# Configuring and Learning to Use openaps Tools This section provides an introduction to intializing, configuring, and using the openaps toolset. The purpose is to get you familiar with how the different commands work and to get you thinking about how they may be used to build your own closed loop. Make sure you have completed the [Setting Up the Raspberry Pi 2](../phase-0/rpi.md) and [Setting Up openaps](../phase-0/openaps.md) sections prior to starting. The [openaps readme](https://github.com/openaps/openaps/blob/master/README.md) has detailed information on the installation and usage of openaps. You should take the time to read through it in detail, even if it seems confusing at first. There are also a number of example uses available in the [openaps-example](https://github.com/bewest/openaps-example) repository. Some familiarity with using the terminal will go a long way, so if you aren't comfortable with what `cd` and `ls` do, take a look at some of the Linux Shell / Terminal links on the [Technical Resources](../../Resources/technical-resources.md) page. Some conventions used in this guide: * Wherever there are `` in the the code, these are meant for you to insert your own information. Most of the time, it doesn't matter what you choose **as long as you stay consistent throughout this guide**. That means if you choose `Barney` as your ` < my_pump_name > `, you must use `Barney` every time you see `< my_pump_name >`. Choose carefully. Do not include the ` < > ` brackets in your name. ``` eval_rst .. note:: One helpful thing to do before starting is to log your terminal session. This will allow you to go back and see what you did at a later date. This will also be immensely helpful if you request help from other OpenAPS contributors as you will be able to provide an entire history of the commands you used. To enable this, just run `$ script ` at the beginning of your session. It will inform you that `Script started, file is `. When you are done, simply `$ exit` and it will announce `Script done, file is `. At that point, you can review the file as necessary. ```
## Configuring openaps ### Initialize a new openaps environment To get started, SSH into your Raspberry Pi. Go to your home directory: `$ cd` Create a new instance of openaps in a new directory: `$ openaps init ` As mentioned above, `` can be anything you'd like: `myopenaps`, `awesome-openaps`, `openaps4ever`, `bob`, etc. Now that it has been created, move into the new openaps directory: `$ cd ` All subsequent openaps commands must be run in this directory. If you try to run an openaps command in a different directory, you will receive an error: `Not an openaps environment, run: openaps init` The directory you just created and initialized as an openaps environment is mostly empty at the moment, as can been seen by running the list files command: ``` $ ls openaps.ini ``` That `openaps.ini` file is the configuration file for this particular instance of openaps. It will contain all of your device information, plugin information, reports, and aliases. In the subsequent sections, you will be configuring your openaps instance to add these components. For now, however, it is blank. Go ahead and take a look: `$ cat openaps.ini` Didn't return much, did it? By the way, that `cat` command will be very useful as you go through these configuration steps to quickly check the contents of files (any files, not just `openaps.ini`). Similarly, if you see a command that you are unfamiliar with, such as `cat` or `cd`, Google it to understand what it does. The same goes for error messages—you are likely not the first one to encounter whatever error is holding you back. ### Add pump as device In order to communicate with the pump and cgm receiver, they must first be added as devices to the openaps configuration. To do this for the pump: `$ openaps device add medtronic ` Here, `` can be whatever you like, but `` must be the 6-digit serial number of your pump. You can find this either on the back of the pump or near the bottom of the pump's status screen, accessed by hitting the ESC key. **Important:** Never share your 6-digit pump serial number and never post it online. If someone had access to this number, and was in radio reach of your pump, this could be used to communicate with your pump without your knowledge. While this is a feature when you want to build an OpenAPS, it is a flaw and a security issue if someone else can do this to you. ### Add Dexcom CGM receiver as device Now you will do this for the Dexcom CGM receiver: `$ openaps device add dexcom` Note this step is not required if you are using a Medtronic CGM. The pump serves as the receiver and all of the pumping and glucose functionality are contained in the same openaps device. ### Check that the devices are all added properly `$ openaps device show` should return something like: ``` medtronic://pump dexcom://cgms ``` Here, `pump` was used for `` and `cgms` was used for ``. The names you selected should appear in their place. Your `openaps.ini` file now has some content; go ahead and take another look: `$ cat openaps.ini` Now, both of your devices are in this configuration file: ``` [device "pump"] vendor = openaps.vendors.medtronic extra = pump.ini [device "cgms"] vendor = openaps.vendors.dexcom extra = cgms.ini ``` Again, `pump` was used for `` and `cgms` was used for ``. Your pump model should also match your pump. Because your pump's serial number also serves as its security key, that information is now stored in a separate ini file (here noted as `pump.ini`) that was created when you created the pump device. This makes it easier for sharing the `openaps.ini` file and also for keeping `pump.ini` and `cgms.ini` more secure. Be careful with these files. Open the pump's ini file now (use the name reported to you in the line labeled `extra` in the `openaps.ini` file). `$ cat pump.ini` It should show something like this: ``` [device "pump"] serial = 123456 ``` The serial number should match that of your pump. If you made a mistake while adding your devices or simply don't like the name you used, you can go back and remove the devices as well. For example, to remove the pump: `$ openaps device remove ` Then, you can add your pump again with a different name or serial number. ### Check that you can communicate with your pump Now that you have added these devices, let's see if we can establish communication with them. First, the pump: `$ openaps use model` should return something