A complete guide for GPS car tracking - How to set up a Traccar server

[@dannyhartfilm]

Really well put together and easy to follow guide!

[@jitnyc]

This is the best "How-to" ever... SPANKS!

[@neiltaylor6825]

thank you for taking the time to show us

[@pitloon]

My pleasure!

[@garettclement6671]

This is absolutely amazing. Can you please make one of how to install and configure Traccar on a Windows localhost server?

[@brunorodriguez7558]

Thanks a lot!!! worked 100% for me!!

Amazing work! Thank you very much.

[@zolaesuye9074]

Excellent buddy

[@rajeshpalande3588]

Excellent guide

[@wqr494]

server setup done all working but device will reach to me tomorrow, lets see when it comes if i am able to get it running.

[@moshen85]

Very helpful, Thank you,

[@scarpedico]

the server side of aws works fine , Cant access the server via ip and app on phone (manager) says "server connection failed"

[@HarkeetJhitta]

Really great guide. I have the same teletonika tracker - how to set-up/find the mobile number in order to send the text messages for port changes. As your doing @17:23 in the video

[@HarkeetJhitta]

Also - I know I am coming across naive. Is it mandatory to have an active data plan ? Or can the vehicle still be tracked without a data plan. Thanks

[@pitloon]

The mobile number should be on whatever documentation came with the SIM card. It is necessary to have an active data plan because, while the tracking device can get GPS information for "free", it then needs to get that information to you (the traccar server) somehow. That is why an internet connection is required for the tracking device.

[@jumirinrimin3727]

U r a great guy! 💪

[@pitloon]

I appreciate that!

[@kaylun_mt]

Great Video! How much data does a tracker like this use monthly? I'm trying to choose a SIM plan

[@pitloon]

I'm not sure precisely, but it's a very very small amount. I'm on the cheapest Aldi Sim plan ($15 per year) and it's never used up the full credit. Your settings will affect it too. Mine only pings every hour when the car is off, and every 10sec when it is running.

[@neiltaylor6825]

Hi could you do a tutorial on how to set this up on a raspberry pi, with a mysql database. i cannot seem to get a mysql database working on the raspberry pi

[@Harrison-yr6ye]

Awesome information! Im in the process of helping out a company with their fleet, they want to change their provider. Ive just ordered 2 fmc920 gps units and will make my vps in the next week and follow your guide to get traccar working and test it out. My questions are: will 33 vehicles be obtainable with the tutorial you have provided? Is this going to be a stable platform to use? (Concered if i set this up that i wont have technical support to fix my issues if i have any in the future) What instances plan would you recomend with daily use of a delivery fleet of 33 vehicles with medium to high event notifications? Cheers!

[@pitloon]

I think the key factors for a commercial use case are: 1. Start with a VPS as I've described, but monitor the load on the server (CPU % etc) 2. Ensure the trackers are sending data at a sane rate. I set mine to once an hour when the vehicle is off, and once every 10 seconds when on. (2) Is important because it directly impacts (1), and means you'll get away with a smaller server for longer.

[@AdityaDadhichgodblessall]

very nice! 1 more thing if you can put in how to check past route of the car? checking route of the car on the software?

[@pitloon]

It's just in the 'Reports' section, super easy to access

[@dbk9555]

Thanks so much !🙏

[@climalutions1014]

does traccar support fuel cut off?

[@uaead3539]

Thank you for this guide it is really helpful, my only comment will be is it possible to shorten the time to receive notifications to 10 or 5 seconds? thank you again.

[@pitloon]

The notification time can vary quite a bit, and depends on a few factors. There might be actions you can take to help reduce the time, but I'm not sure what they are off the top of my head.

[@hivepixels]

Hey mate, Thanks for you video. Would you make another one showing how to set it up on Google Server? Cheers

[@pitloon]

Possibly. You've put it on my radar, so I'll let you know if it happens!

[@askhatbaimukanov1010]

Thank you! I set the server successfully! Now may I retrieve data from that server using WebSocket and show coordinates in my own custom app? Are there any manipulations I have to made on that server side for it?

[@pitloon]

Awesome. It looks like traccar has a websocket API you can use. You might not need any server changes to use it, but I haven't tried it myself.

[@infertilepiggy5667]

hmmm could we maybe route through tor to an onion site to save on the aws and give anonymity

[@ThreeSolutioner]

Hey very nice video, I loved it. I am trying it connect GPS smart watch of china, but facing issues in getting the data on the server. How to check the data is receiving on the port. or how to validate it . please provide the solution to it

[@pitloon]

I haven't looked into it, but there will be some way of enabling and viewing http request logs to your server. Then you can see if/when your smart watch is sending requests to your tracking server.

[@suen-tech]

Very helpfull Thank you

[@Whereismybus]

Sir , you choose basic aws plan , consider we have to connect 50 trackers to the server , Which aws plan should i need to take

[@pitloon]

Start with the basic. Just make sure each device is configured so it's not too "noisy". As in, by default it might send a request every second, which adds way more load on the server.

[@sean-victoria]

Great tutorial. Do I need to keep the traccar account at 9.95? or can I cancel it?

[@pitloon]

No need for a paid traccar account!

