ubxtool - Man Page

ubxtool [Options} [server[:port[:device]]]

ubxtool -h

ubxtool -V

ubxtool is a tool for u-blox GPS. If you do not have a u-blox GPS then you can stop reading now.

This tool operates with your u-blox GPS at a very low level. To understand ubxtool you must first be familiar with your u-blox GPS and the documentation for the u-blox binary protocol. The u-blox protocol varies greatly depending on GPS model and firmware revision. Use the u-blox documentation for your model and firmware.

ubxtool can decode common u-blox binary messages, poll the GPS status, enable and disable GPS features, and send user generated commands to the GPS. It can read binary messages from a file. It can read and write directly through a serial device, or through a running gpsd instance.

ubxtool does not require root privileges, except maybe to access the serial port in direct access mode (-f FILE). It will run fine as root. Running under sudo will cause loss of functionality.

The program accepts the following options:

-?,  -h,  --help

Makes ubxtool print a usage message and exit. Use with -v 2 to see all enable/disable and preset values. Use with -v 3 to additionally see all configuration items (long).

-c COMMAND, --command COMMAND

Send a command to the GPS. Accepts one parameter, COMMAND, a comma-separated list of hexadecimal bytes specifying the class, the ID, and any needed payload. The header, length, and checksum are added automatically.

--device DEVICE

The DEVICE on the gpsd to connect to. Defaults to all.

-d OPTION, --disable OPTION

Disable an option in the GPS. Accepts one parameter, OPTION, the option to disable. Run "ubxtool -h -v 2" to see all possible OPTIONs. A few possible OPTIONs are:

BEIDOU

Disable use of the BeiDou (COMPASS) constellation.

BINARY

Disable sending of the basic binary messages.

ECEF

Disable sending of ECEF binary messages.

GALILEO

Disable use of the GALILEO constellation.

GLONASS

Disable use of the GLONASS constellation.

GPS

Disable use of the GPS and QZSS constellations.

NED

Disable sending of NED binary messages. UBX-NAV-VELNED and UBX-NAV-RELPOSNED.

NMEA

Disable sending basic NMEA messages. The messages are GBS, GGA, GSA, GGL, GST, GSV, RMC, VTG, and ZDA.

PPS

Disable TIMEPULSE 0.

RAWX

Disable sending of the UBX-RXM-RAWX messages.

SBAS

Disable use of the SBAS constellation.

SFRBX

Disable use of the SFRBX messages.

SURVEYIN

Disable survey-in mode with TMODE2.

TP

Disable sending UBX-TIM-TP.

-e OPTION, --enable OPTION

Enable an option in the GPS. Accepts one parameter, OPTION, the option to enable. -e accepts the same OPTIONs as -d, except the action is to enable the option.

-f FILE, --file FILE

Connect directly to a file or device. Accepts one parameter, FILE, the file or device to open. Files are opened read-only. Character devices are opened read/write, unless the -r parameter is given. Requires the pyserial module.

-g ITEM,LAYER,POSITION,END, --getitem ITEM,LAYER,POSITION,END

Get the value of ITEM from LAYER, starting at POSITION, up to END key/value pairs (UBX-CFG-VALGET). All parameters past ITEM are optional and decimal. If LAYER is absent, then layers 0, 1, 2 and 7 are all requested. See the section on Configuration Items

--host HOST

Connect to the gpsd on HOST (server). Defaults to localhost.

-i port, --portid port

Specifies port ID # (interface) for port-related commands such as UBX_CFG-PRT.

-p PRESET, --preset PRESET

Send a preset command to the GPS. Usually accepts one parameter, PRESET, the name of the command to send. A few PRESETS, like LOG-FINDTIME, accept additional comma separated parameters. More than one -p may be used.

Only the common PRESETS are shown here. To see the full list, including optional parameters, run "ubxtool -h -v 2".

COLDBOOT

Coldboot the GPS (UBX-CFG-RST).

HOTBOOT

Hotboot the GPS (UBX-CFG-RST).