like: `"723"` Congratulations, you just pulled data from your pump! The `model` command is a very useful one to verify whether you can communicate with the pump. It is not, however, the only thing you can do. Take a look at the help file to see all of the possibilities: `$ openaps use -h` This returns a healthy bit of useful information, including a list of all the commands that can be done with `$ openaps use `. Of course, each one of those uses has its own help file as well: ``` $ openaps use model -h usage: openaps-use pump model [-h] Get model number optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit ``` The `-h` argument is your friend. If you ever forget what a command does, what arguments it requires, or what options it has, `-h` should be your first resource. Go ahead and try some more pump uses to find out what they do. Note that some of the commands require additional inputs; these are detailed in the specific help files. ### Check that you can communicate with your Dexcom receiver Now let's try communicating with the Dexcom receiver. Hint: Your Dexcom should be nearly fully charged before plugging it in to your Raspberry Pi. If, when you plug in your Dexcom, it causes your WiFi dongle to stop blinking, that is a sign that it is drawing too much power and needs to be charged. `$ openaps use iter_glucose 1` should return something like: ``` [ { "trend_arrow": "FLAT", "system_time": "2015-08-23T21:45:29", "display_time": "2015-08-23T13:46:21", "glucose": 137 } ] ``` Hint: if this doesn't work, check to make sure that your Dexcom receiver is plugged into your Raspberry Pi ;-) Just like with the pump, you can use the `-h` argument to call the help files. For example: ``` $ openaps use iter_glucose -h usage: openaps-use cgms iter_glucose [-h] [count] read last glucose records, default 100, eg: positional arguments: count Number of glucose records to read. optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit * iter_glucose - read last 100 records * iter_glucose 2 - read last 2 records ``` ### Pulling blood glucose levels from Nightscout Some people have found it more beneficial to pull blood glucose values from Nightscout rather than directly from the Dexcom receiver. In order to do that, two steps are needed: 1) Similar like above, we need to create a device that talks to Nightscout. Add this device called "curl" to your list of devices in your openaps.ini file:
``` [device "curl"]
fields =
cmd = bash
vendor = openaps.vendors.process
args = -c "curl -s https://yourwebsite.azurewebsites.net/api/v1/entries.json | json -e 'this.glucose = this.sgv'"
``` In addition, you need to alter your monitor/glucose.json report to use this device rather than the cgms device you setup above. The report will look like this in your openaps.ini file: ``` [report "monitor/glucose.json"]
device = curl
use = shell
reporter = text
``` Many people will actually setup both ways to pull the blood glucose level and switch between the different devices depending on their needs. If you are going to pull it directly from Nightscout then you will have to have internet access for the Raspberry Pi.
## Adding and Invoking Reports At this point, you should be comfortable communicating with your pump and cgm receiver with the `openaps use` command. This is great for learning and for experimenting, but it lacks the ability to generate output files. You'll notice that running `$ openaps use iter_glucose 100` prints *a lot* of data to the terminal. It would be great to save that data somewhere so that it can be used for logging historical records, performing calculations, and verifying actions. That is what `report` does. Generating reports involves two steps: adding the report structures to your openaps configuration and invoking the reports to produce the desired outcome. ### Adding Reports As an example, let's suppose you would like to gather the last four hours of records from your pump. With the `use` command, that would be: `$ openaps use iter_pump_hours 4` This dumps the past four hours of pump records directly to the terminal. Now, let's add this as a report instead: `$ openaps report add last_four_pump_hours.json JSON iter_pump_hours 4` If done correctly, the only thing returned in the terminal is: `added pump://JSON/iter_pump_hours/last_four_pump_hours.json` Let's take a closer look at each section. `openaps report add` is adding a report to your openaps configuation. The report name is `last_four_pump_hours.json`. The format of the report is `JSON`. The command that will be used to generate the report is ` iter_pump_hours 4`. You will notice that this last section is identical to what was called above when you printed the output to the terminal window, except there it was done with the `use` command. The report is simply running that same command and writing the output to the file you specified in the format you specified. Much like adding devices, this report configuration is saved to your `openaps.ini` file. You can view all of your reports there with `$ cat openaps.ini` or by using `$ openaps report show`. Similarly, you can remove reports with `$ openaps report remove `. ### Invoking Reports Adding the report does not actually generate the output file. To do this, you need to invoke the report: `$ openaps report invoke last_four_pump_hours.json` Again, the terminal output will be minimal: ``` pump://JSON/iter_pump_hours/last_four_pump_hours.json reporting last_four_pump_hours.json ``` This time, however, a new file was created. Check and see using `$ ls`; you should see a file called `last_four_pump_hours.json` in your directory. Take a look at the file with `$ cat last_four_pump_hours.json`. The file's contents should look very familiar—the same data that was printed to ther terminal window when you performed `$ openaps use iter_pump_hours 4`. Each time you add a new report to your configuration, you should immediately invoke it and check the resulting file. This means **open the file and actually check to make sure the output is what you expect**. Don't assume that it worked just because you didn't see an error. The reports you add are reusable—each time you would like new data, simply invoke the report again and it will overwrite the output file. If you would like to see when the file was last edited, use the command `$ ls -l`. This will help you make sure you are getting up-to-data data. Go ahead and create (and check) some reports for the the commands you have been using the most.
