DOCUMENTATION

Racketeer v0.3.1 — offline-first rack documentation for fire & security, IT, and AV integrators.

System Requirements

Install — Windows

Download the Windows installer (Racketeer-Setup-0.3.1.exe) from the download page. No Docker required — the installer bundles everything.

1. Run Racketeer-Setup-0.3.1.exe — accept the UAC prompt.
2. The installer deploys the application, registers a background Windows Service (Racketeer), and adds a Start Menu shortcut.
3. When the installer finishes, open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.
4. Racketeer starts automatically on every boot — no further action required.

Managing the Windows Service

# Check status
Get-Service Racketeer

# Stop
Stop-Service Racketeer

# Start
Start-Service Racketeer

# Open in browser
http://localhost:3000

Install — Linux

Download racketeer-0.3.1-linux.zip and extract it.

unzip racketeer-0.3.1-linux.zip -d racketeer
cd racketeer
chmod +x install-standalone.sh
sudo ./install-standalone.sh

The installer loads the Docker image and registers a systemd service (racketeer). Racketeer will be available at http://localhost:3000 and will start automatically on boot.

# Check status
sudo systemctl status racketeer

# Stop
sudo systemctl stop racketeer

# Start
sudo systemctl start racketeer

Install — macOS

Download racketeer-0.3.1-macos.zip and extract it.

unzip racketeer-0.3.1-macos.zip -d racketeer
cd racketeer
chmod +x install-standalone.sh
sudo ./install-standalone.sh

The installer registers a LaunchDaemon so Racketeer starts at boot. Access at http://localhost:3000.

Install — Docker Compose (macOS / Linux Advanced)

For macOS and Linux, you can also run Racketeer manually using Docker Compose if you prefer to manage the container yourself.

# Load the image from the downloaded .tar.gz
docker load -i racketeer-image.tar.gz

# Start with the provided compose file
docker-compose up -d

# Open in browser
http://localhost:3000

Data is persisted to a ./data volume. Back this up regularly — it contains your entire database and license key.

First Login

Navigate to http://localhost:3000 (or the port you configured).

The default admin credentials are:

Username:  admin
PIN:       0000

License Activation

The beta build ships with a pre-activated 999-seat license valid until March 2027 — no activation required to evaluate the product.

To activate a purchased license key:

1. Log in as an admin user.
2. Click your username in the top-right corner → License.
3. Paste your RKS1.-prefixed license key into the field and click Activate.
4. The page will confirm your plan tier, seat count, and expiry date. No internet connection is required.

Sites & Racks

The Racketeer data hierarchy is: Sites → Racks → Devices → Ports.

• A Site represents a physical location (e.g. "Head Office", "Client A — Server Room").
• A Rack lives inside a site and has a U-height (e.g. 42U), a key number, and optional power budget.

From the dashboard, click Add Site to create a site, then Add Rack inside it. Click a rack card to open the rack builder.

Adding Devices

Inside the rack builder, the device palette appears on the left. Drag a device type from the palette and drop it into a U-slot in the rack. You can also click any device in the palette and then click the target slot.

• Devices can be placed on the front or back of the rack (toggle the Front/Back button).
• Full-depth devices (servers, UPS) block the opposite face at that U-position.
• Half-width and quarter-width devices allow multiple devices per U.

Click any placed device to open its detail panel where you can rename it, set IP addresses, power draw, serial number, and more.

Port Mapping

Click a device in the rack, then click the Ports tab in the detail panel. Click any port to open the port details dialog.

For each port you can set:

• Label — e.g. "Gi0/1", "Port 3", "HDMI-Out"
• Connected To — free-text or pick another device/port. Both ends update when you save.
• Cable ID — optional asset tag for the physical cable (e.g. "CAT6-042")
• Cable Length — in metres
• IP Address, VLAN, MAC — for network ports
• Notes

Capacity Planning View

Click the Capacity button in the dashboard header to overlay capacity indicators on every rack card:

• U Space — filled U / total U as a progress bar (green <70%, amber 70–90%, red >90%)
• Power — total device power draw / rack power budget (set in rack settings)
• Ports — connected ports / total ports across all devices

Cable Register

Navigate to Cables in the dashboard header (or go directly to /connections). The cable register shows every port-to-port connection across all your sites and racks in a single table.

• Filter by site, rack, cable type, or free-text search.
• Export the full register as CSV or PDF.

Audit Log PROFESSIONAL+

Navigate to Audit in the dashboard header (admin users only, visible on Professional plan and above).

Every change to the database is recorded with a timestamp, the logged-in username, the action type (create / update / delete), and the entity affected. The audit log is immutable — entries are never edited, only appended.

• Filter by action type, user, entity type, or free-text search.
• Export as PDF for client handover or compliance documentation.
• Entries are retained up to 10,000 (oldest evicted first).

Rack Templates & Duplication PROFESSIONAL+

Duplicate a rack: click the ⋮ menu on any rack card → Duplicate. The clone is added to the same site.

Save as Template: click the ⋮ menu on any rack card → Save as Template. Give the template a name. IP addresses, MAC addresses, and asset numbers are stripped automatically.