MODEL,model

Configure the Dynamic Platform Model to model. (UBX-CFG-NAV5). Model is the decimal number of the desired mode.

PMS

Set power management settings (UBX-CFG-PMS). "PMS,pow" where pow is powerSetupValue.

RATE

Set measurement and nav rate (UBX-CFG-RATE). "RATE,meas,nav" meas is the measRate in milli seconds. The nav argument is the navRate in cycles and defaults to 1.

RESET

Reset configuration to defaults (UBX-CFG-CFG).

SAVE

Save current configuration (UBX-CFG-CFG).

MON-RESETODO

Reset the odometer (UBX-MON-RESETODO).

MON-VER

Poll GPS version (UBX-MON-VER).

WARMBOOT

Warmboot the GPS (UBX-CFG-RST).

Most PRESET parameters are simple poll commands. They merely poll the GPS to respond with the associated message. For example "ubxtool -p CFG-GNSS" asks the GPS to respond with a UBX-CFG-GNSS message describing the current GNSS configuration. Increase the verbosity of the output by adding the "-v 2" or "-v 3" options.

--port PORT

Use PORT to connect to gpsd. Defaults to 2947.

-P protver, --protver protver

Sets the protocol version to use for sending commands. Minimum 6 (Antaris 4). Use "ubxtool -p MON-VER" to see the version your receiver supports. Many newer u-blox receivers will fail silently or oddly if this is not set correctly. Default 10 (u-blox 5).

-r,  -readonly

Read only. Do not send anything to the GPS.

-R RAW, --rawfile RAW

Save all raw serial data received from the GPS into the file RAW.

-s SPEED, --inspeed SPEED

Set local serial port speed to SPEED bps. Default 9,600 bps.

-S SPEED, --setspeed SPEED

Set the GPS serial port speed to SPEED bps.

-t,  --timestamp

Timestamp decoded messages with seconds since the epoch. Use it twice and also get UTC time.

-v VERBOSITY, --verbosity VERBOSITY

Set verbosity level to VERBOSITY. Verbosity can be from 0 (very quiet), 2 (decode messages), to 4 (very noisy). Default 1.

-V,  --version

Print ubxtool version and exit.

-w WAIT, --wait WAIT

Wait for WAIT seconds before exiting. Use 0 to wait forever. Default 2 seconds.

-x ITEM,LAYERS, --delitem ITEM,LAYERS

Delete the value of ITEM name from LAYERS. The bit map LAYERS is optional. By default, delete in both the BBR and FLASH layers in the receiver (UBX_CFG-VALDEL). Returning to the reciver default for that item. See the section on Configuration Items

-z ITEM,VAL,LAYERS, --setitem ITEM,VAL,LAYERS

Set the value of ITEM name to VAL in LAYERS in the GPS (UBX-CFG-VALSET). VAL and the bit mask LAYERS are decimal. ",LAYERS" is optional. The default LAYERS are RAM and FLASH. See the section on Configuration Items

By default, clients collect data from the local gpsd daemon running on localhost, using the default GPSD port 2947. The optional argument to any client may override this behavior: [server[:port[:device]]]

For further explanation, and examples, see the ARGUMENTS section in the gps(1) man page

Configuring u-blox GPS with the traditional configuration messages is fraught with problems. Many configuration messages interact in odd ways. Something as simple as changing the serial port speed requires you to read the current configuration using UBX-CFG-PRT for the proper port, merging in the change, the writing back the changed UBX-CFG-PRT message. Or just guessing at the current configuration and overwriting it all.

The u-blox 9 series, protocol version 27+, tries, but does not completely succeed, to solve the problem with Configuration Items. If your GPS does not support protocol version 27+, then this section does not apply to you.

Most of the configuration variables in the GPS have been assigned a 32-bit Key ID. Each Key references one specific value. A typical receiver may have over 1,100 Key IDs. Each Key ID has been assigned a Key Name. Most of the Key Names are documented by u-blox and supported by ubxtool. To see all the Key Name understood by ubxtool run: "ubxtool -h -v 3".

