.role ROUTER_LATE
meshtastic --set lora.hop_limit 7
meshtastic --set display.screenOnSecs 30

Add channels

https://pugetmesh.org/meshtastic/config/#ps-mqtt-channel
https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/channels/

meshtastic --ch-add PS-Mesh!
meshtastic --ch-set psk "base64:jHrxpQOq6dEBC5Ldr3ULrQ==" --ch-index 1
meshtastic --ch-set module_settings.position_precision 17 --ch-index 1
meshtastic --ch-add PS-MQTT! 
meshtastic --ch-set psk "base64:mqttmqttmqttmqttmqttQQ==" --ch-index 2
meshtastic --ch-set module_settings.position_precision 17 --ch-index 2

Delete channel

https://meshtastic.org/docs/software/python/cli/#--ch-del

meshtastic --ch-index 4 --ch-del

MQTT

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/module/mqtt/#mqtt-module-config-client-availability

meshtastic --set network.wifi_enabled true --set network.wifi_ssid "FCC Van" --set network.wifi_psk "wifipassword"
meshtastic --set network.enabled_protocols 1
meshtastic --set lora.config_ok_to_mqtt true
meshtastic --set mqtt.address mqtt.davekeogh.com
meshtastic --set mqtt.username meshdev
meshtastic --set mqtt.password large4cats
meshtastic --set mqtt.encryption_enabled true
meshtastic --set mqtt.json_enabled false
meshtastic --set mqtt.tls_enabled false
meshtastic --set mqtt.root msh/US
meshtastic --set mqtt.map_reporting_enabled true

meshtastic --ch-set uplink_enabled true --ch-index 0
meshtastic --ch-set uplink_enabled true --ch-index 1
meshtastic --ch-set uplink_enabled true --ch-index 2

meshtastic --ch-set downlink_enabled true --ch-index 1
meshtastic --ch-set downlink_enabled true --ch-index 2

meshtastic --set mqtt.enabled true

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/module/neighbor-info/

meshtastic --set neighbor_info.transmit_over_lora true
meshtastic --set neighbor_info.enabled true

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/module/store-and-forward-module/

meshtastic --set store_forward.enabled true
meshtastic --set store_forward.is_server true

Disable Bluetooth

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/bluetooth/#bluetooth-config-client-availability

meshtastic --set bluetooth.enabled false

Restart the PI at 3:30am

sudo crontab -e

25 3 * * * /home/bbs/MeshtasticInstallScripts/gpio_pi.py
30 3 * * * /sbin/shutdown -r now

Install CLI client

https://github.com/pdxlocations/contact

pipx install contact

Get the IP address of the node

sudo arp-scan --localnet --quiet 2>/dev/null | grep -i '6f:34' | cut -f1

Install BBS system.

https://github.com/SpudGunMan/meshing-around

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/spudgunman/meshing-around
cd meshing-around/
./install.sh
cd /opt/meshing-around
./install.sh

Are You installing into an embedded system like a luckfox or -native? most should say no here (y/n)n
Recomended install is in a python virtual environment, do you want to use venv? (y/n)n
should we add --break-system-packages to the pip install command? (y/n)n

Which bot do you want to install as a service? Pong Mesh or None? (pong/mesh/n)Mesh
Do you want to add a local user (meshbot) no login, for the bot? (y/n)y
Do you want to install the emoji font for debian/ubuntu linux? (y/n)y
Do you want to install the LLM Ollama components? (y/n)n

Setup log viewer

Update html every 5 min

#!/bin/bash

NEWCRONJOB="*/5 * * * * /opt/meshing-around/launch.sh html5"

# Check if the cron job is already present; if not, add it.
if crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -Fq "$NEWCRONJOB"; then
    echo "Cron job already exists."
else
    # Append the cron job to the existing crontab entries.
    (crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo "$NEWCRONJOB") | crontab -
    echo "Cron job added."
fi

Set the IP to bind to

#!/bin/bash
# Get IP from tailscale; if empty then use hostname -I
IP=$(tailscale ip 2>/dev/null | head -n1)
if [ -z "$IP" ]; then
    IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')
fi

echo "Using IP: $IP"

# Replace "('127.0.0.1'," with "('$IP'," in /opt/meshing-around/modules/web.py
sed -i "s/HTTPServer(('127\.0\.0\.1',/HTTPServer(('${IP}',/g" /opt/meshing-around/modules/web.py

Run as a service that starts automatically.

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/meshbotweblog.service

Put this into that file and save

[Unit]
Description=Meshing Around Web Service
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
WorkingDirectory=/opt/meshing-around/modules
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/meshing-around/modules/web.py
Restart=on-failure
User=root

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable the service

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable meshbotweblog.service
sudo systemctl start meshbotweblog.service
sudo systemctl status meshbotweblog.service

Enable voltage mon

pipx install adafruit-circuitpython-ina219 --include-deps
pipx install adafruit-blinka --include-deps

MeshSense

wget https://affirmatech.com/download/meshsense/meshsense-beta-arm64.AppImage
eval $(gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=secrets)
export GNOME_KEYRING_CONTROL
dbus-run-session xvfb-run ./meshsense-beta-arm64.AppImage --headless --disable-gpu

Enable the live log viewer

Follow the directions found here https://github.com/mikecarper/MeshtasticInstallScripts/blob/main/logViewerWeb/readme.md

ShortFast

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/lora/#lora-config-client-availability

meshtastic --set lora.modem_preset SHORT_FAST
# meshtastic --ch-set downlink_enabled true --ch-index 0
meshtastic --ch-add "LongFast"
meshtastic --ch-set psk "base64:AQ==" --ch-index 4
meshtastic --ch-set module_settings.position_precision 13 --ch-index 4
meshtastic --ch-set uplink_enabled true --ch-index 4

LongFast

https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/lora/#lora-config-client-availability

meshtastic --set lora.modem_preset LONG_FAST
meshtastic --ch-add "ShortFast"
meshtastic --ch-set psk "base64:AQ==" --ch-index 4
meshtastic --ch-set module_settings.position_precision 13 --ch-index 4