loraTAK — Full System Installation Guide

Welcome. This guide takes you from a bare Raspberry Pi to a complete, self-contained TAK field system — no cell service, no internet, no existing network required. When you're done you'll have one Pi running three pieces that work together:

#	Product	What it gives you
1	netTAK	The network: a Wi-Fi access point your ATAK/WinTAK devices join, plus local DNS/DHCP and a GPS-disciplined clock. Free with loraTAK.
2	adminTAK	One admin panel to manage your loraTAK product from a phone or laptop.
3	loraTAK	The gateway: bridges a Meshtastic LoRa mesh into TAK — mesh positions become map markers, and chat flows both ways.

The payoff: connect your ATAK devices to the Pi's Wi-Fi, and your mesh radios' positions and messages appear on every connected device's map — all managed from one panel, entirely off-grid.

New to Linux / the Raspberry Pi? Follow the steps exactly in order. Every command is complete — copy and paste each line as-is. The only things you change are the values in <angle brackets> (your Pi's address, your login, your chosen node name).

Install the three parts in order — netTAK first (it lays down the network), then adminTAK, then loraTAK.

What you need

A Raspberry Pi 4B with a microSD card running Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit (Bookworm).
The Pi connected to your network by its wired Ethernet port (you install over the wire), and its IP address on that network.
The Pi's login — the username and password you set when imaging the card.
A Meshtastic radio (USB) for loraTAK — e.g. a Seeed TRACKER L1. (You can install without it and attach it later.)
A way to copy files to the Pi and run commands on it:
Windows: WinSCP (free file copy — winscp.net) and PuTTY or Windows PowerShell (to run commands).
macOS / Linux: the built-in Terminal (scp and ssh).
Optional: a serial GPS receiver for precise, offline time.

Download everything up front from the xTAK download page at activate.xtak.ai, onto your computer (they land in Downloads):

nettak-install-*-arm64.tar.gz + SHA256SUMS*.txt — netTAK
adminTAK-*-linux-arm64.tar.gz — the admin panel
cot_mesh-*.tar.gz — loraTAK

You only need internet to download these to your computer — everything you run on the Pi is fully offline.

Part 1 · netTAK — the network foundation

netTAK turns the Pi into a self-contained TAK network: a Wi-Fi AP, local DNS/DHCP, and a GPS-disciplined clock. This guide installs the standalone node — a single self-contained unit, which is free and needs no extra radio.

1.1 Copy netTAK onto the Pi

Copy the file into the Pi's home folder.

Windows (WinSCP): open WinSCP → File protocol SCP, Host name = your Pi's IP, User name / Password = your Pi login → Login. Drag nettak-install-*-arm64.tar.gz and SHA256SUMS*.txt from your Downloads (left pane) into the Pi's home folder (right pane).

macOS / Linux (Terminal):

scp ~/Downloads/nettak-install-*-arm64.tar.gz ~/Downloads/SHA256SUMS*.txt <user>@<pi-ip>:~/

1.2 Connect to the Pi and verify the download

Open a command session on the Pi: - Windows: open PuTTY and log in, or in PowerShell run ssh <user>@<pi-ip>. - macOS / Linux: ssh <user>@<pi-ip>.

Confirm the bundle arrived intact, then unpack it:

cd ~
      sha256sum --ignore-missing -c ~/SHA256SUMS*.txt        # must print: nettak-install-*-arm64.tar.gz: OK
      tar xzf ~/nettak-install-*-arm64.tar.gz

If it does not say OK, delete the file and copy it again (step 1.1).

1.3 Run the netTAK installer

Pick a node name ending in a number (e.g. node01) — the node's network address is derived from it (node01 → 10.1.1.1).

sudo ~/nettak-install-*-arm64/install.sh <node-name> --mode=standalone
      sudo reboot

Optional flags (add after the node name): --ap-ssid=<name> (Wi-Fi name), --ap-password=<pw> (Wi-Fi passphrase, ≥ 8 chars — default password, change it), --nogps (no GPS receiver attached).

1.4 First access

After the reboot, the node broadcasts its Wi-Fi AP. Open https://<pi-ip>:5103/ (accept the one-time self-signed-cert warning). Log in with admin / password and change both defaults immediately: the admin password (Admin & security) and the Wi-Fi passphrase (AP). The built-in manual is at /help.

Standalone netTAK is free — no license required. (netTAK's licensed mesh feature, linking multiple nodes over long-range HaLow radio, has its own guide.)

✅ You now have a working TAK network. Reconnect to the Pi over SSH (its wired IP is unchanged) and continue.

Part 2 · adminTAK — the management panel

adminTAK is the single web panel you'll use to manage loraTAK. It's one static program — nothing to download at install time, works fully offline.

