This project is an alternative to OwnTracks Recorder, built for my personal use. The main difference between them is that in Vaultracks the location data is stored in an encrypted SQLite database file.
Only the basic features are included:
- HTTP mode only (no MQTT broker)
- Location data only (no transitions, waypoints etc.)
- TLS and Encrypted payloads are not supported
- Basic frontend UI included (see Web UI)
The project can be run using Docker. Use one of the following commands:
- If you want to store data in a docker volume:
docker volume create vaultracks-data
docker run --name Vaultracks -v vaultracks-data:/data -p <port_of_your_choice>:8080 metal666/vaultracks:latest- If you want to store data in a folder on your computer:
docker run --name Vaultracks -v <folder/on/your/computer>:/data -p <port_of_your_choice>:8080 metal666/vaultracks:latest- Install Vaultracks using the steps above.
- In the OwnTracks mobile app (assuming you have already installed and set it up to be used with the official OwnTracks Recorder) change the connection mode to HTTP and the URL to
http://<host_ip>:<port_of_your_choice>/api/message. - Enter a username in the corresponding field - this will be the name of your database file. It is recommended to only use letters and numbers, as many special symbols cannot be used in file names.
- IMPORTANT: use the Password field to specify the encryption key, and save it somewhere safe. After the first location is reported, your database file will be encrypted using this key.
Received location data will be written to an SQLite database file. The file name will be <username>.db. If you want to change the username, follow these steps:
- Stop location reporting in the mobile app
- Shut down Vaultracks
- Rename the db file
- Change the username in the mobile app
- Restart Vaultracks
- Resume reporting
The database file is encrypted using SQLCipher 4, with default settings. If you want to browse the data directly, use an SQLite database browser with SQLCipher support, for example DB Browser for SQLite or SQLiteStudio. The encryption key can be changed following a procedure, similar to changing the username:
- Stop location reporting
- Shut down Vaultracks
- Use a database browser to change the key
- Change the "password" in the mobile app
- Restart Vaultracks
- Resume reporting
The CREATE query for the main table in the database looks like this:
CREATE TABLE "Location" (
"Id" integer NOT NULL,
"BSSID" varchar,
"SSID" varchar,
"Accuracy" integer,
"Altitude" integer,
"Battery" integer,
"BatteryStatus" integer,
"CourseOverGround" INTEGER,
"ConnectionType" varchar,
"CreatedAt" integer,
"LatitudeString" varchar,
"LongitudeString" varchar,
"RadiusAroundRegion" INTEGER,
"Trigger" INTEGER,
"MonitoringMode" INTEGER,
"TrackerID" varchar,
"Topic" varchar,
"Timestamp" integer,
"VerticalAccuracy" integer,
"Velocity" integer,
"Pressure" float,
"PointOfInterest" varchar,
"Tag" varchar,
"InRegionsString" varchar,
"InRegionIdsString" varchar,
PRIMARY KEY("Id" AUTOINCREMENT)
)Latitude and Longitude are stored as strings, since storing them as float numbers could lead to precision loss. InRegions and InRegionIds are stored as JSON array strings (since arrays are not supported in SQLite).
Similarly to the official Recorder, this project comes with a basic web frontend. You can access it by entering http://<host_ip>:<port_of_your_choice> in the address bar of your browser. You will then be prompted to enter the username and the database key, which will be used to open your database file. If the database doesn't exist, it will be created.
If you want to display locations reported during a certain period of time, use the Draw Path tool:
Existing .rec files (created by OwnTracks Recorder) can be migrated to an SQLite database. For instructions, see OwnTracksRecUtils.