Sometimes you need to change from one driver to another. For example, when you install WeeWX, you might start with the Simulator, then later decide to change to actual hardware, say a Vantage weather station. This guide shows how to do this.

The driver is specified in the weewx.conf file, specifically by the station_type parameter in the [Station] section. There must be a stanza corresponding to the value specified for station_type, and that stanza must contain a driver parameter that tells WeeWX where to find the actual code for the driver.

For example, here is the default configuration for the Simulator:

[Station]
    ...
    station_type = Simulator

[Simulator]
    # This section is for the WeeWX weather station simulator

    # The time (in seconds) between LOOP packets.
    loop_interval = 2.5

    # The simulator mode can be either 'simulator' or 'generator'.
    # Real-time simulator. Sleep between each LOOP packet.
    mode = simulator
    # Generator.  Emit LOOP packets as fast as possible (useful for testing).
    #mode = generator

    # The start time. If not specified, the default is to use the present time.
    #start = 2011-01-01 00:00

    # The driver to use:
    driver = weewx.drivers.simulator

In WeeWX 2.x, the default weewx.conf contained a stanza for every one of the supported stations. In WeeWX 3.x, one driver stanza is inserted into weewx.conf when you install WeeWX.

Any number of driver stanzas can be in the weewx.conf file, but only one can be active - the one specified by the station_type.

This approach will work on any WeeWX installation for both standard and custom drivers.

1. Stop weewx

   sudo systemctl stop weewx

2. Modify weewx.conf

   For example, to specify the Vantage driver for Davis Vantage Pro2 hardware:

       [Station]
           ...
           station_type = Vantage
   
       [Vantage]
           type = serial
           port = /dev/ttyUSB0
           driver = weewx.drivers.vantage

3. Start weewx

   sudo systemctl start weewx

This approach will work on any WeeWX installation for standard drivers and/or drivers in the user directory.

1. Stop weewx

   sudo systemctl stop weewx

2. Run weectl station with the reconfigure action. This will prompt for new station options, including the driver.

   weectl station reconfigure

3. Start weewx

   sudo systemctl start weewx

This approach will work for standard drivers on WeeWX installations that were installed from a .deb package.

1. Run the reconfigure option to dpkg

   sudo dpkg-reconfigure weewx

This should prompt for the station parameters, including the station type and any options required by the station.

If you use a custom driver then you must use the manual approach. A custom driver is any driver that does not implement all of the AbstractConfEditor methods.

If you develop your own driver, you should put it in the user directory then manually configure weewx.conf.