2.1 Copy adminTAK onto the Pi

WinSCP: drag adminTAK-*-linux-arm64.tar.gz into the Pi's home folder.
Terminal: scp ~/Downloads/adminTAK-*-linux-arm64.tar.gz <user>@<pi-ip>:~/

2.2 Install

On the Pi:

cd ~
      tar xzf adminTAK-*-linux-arm64.tar.gz
      cd adminTAK-*-linux-arm64
      sudo bash install.sh

This installs the panel to /opt/adminTAK and starts it on port 8443.

2.3 First access

Open https://<pi-ip>:8443/ (accept the self-signed-cert warning). First login is admin / password, and you're required to set a new password right away. Do it now. The panel will show "no products yet" — that's expected; loraTAK is next, and it will appear here automatically.

✅ Your management panel is live.

Part 3 · loraTAK — the Meshtastic ↔ TAK gateway

This is your gateway product. It installs fully offline — every dependency (including pip itself) ships inside the bundle.

3.1 Copy loraTAK onto the Pi

WinSCP: drag cot_mesh-*.tar.gz into the Pi's home folder.
Terminal: scp ~/Downloads/cot_mesh-*.tar.gz <user>@<pi-ip>:~/

3.2 Install

On the Pi, unpack straight into the system folder and run the installer:

sudo tar xzf ~/cot_mesh-*.tar.gz -C /opt/
      cd /opt/cot_mesh
      sudo bash install.sh

The installer — with no internet — installs loraTAK's software from its bundled packages, starts the cot-mesh service, and refreshes the adminTAK panel so loraTAK shows up right away.

3.3 Connect the radio & configure — all in the panel

Plug in your Meshtastic radio (USB).
Open https://<pi-ip>:8443/, select loraTAK, and set: - Connection → Serial Port — pick your radio from the dropdown (or set Type = tcp + the radio's hostname for a network radio). - Identity — your callsign/UID prefix, TAK team, and a Default Lat/Lon so GPS-less mesh nodes still appear on the map.
Save. The panel applies the settings and restarts the gateway for you.

The Mesh and Radio status pills in the panel turn green once the radio connects.

3.4 Activate your license

loraTAK includes a 30-day trial — it works immediately, nothing to do. The panel's License pill shows the trial and days remaining. When the trial ends, the gateway stops (the panel stays up so you can activate) and the pill reads ACTIVATE.

To license the device at any time: 1. In the panel, open loraTAK and note the Hardware ID shown. 2. Get a loraTAK activation token for that Hardware ID (from your xTAK licensing contact / activate.xtak.ai). 3. Open loraTAK → License → paste the token into License Token → Save.

The pill flips to Licensed (this device) and the gateway runs normally. Licenses are hardware-tied and verified offline — no internet in the field.

✅ Your gateway is live and licensed.

Verify the full system

Network: the netTAK admin (https://<pi-ip>:5103/) Dashboard shows the node online, and an ATAK device can join the Pi's Wi-Fi and get an address.
Management: the adminTAK panel (https://<pi-ip>:8443/) lists loraTAK with green Mesh/Radio pills and a Licensed status.
The bridge, end to end: on an ATAK/WinTAK device connected to the netTAK Wi-Fi, a mesh node with a GPS fix appears as a map marker, and GeoChat messages pass both ways between TAK and the mesh.

That's the whole system: mesh in → TAK map + chat out, on a self-contained, off-grid network, managed from one panel.

Updating & uninstalling

Each part updates the same way it installed — copy the newer bundle over and re-run its installer; your settings (and loraTAK's license) are preserved.

Product	Update	Uninstall
netTAK	re-run `install.sh <same-node-name>`	`sudo ~/nettak-install-*-arm64/uninstall.sh`
adminTAK	re-run `sudo bash install.sh`	`sudo bash /opt/adminTAK/uninstall.sh`
loraTAK	re-extract to `/opt/` + `sudo bash install.sh`	`sudo bash /opt/cot_mesh/uninstall.sh`

If something's not right

Symptom	Fix
Can't reach a panel after reboot	Reconnect to the Pi's wired IP; the AP address (`10.1.x.1`) is separate. Accept the self-signed-cert warning.
adminTAK panel doesn't list loraTAK	`sudo systemctl restart adminTAK` (loraTAK's installer normally does this for you).
loraTAK Mesh/Radio pills red	Radio not selected/plugged. Plug it in, set Connection → Serial Port in the panel, Save.
License pill says ACTIVATE	Trial ended — paste a token on the License page (step 3.4). The panel stays reachable so you can.
Mesh nodes without GPS don't show	Set Identity → Default Lat/Lon and keep No-GPS Fallback on.

Live gateway log, any time: sudo journalctl -u cot-mesh -f

loraTAK · adminTAK · netTAK (standalone). A product suite of xTAK — www.xtak.ai.

loraTAK is a product of xTAK (Altay Corporation). Support & licensing: Support.

loraTAKInstall Guide.