ACARS is a complex system which consists of several software mod ules which cooperate. Depending on whether you want to simulate an airplane or a dispatch/ATC station, you need another module.
In most cases, you really want to use the normal ACARS server, reachable at the internet. But in some cases it comes in handy to run a mini server yourselves. This is the program you need for it.Take care that nice features such as METAR and TAF retrieval will not work with the mini server, as it does not at all go out onto the internet for data. It also does not support file uploads and downloads (though this can all be added, if need really be).
Project Progress
2026-05-15 Also UTC evening of the 14th, there was a one-hour interruption of the external IP link, which left about 50% of the users in the dark. I hope these network outages will cease once the whole cage has been moved over and network reconfigurations are no longer needed.
2026-05-13 In the UTC evening of Wednesday the 13th, a network misconfiguration outside my reach temporarily interrupted about 50% of the IP links from the data center to surrounding routers and exchanges. The ACARS server and all immediate hardware around it was fine. https://www.hoppie.nl/tmp/ip-link-down.png
see all previous progress messages
Installation
Fetch the install file and run it. It
will create a start icon for you.The program comes up with a single window and needs zero configuration. If you want, you can change the TCP port number via File/Setup, but then you must also include this port number in all your ACARS stations.
Typically, you use "localhost" in your stations to point at the ACARS mini server if it runs on the same machine as the stations. You may use "localhost:5000" if you changed the TCP port to 5000. All normal URL syntax is allowed, such as "http://192.168.0.1:5000" or host names if you have them.
By making the port number empty, the default 80 returns.