Create from Template: click From Template below the "Add Rack" button. Pick a saved template — a new rack is created pre-populated with all devices and port configurations from the template.

Site Client Info & PDF Cover Page

Click the ℹ (info) icon on any site card to open the Client Info panel. Fill in any combination of:

• Client / company name
• Site address
• Contact name, phone, email
• Contract reference
• Next service date
• Notes

When client info is present, all PDF exports for that site include a formatted cover page. The site card will show the client name and, if a next service date is set, highlight it amber when it falls within the next 30 days.

Asset License Tracking PROFESSIONAL+

Navigate to the Expiring Licenses card on the dashboard (or go directly to /licenses) to manage software, hardware, subscription, and maintenance licenses for your customer installations.

For each license you can record:

• Name — e.g. "Milestone VMS Pro"
• Type — Software / Hardware / Subscription / Maintenance
• Vendor, License Key, Seats/Nodes
• Site — link to a specific site, or set as Global
• Purchase Date, Expiry Date — leave expiry blank for perpetual licenses
• Cost and Notes

The dashboard "Expiring Licenses" card turns amber and shows a count when any license expires within 30 days. The full license list can be exported as CSV.

PDF & CSV Export

Exports are available at both the site level and individual rack level.

Site PDF

From the dashboard, click the ⋮ menu on a site card → Export Site PDF. Includes a cover page (if client info is set), a summary table of all racks, and device listings for each rack.

Rack PDF / Mounting Guide

Open a rack, click Export → Rack PDF or Mounting Guide. The mounting guide lists each device with its U position, height, and weight.

CSV Export

From the dashboard Tools menu → Export CSV. Produces a spreadsheet of all devices across all sites and racks.

Cable Register PDF / CSV

From the Cables page, use the Export buttons in the top-right corner.

Asset Licenses CSV

From the Licenses page, use the Export CSV button to download all visible (filtered) licenses including status, cost, and expiry date.

NVR / DVR Camera Configuration PROFESSIONAL+

When you place an NVR / DVR device in a rack, a Configure Cameras button appears in its detail panel. This opens the camera configuration dialog where you can document all cameras connected to that recorder.

For each camera you can record:

• Name — e.g. "CAM-01", "Reception Front"
• Type — Bullet, Dome, Fish-eye, Pano, PTZ, Predator, Thermal, Thermal PTZ
• IP Address, Subnet, Gateway
• MAC Address, VLAN
• Asset Number & Drawing Reference Number
• Connection — Rack Device (patch panel/switch + port) or Direct (cable number)
• Patch Location — auto-populated from the device/port selection

Camera data is included in PDF and CSV exports for that rack.

PAVA Device Configuration PROFESSIONAL+

Public Address & Voice Alarm (PAVA) amplifiers and controllers support speaker documentation. Click Configure PAVA in the device detail panel to manage speakers connected to that device.

For each speaker you can record:

• Name & Zone
• Type — Ceiling, Wall, Column, Horn, In-Ground
• Wattage
• Location description
• Cable number & drawing reference

PAVA speaker details appear in the rack PDF export, giving you a complete record of all loudspeaker positions and wiring without leaving Racketeer.

Drive Bay & Storage Management

Servers and NVR / DVR devices support drive bay documentation. Click the Drive Bays tab in the device detail panel to document installed drives.

For each bay you can record:

• Bay number
• Status — Populated, Empty, Failed
• Capacity — in GB or TB
• Drive type — HDD, SSD, NVMe
• Serial number
• Notes

A storage summary (total capacity, filled bays) is shown at the top of the drive bay view and is included in the rack PDF export.

Tools & Calculators PROFESSIONAL+

Navigate to Tools in the dashboard header to access the built-in engineering calculators.

CCTV Storage Calculator

Estimate required storage for a CCTV system. Enter the number of cameras, resolution, frame rate, compression (H.264/H.265), and retention period in days. The calculator outputs total storage in GB/TB and suggests drive configurations.

RAID Calculator

Calculate usable capacity and fault tolerance for common RAID levels (RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10). Enter drive count and individual drive size to see usable space, minimum drives, and drives that can fail before data loss.

Battery Backup Calculator

Calculate required UPS battery capacity. Enter total load in watts and required runtime in minutes to get the minimum VA rating and recommended battery capacity in Ah (at 12V).

Plan Comparison

Default Credentials

Username:  admin
PIN:       0000

Change these immediately after installation. Go to the user menu (top right) → Accounts.

Data Location & Backup

All application data (sites, racks, devices, accounts, license key) is stored in a single JSON file:

# Windows (WinSW service install)
C:\ProgramData\Racketeer\data\db.json

# Linux (systemd service)
/opt/racketeer/data/db.json

# macOS / Docker Compose
./data/db.json  (in your docker-compose directory)

Back up the entire data/ folder (or directory) regularly. Restoring is as simple as replacing the folder and restarting the service. The data/ folder also contains your license.key file — include this in your backup.

Changelog

See the full CHANGELOG.md on GitHub for a complete version history.