To get the value related to an item, use "-g ITEM".

To reset the value related to an item to it default value, use "-x ITEM".

To set an ITEM name to a value, use "-z ITEM,VAL".

If you only want to set an ITEM in one layer, use "-z ITEM,VAL,LAYER".

See the Examples section for concrete examples.

All examples assume that UBXOPTS is set with the protocol version of your receiver. Be sure to replace the "-P 18" with your correct prototype version.

export UBXOPTS="-P 18"

Dump configuration and status of the GNSS recceiver. The "-w 4" is to provide extra time for the operations to complete.

ubxtool -p CONFIG -p STATUS -w 4 -v 2

Decode raw log file:

ubxtool -r -f ublox-neo-m8n.log

Change GPS port speed of device on /dev/ttyAMA0 to 230,400 bps:

ubxtool -S 230400 -f /dev/ttyAMA0

Watch entire GPS reset cycle, include $GPTXT messages:

ubxtool -p COLDBOOT -w 20 -v 2

Poll Enabled Constellations:

ubxtool -p CFG-GNSS

Dump gpsd data from a remote server named x.example.com:

ubxtool -w 5 x.example.com

-p CFG-TP5,[tpIdx = 0],[antCableDelay = 2],[rfGroupDelay = 0],[freqPeriod = 1000000],[freqPeriodLock = 1000000],[pulseLenRatio = 0],[pulseLenRatioLock = 100000],[userConfigDelay = 0],[flags = 0x77]

$ ubxtool -p CFG-TP5,,,,250000,250000,100000,100000

$ ubxtool -p CFG-TP5,,,,,100000,,50000

    export UBXOPTS="-P 32"

$ ubxtool -g CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL
[...]
UBX-CFG-VALGET:
 version 1 layer 0 reserved 0,0
  layers (ram)
    item CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL/0x20110021 val 2
[...]
$ ubxtool -z CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL,6
[...]
UBX-ACK-ACK:
 ACK to Class x6 (CFG) ID x8a (VALSET)
[...]
$ ubxtool -g CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL
[...]
UBX-CFG-VALGET:
 version 1 layer 0 reserved 0,0
  layers (ram)
    item CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL/0x20110021 val 6
[...]
$ ubxtool -x CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL
[...]
UBX-ACK-ACK:
 ACK to Class x6 (CFG) ID x8c (VALDEL)
[...]
$ ubxtool -g CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL
[...]
UBX-CFG-VALGET:
 version 1 layer 0 reserved 0,0
  layers (ram)
    item CFG-NAVSPG-DYNMODEL/0x20110021 val 6

$ ubxtool -g CFG-TP,0
[...]
UBX-CFG-VALGET:
 version 1 layer 0 position 0
  layers (ram)
    item CFG-TP-TP1_ENA/0x10050007 val 1
    item CFG-TP-SYNC_GNSS_TP1/0x10050008 val 1
    item CFG-TP-USE_LOCKED_TP1/0x10050009 val 1
[...]

$ ubxtool -g CFG,0,0,1200 | fgrep "item CFG-"
    item CFG-1-1/0x10010001 val 0
    item CFG-1-1/0x10010101 val 0
    item CFG-4-1/0x10040001 val 1
    item CFG-4-2/0x10040002 val 0
    item CFG-4-3/0x10040003 val 0
    item CFG-4-4/0x10040004 val 0
    item CFG-4-9/0x10040009 val 0
    item CFG-TP-TP1_ENA/0x10050007 val 1
    item CFG-TP-SYNC_GNSS_TP1/0x10050008 val 1
[...]

Options can be placed in the UBXOPTS environment variable. UBXOPTS is processed before the CLI options.

0

on success.

1

on failure

ubxtool is written to conform to the official u-blox documentation for the u-blox binary protocol. https://www.u-blox.com/en/product-resources

gpsd(8), gpsctl(1), gps(1)

Project web site: https://gpsd.io/

This file is Copyright 2013 by the GPSD project
SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-clause

Gary E. Miller

gpsctl(1), gpsrinex(1).