Install AlpacaBridge
A growing suite of native, ConformU-verified ASCOM Alpaca drivers that turns your single-board computer into a gear-control server. It installs from the OpenAstro APT repository in three commands and runs as a service that starts on boot.
Native Alpaca drivers
Everything runs on the SBC at your telescope. No ASCOM Platform, no Windows box, no vendor COM drivers.
ConformU-verified
Every driver ships validated against the official ASCOM conformance suite, on the exact hardware it supports.
Plug in and go
Bundled vendor SDKs and udev rules, with USB and Wi-Fi devices auto-detected. No port hunting, no driver installs.
Web management UI
Configure every device from a browser anywhere on your network at
http://<your-sbc>:6800/.
Set-and-forget service
Runs as a systemd service, starts on boot, and updates with
apt upgrade.
Broad device coverage
Cameras, mounts, focusers, filter wheels, rotators, cover calibrators, switches, and weather, across eleven brands.
AlpacaBridge runs on Debian 13 (Trixie) arm64. If your board isn't set up yet, flash it first with the Set Up Your SBC guides.
1. Add the OpenAstro signing key
sudo curl -fsSL https://apt.openastro.net/repo/openastro-archive-keyring.gpg \
| sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/openastro-archive-keyring.gpg
2. Add the repository
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/openastro-archive-keyring.gpg] \
https://apt.openastro.net trixie main" \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openastro.list
3. Install
sudo apt update
sudo apt install alpacabridge
The service starts automatically and runs as the alpacabridge system user. Next, configure your devices in the web UI.
Updating
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade alpacabridge
Uninstalling
sudo apt remove alpacabridge