[@CodyG8581]

There is no longer a default username and password. It has you register right off the bat, just fyi. Was wondering if you had any idea why, when it I try to register it allows me to set an email, and a password, only to tell me "email or password invalid" when I try to log in.and it defintily is saving the email

[@pitloon]

Thanks for letting me know of the change! Hmm I'm unsure why you are getting an error when logging in. The good news is that as the server owner you can use the terminal to view the database records directly if need be (some googling of how to do that will get you a long way)

[@firefighterleetiktok85]

Does this have to be devices them have a SIM card??? I have a number of drones and they have gps but believe it only receives gps and not sending. Any help is great

[@pitloon]

Yes, this is for devices that have a SIM card. The device needs to be able to send location data to the tracking server, which is where the SIM card (internet connection) is essential.

[@mayham2k]

Was hoping this guide would show me how to locate my GPS enabled device that doesn't have a data plan, like my aftermarket vehicle stereo headunit. What's the point of getting one of these if you can't track it. If it is communicating with the satelites to get its location then it stands to reason that somewhere something knows where it is. That is what I was hoping for.

[@pitloon]

Great point! So satellites are kind of 'passive' in the sense that they can help millions of devices figure out where they are. The key point is that the satellite itself isn't doing any communication other than helping the device itself know where it is. To get the location information from the GPS device to some other device is where the data requirement comes in.

[@mrmatymoo]

My android head unit has a sim. Card. I can locate its last power on location using Google's find my device. Not as great as GPS tracking, but still effective.

[@dev-ve7zs]

I want to make some changes to the Web side, how can I go about? Thanks.

[@pitloon]

What kind of changes?

[@Whereismybus]

Is it work properly for concox v5 gps tracker , its 2g connectivity.

[@pitloon]

I wouldn't use a 2G device. Those networks are being shut down worldwide

[@Whereismybus]

I want to get api for the tracker i connected to traccar server , cz , i want to use the api to show device location in my own website . So , how i can get that api ??

[@pitloon]

You'll have to look at the Traccar documentation for API info

[@jphdg]

Thanks for putting this up. It looks like something has changed and already stuck on the very first command. Cannot run - enable postgresql13 Results: sudo amazon-linux-extras enable postgresql13 sudo: amazon-linux-extras: command not found Any assistance there would be much appreciated. Thanks kindly John

[@pitloon]

Ahh I'll take a look, thanks for flagging it!

[@jphdg]

@@pitloon Thanks for that. They must have just recently changed something there. Hopefully there is still another way to do this. Appreciate your help in advance.

[@pitloon]

@@jphdg I just tried it again on a fresh Amazon Linux 2 server, and it worked as expected. Are you sure you chose the Linux 2 server? It looks like theres now an "Amazon Linux 2023" option that you might have accidentally chosen?

[@jphdg]

@@pitloon Yep I think you're right. Thank you, It is 2023. I will go back and start a new server Linux 2 and see how I go. Cheers for the heads up on that.

[@jphdg]

I have the server up and running now. Thanks for the heads up on checking that I was using Linux 2 server! All went without a hitch once I built up the correct server. Only issue now is I have to try to remember the password on my spare portable tracker to re-program it :( Anyway I am getting a hard wired tracker to install in the car anyway, so I intend to use that. All should now be fine... Cheers!

[@Whereismybus]

Its great broh, i want to connect to you tp discuss , how can i ?

[@thomaspotterdotexe]

Can the device use Internet instead of sms?

[@pitloon]

The device only used SMS for setup/configuration. All tracking info is sent via web request (internet) to the tracking server. Keep in mind it needs a SIM card for internet access.

[@PercyMatthies]

How much are you charged monthly for the lightsail instance?

[@pitloon]

$3.50 USD

[@PercyMatthies]

How many gps trackers can the lightsail instance handle and what is the server specs. Thank you , I have a fleet of about 59 and would like to setup a Traccar server on lightsail also .

[@pitloon]

@@PercyMatthies With those questions it is probably worth taking a look at the Lightsail details on their website. The answer to 'how many trackers' really depends on how 'chatty' each tracker is. For example, if one tracker sends a message every second, then having 59 might exceed capacity. However, if one tracker sends a message every 10 seconds or more, then its probably fine. I would start with the lowest tier and double check that you can upgrade without downtime

[@SURESHJYANI]

Logo or brand name change prosess share

[@mrmatymoo]

so on top of a monthly sim cost, you need a monthly server cost.

[@pitloon]

Yep. There are probably free options out there, but I think paying under $5 a month is worth it. Especially considering you can add many vehicles to the server without that cost increasing.

[@xdizzle0460]

i mean its all pretty lightweight. im sure if you really wanted to you could run it on a $50 raspberry pi at home and ditch the server cost. using a vps is pretty convenient though.

[@freiadam]

I can't reach the server with the public ip. I have followed your guide 1/1

[@pitloon]

Did you make sure to both: 1. Enable the port that traccar operates from 2. Access the IP with the port at the end of the url

[@freiadam]

@@pitloon yes everything like in your guide

[@pitloon]

How about adding at the start? Browsers these days often default to https, which won't work.

[@freiadam]

I have tried that as well, same problem

[@LurcherVonPapsmear]

My condolences on owning a 280ZX.

[@pitloon]

It's up on jack stands for a reason 😅

[@PubRunner]

Thanks for the guide I have learnt quite a bit. I set my traccar server about a month ago, on my own inhouse server running ubuntu but i just ran the setup file and it did everything for me and it works well but i want to setup notifications, It is using jdbc as a database so its different to yours org.h2.Driver jdbc:h2:./data/database sa The traccar documentation us pretty vague on how to use the notification API key.. Any suggestions would be great Thanks

[@pitloon]

You've got to add it like so: yournotificationkeyhere