Systemd Services

The agent runs as a collection of systemd services. Each service handles one responsibility: MAVLink, video, cloud, health, and so on. The supervisor (ados-supervisor, a native Rust orchestrator) manages the lifecycle of all child services through systemctl. The unit names are a stable interface: you type the same systemctl restart ados-<name> commands regardless of which language a unit runs. Most units now exec a native Rust binary; a few stay Python by design (AI and vision, hardware-detection and bootstrap glue, the residual API, and some ground-station hardware managers). The “Runs” and “Lang” columns below show which is which. This architecture gives you per-service restart, resource isolation via cgroups, and clean dependency ordering.

Service list

Core services (all profiles)

Service	Runs	Lang	Description
`ados-supervisor`	supervisor	Rust	Parent orchestrator, starts and monitors children
`ados-mavlink`	`ados-mavlink-router`	Rust	FC serial connection and MAVLink router (WS on `:8765`)
`ados-control`	`ados-control`	Rust	HTTP front on port 8080 (proxies the residual API)
`ados-api`	`ados.services.api`	Python	Residual FastAPI behind the front, on an internal socket
`ados-cloud`	`ados-cloud`	Rust	MQTT and Convex cloud relay
`ados-logd`	`ados-logd`	Rust	Black-box logging store and query API
`ados-health`	`ados.services.health`	Python	CPU, RAM, disk, temperature monitoring
`ados-discovery`	mDNS	Python	mDNS advertisement (`_ados._tcp.local.`)
`ados-plugin-host`	plugin host	Rust	Plugin subprocess supervisor
`ados-peripherals`	peripherals manager	Python	USB hot-plug, sensor manager

Drone profile services

Service	Runs	Lang	Description
`ados-video`	`ados-video`	Rust	Camera detection, encoding, MediaMTX
`ados-wfb`	`ados-radio`	Rust	WFB-ng video transmitter
`ados-vision`	`ados-vision`	Rust	Vision host (on capable boards)
`ados-gpio`	`ados-gpio`	Rust	GPIO output substrate (ships disabled until enabled)

Ground station services (ground_station profile only)

Service	Runs	Lang	Description
`ados-wfb-rx`	`ados-groundlink`	Rust	WFB-ng video receiver (relay/receiver base)
`ados-oled`	`ados-display`	Rust	OLED/LCD display UI
`ados-display-probe`	`ados-display-probe`	Rust	Display panel detection
`ados-pic`	`ados-pic`	Rust	Panel-in-charge input arbiter
`ados-input`	`ados-input`	Rust	Bluetooth and USB gamepad input manager
`ados-buttons`	`ados.services.ui.button_service`	Python	GPIO button handler
`ados-uplink-router`	`ados-net`	Rust	Internet uplink priority and data cap
`ados-ethernet`	`ground_station.ethernet_manager`	Python	Ethernet connection manager
`ados-wifi-client`	`ground_station.wifi_client_manager`	Python	WiFi client connection manager
`ados-modem`	`ground_station.modem_manager`	Python	Cellular modem manager
`ados-hostapd`	`ground_station.hostapd_manager`	Python	WiFi hotspot (manages hostapd)
`ados-mediamtx-gs`	`ground_station.mediamtx_manager`	Python	MediaMTX for ground-side video relay
`ados-kiosk`	kiosk service	Python	HDMI kiosk mode (Chromium + cage Wayland)
`ados-dnsmasq-gs`	dnsmasq	C	DHCP and DNS for the hotspot
`ados-setup-captive`	captive DNS	Python	Captive portal DNS responder
`ados-usb-gadget`	USB gadget	Python	USB CDC-NCM/RNDIS gadget for laptop tether
`ados-usb-gadget-setup`	gadget setup	shell	One-shot USB gadget configuration
`ados-batman`	`ground_station.mesh_manager`	Python	batman-adv mesh carrier (gated)
`ados-wfb-relay` / `ados-wfb-receiver`	`ados-groundlink`	Rust	Mesh relay / receiver roles (gated)
`ados-mesh-pairing`	pairing daemon	Python	Mesh tap-to-pair daemon (gated)

Startup order

The supervisor starts first and brings up child services in dependency order:

ados-supervisor
  │
  ├── ados-mavlink        (starts immediately)
  ├── ados-control        (starts immediately, owns :8080)
  ├── ados-api            (starts immediately, behind the front)
  ├── ados-health         (starts immediately)
  ├── ados-logd           (starts immediately)
  ├── ados-discovery      (starts immediately)
  │
  ├── ados-video          (after camera detected)
  ├── ados-wfb            (after ados-video)
  ├── ados-cloud          (after ados-control)
  ├── ados-plugin-host    (after ados-control)
  └── ados-peripherals    (after ados-control)

Hardware-dependent services (video, wfb, modem) only start when the relevant hardware is detected.

Resource limits

Each service runs with cgroup resource limits to prevent any single service from consuming all system resources:

# Example from ados-mavlink.service
[Service]
MemoryMax=50M
CPUQuota=25%

Memory caps configured on a representative drone profile:

Service	MemoryMax	Typical usage
ados-mavlink	50M	~20 MB
ados-control	128M	~25 MB
ados-api	128M	~40 MB
ados-video	512M	~100-200 MB
ados-cloud	256M	~30 MB
ados-health	20M	~15 MB

This leaves headroom for the OS, ffmpeg, and MediaMTX.

Circuit breaker

The supervisor implements a circuit breaker: if a service fails 5 times within 60 seconds, the circuit breaker opens and stops restarting it. This prevents crash loops from consuming all system resources. The circuit breaker state is visible through the REST API:

curl http://localhost:8080/api/services \
  -H "X-ADOS-Key: $KEY"

Managing services

Check service status

# All services
sudo systemctl list-units "ados-*" --all

# Specific service
sudo systemctl status ados-video

Restart a service

sudo systemctl restart ados-video

View service logs

# Last 50 lines from a specific service
sudo journalctl -u ados-video -n 50

# Follow live
sudo journalctl -u ados-video -f

# All agent logs combined
sudo journalctl -u "ados-*" -f

# Since a specific time
sudo journalctl -u ados-mavlink --since "10 minutes ago"

Stop everything

sudo systemctl stop ados-supervisor

This stops the supervisor and all child services.

Start everything

sudo systemctl start ados-supervisor

Service dependencies

Ground station services have explicit dependency ordering:

ados-kiosk
  └── After=ados-mediamtx-gs.service
       └── After=ados-wfb-rx.service

ados-uplink-router
  └── After=ados-hostapd.service
       └── After=ados-dnsmasq-gs.service

This ensures the WiFi hotspot is up before the uplink router starts, and the video relay is ready before the kiosk opens the HUD page.

Automatic restart

All services are configured with automatic restart on failure:

[Service]
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=3

The supervisor detects when a child service restarts and logs the event. Combined with the circuit breaker, this means transient failures self-heal while persistent failures are contained.

Viewing all service files

The systemd unit files are installed at:

/etc/systemd/system/ados-*.service

To see the contents of a specific service file:

cat /etc/systemd/system/ados-video.service

Do not edit the service files directly. They are overwritten on each upgrade. If you need to customize a service (e.g., add environment variables or change resource limits), use a systemd override:

sudo systemctl edit ados-video

This creates a drop-in override file that persists across upgrades.

​Systemd Services

​Service list

​Core services (all profiles)

​Drone profile services

​Ground station services (ground_station profile only)

​Startup order

​Resource limits

​Circuit breaker

​Managing services

​Check service status

​Restart a service

​View service logs

​Stop everything

​Start everything

​Service dependencies

​Automatic restart

​Viewing all service files