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09 - RouteTrack Pi — Dashboard Autostart (Gunicorn + systemd)

Date: December 25, 2025
Category: Raspberry Pi / GPS / Flask / systemd
Backlink: 08 – RouteTrack Pi — Local Web Dashboard (Flask API + Leaflet Map)

Project Goal

At this stage RouteTrack already has a working local web dashboard (Flask + Leaflet).
This page productionizes that dashboard so it behaves like a real appliance:

  • Starts automatically on boot

  • Stays running in the background

  • Restarts if it crashes

  • Runs the Flask app using Gunicorn (production WSGI server)

This is especially important because this Pi will be powered off frequently and used on-the-go.

Why Gunicorn + systemd?

Gunicorn

Gunicorn is a production-grade Python WSGI server that runs Flask reliably with multiple workers.

systemd

systemd provides:

  • Autostart on boot

  • Automatic restart on failure

  • Central logging via journalctl

  • Clean service management (start/stop/status)

Install Gunicorn (venv)

Install into the existing RouteTrack virtual environment:

/opt/routetrack/venv/bin/pip install gunicorn

My output confirmed it was already installed:

Requirement already satisfied: gunicorn in /opt/routetrack/venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages (23.0.0)

Create the Dashboard systemd Service

Create the service file:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/routetrack-dashboard.service

Paste the unit file:

[Unit]
Description=RouteTrack Local Dashboard (Gunicorn)
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
# Run the service under my normal user (not root)
User=zippyb
Group=zippyb

# Ensure relative paths work (app:app loads from this folder)
WorkingDirectory=/opt/routetrack/web

# Start Gunicorn on port 5000, listening on all interfaces
# -w 2 = 2 worker processes (lightweight + responsive on Pi)
ExecStart=/opt/routetrack/venv/bin/gunicorn -w 2 -b 0.0.0.0:5000 app:app

# Keep it alive if it crashes
Restart=always
RestartSec=3

# Basic hardening
NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Reload systemd and Enable the Service

Reload units:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Enable + start the service:

sudo systemctl enable --now routetrack-dashboard.service

Verify the Service Is Running

Check status:

systemctl status routetrack-dashboard.service --no-pager -l

My output confirmed it is running and listening properly:

  • Service is active (running)

  • Gunicorn started successfully

  • Listening on http://0.0.0.0:5000

  • Two workers booted

Example output:

Active: active (running)
Main PID: 9358 (gunicorn)
Listening at: http://0.0.0.0:5000 (9358)
Booting worker with pid: 9359
Booting worker with pid: 9360

Operational Notes

Where logs are stored

Because this is managed by systemd, logs are available via:

journalctl -u routetrack-dashboard.service --no-pager -l

Last 50 lines:

journalctl -u routetrack-dashboard.service -n 50 --no-pager -l

Accessing the dashboard

From any device on the same network:

  • http://<PI-IP>:5000

Find the Pi’s IP:

hostname -I

Run On Demand (Manual Service Controls)

Start:

sudo systemctl start routetrack-dashboard.service

Stop:

sudo systemctl stop routetrack-dashboard.service

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart routetrack-dashboard.service

Status:

systemctl status routetrack-dashboard.service --no-pager -l

Next Steps

Now that the dashboard is always online, the next improvements will focus on making RouteTrack truly “truck ready”:

  1. Shift mode (Start Shift / End Shift buttons)

  2. Offline mapping options (for no cell coverage)

  3. Exports (GeoJSON/CSV) and backup strategy for on-the-go use

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