DE APP Management

The DE APP Management screen provides quick access to common system administration tasks for your DroneEngage unit. It allows you to control services, manage the camera, run simulators, and perform maintenance operations.

DE APP Management Screen

Available Commands

The screen displays a table of available management commands, each with a Name, Description, and Run button.

Service Control

Command

Description

Enable AutoStart DE

Enables DroneEngage services to start automatically on boot and restarts them immediately. Use this to activate the system.

Disable AutoStart DE

Disables automatic startup of DroneEngage services. The system will remain inactive until explicitly enabled again.

Restart DE

Restarts all DroneEngage services. Useful after configuration changes or to recover from issues.

Stop DE

Stops all DroneEngage services temporarily. Services will automatically start again on the next system reboot.

Camera Control

Command

Description

Enable RPI-CAM

Enables and starts the Raspberry Pi camera service for video streaming.

Disable RPI-CAM

Stops the Raspberry Pi camera service. The service will restart on the next system reboot.

Maintenance

Command

Description

Clear DE Caches

Deletes local configuration cache files (.local files). Use this to force the system to apply new configurations on next startup.

Clear Logs

Removes all log files from the system. Useful for freeing up disk space or starting fresh logging.

Simulator

Command

Description

Start Simulator

Starts the on-board drone simulator. Allows you to test the system without connecting an actual drone.

Stop Simulator

Stops all running on-board simulators.

Output Area

The Output section at the bottom of the screen displays real-time feedback from executed commands.

  • Shows “Running script…” while a command is executing

  • Displays the script output as it runs in real-time

  • Shows success or error messages upon completion

  • Clear button - Clears all output messages from the display

Color Coding

The table rows are color-coded to indicate the impact level of each command:

  • Red rows - Critical operations that affect system startup behavior (Enable/Disable AutoStart, Camera controls)

  • Yellow rows - Service operations that are temporary until reboot (Restart, Stop, Clear Caches)

  • Gray rows - Simulator operations (Start/Stop Simulator)

  • Green rows - Safe maintenance operations (Clear Logs)

Typical Workflows

Initial System Activation:

  1. Click Enable AutoStart DE to enable and start all services

  2. Verify success in the Output area

  3. The system will now start automatically on every boot

Testing Without a Drone:

  1. Click Start Simulator to launch the on-board simulator

  2. Use the DroneEngage web client to connect and test features

  3. Click Stop Simulator when testing is complete

Applying Configuration Changes:

  1. Make your configuration changes (via Account Setup or config files)

  2. Click Clear DE Caches to remove cached configurations

  3. Click Restart DE to restart services with new settings

Temporary Service Stop:

  1. Click Stop DE to temporarily halt all services

  2. Perform maintenance or debugging tasks

  3. Click Restart DE to resume, or simply reboot the system

Disabling the System:

  1. Click Disable AutoStart DE to prevent services from running

  2. The system will remain inactive even after reboots

  3. Click Enable AutoStart DE when ready to reactivate

Warning

Enable/Disable AutoStart commands have persistent effects that survive reboots. Use Stop/Restart commands for temporary service control.

Tip

Use the simulator feature to familiarize yourself with the DroneEngage system before connecting to an actual drone.

Video Tutorials

For step-by-step video guides on using the DE APP Management features, visit the DroneEngage tutorial playlist:

DroneEngage Video Tutorials