## Aliases Now that you have some reports added, you may notice that you end up calling some of them in combinations. For example, you might always want to get your updated pump records and your updated cgm records. To do that, you would normally run two commands each time: ``` $ openaps report invoke last_four_pump_hours.json $ openaps report invoke last_four_cgm_hours.json ``` For this example, we assume that you have added a second report called `last_four_cgm_hours.json` that is similar to the `last_four_pump_hours.json` we walked through previously, except that it is using your `` device and the `iter_glucose_hours` command. Go ahead and do that so you can follow along. Calling two sequential commands for each update is a bit annoying, but imagine calling five or ten. Luckily, openaps has a built-in way to group these commands: aliases. Aliases allow generation of single-word commands to invoke a series of reports. For this example, create an alias called `last_four_hours`: `$ openaps alias add last_four_hours "report invoke last_four_pump_hours.json last_four_cgm_hours.json"` Go ahead and execute this command: `$ openaps last_four_hours` You will see that it invokes each of the reports you specified in the order you specified. It prints each step out to the terminal window, and you will find that the corresponding output files have been created. Just like with devices and reports, the alias is now part of your openaps configuration. You can view all of your aliases with `$ cat openaps.ini` or by using `$ openaps alias show`. Similarly, you can remove aliases with `$ openaps alias remove `. Aliases will invoke reports and execute logic and shell commands. Aliases are not limited to reports. They can be nested. For example a top level alias is $ openaps alias1 alias2. alias2 is for example: Run shell "program1 && something2 || alias3" (one and two or three). alias3 is for example: $ Openaps report invoke settings/settings.json settings/bg_targets.json settings/insulin_sensitivities.json settings/basal_profile.json settings/profile.json ## Putting the Pieces Together Take a moment to consider putting these commands to work in the larger context of a closed-loop system. Components of that system that you might need to `add` and `invoke` would be recent glucose data, recent pump history, the time, battery status, pump settings, carb ratios, the current basal profile, insulin sensitivities, blood glucose targets, and the status of the pump. Go ahead and add and invoke reports for these components of a future closed-loop system. Are there groupings of these reports that you imagine would be called at the same time? For example, in a closed-loop setup, the pump settings, blood glucose targets, insulin sensitivities, the basal profile, and carb ratios would not need to be checked as often as the current pump status, battery status, clock, recent blood sugars, and recent pump history. Take some time to create aliases for groups of reports that would be called at the same time and verify that they invoke the expected reports. Reports will execute the "use" command. The "use" command is -h anotated. To see the annotation use this command $ openaps use -h
## Backing Up Your openaps Instance There are numerous ways to back up your system, from making a copy of the entire SD card to copying over individual files. Here, we will discuss one method of using git to back up just the openaps instance you've created. Note that this will not back up the entire sysem (and all the work you did in [Setting Up the Raspberry Pi 2](../phase-0/rpi.md) and [Setting Up openaps](../phase-0/openaps.md)), but it will enable you to skip all of the configuration steps above if something happens. For this backup method, we will take advantage of the fact that your openaps instanace is a git repository. We won't go over git here, but take a look at the references on the [Resources](../../Resources/technical-resources.md) page to get familiar with the basics. Typically, we would do this backup using GitHub, since that is where most of the openaps repositories are located and you should already have an account. However, GitHub only provides free repositories if they are public, and since this repository has your `.ini` file—and thus your pump's serial number—in it, we want to make sure that is private. If you are comfortable with sharing your glucose and pump history publicly, you can make sure the secret .ini files remain so by creating a .gitignore file listing `.ini` (and any other .ini files with secret information). This will prevent git from uploading those files to GitHub, but will still allow you to backup and publicly share all your other configuration and data. ``` eval_rst .. note:: Note Alternatively, you can [purchase a monthly GitHub plan](https://github.com/pricing) and then follow [these instructions](https://help.github.com/articles/adding-an-existing-project-to-github-using-the-command-line/) if you'd like to go with GitHub, or use a service like Bitbucket instead. ``` [Bitbucket](https://bitbucket.org/) offers a similar service to GitHub, but permits users to create free private repositories. Go ahead and sign up and then create a repository. You can call it whatever you like, but make sure that on the "Create a new repository" setup page you leave the "This is a private repository" box checked. Once created, you will be directed to a "Repository setup" page. Under the "Command line" section, click on the "I have an existing project" option and follow the instructions. Once you have completed this step, all of the files in your `` directory will be saved in your online Bitbucket repository. Whenever you would like to update your backup, simply go into your `` directory and `$ git push`. This process can be automated, but we'll save that for another day.