Lets see your current weewx.conf please. The error code pretty clearly
indicates that you have only a partial MQTTSubscribeDriver section in
weewx.conf.
I'm wondering if you the two commands in 'Stop Weewx' section and then
restarting weewx right under there. Your weewx.conf file should have a
big MQTTSubscribe block containing what was in your generated template
right under the [Station] block very near the top of weewx.conf
My working test VM weewx.conf looks like this at top of file. Your content
will vary, but it should look the same structurally if you followed all the
steps.
debug = 1
log_success = True
log_failure = True
version = 5.2.0
[Station]
location = WeeWX station
latitude = 0.0
longitude = 0.0
station_type = MQTTSubscribeDriver
rain_year_start = 1
week_start = 6
[MQTTSubscribeDriver]
stop_on_validation_errors = true
driver = user.MQTTSubscribe
host = 192.168.1.69
port = 1883
keepalive = 60
username = None
password = None
binding = loop
[[topics]]
unit_system = US
[[[GW1200]]] # my topic name
subscribe = True
ignore = True # ignore elements by default
[[[[message]]]]
type = keyword
keyword_delimiter = & # ecowitt uses an odd delimeter
[[[[tempinf]]]] # element within the MQTT topic
payload
name = inTemp # map field to weewx db element
name
ignore = False # do not ignore this field
#--- and so on for other elements I want to use ----
I might add that your template doesn't map your data elements to weewx db
elements, so you'll almost certainly need to add those mappings for each
item in your MQTT payload, but first lets get the driver working and
hearing the subscribed payload before worrying that last thing.
On Friday, October 17, 2025 at 5:06:34 PM UTC-7 James Michael Wall wrote:
> I have read these steps over several times already, followed them, and am
> still getting errors, that's why I'm here asking for help. FWIW, I'm not a
> NOOB, I did RTFM, I currently have 18 devices (PC's and SBC's), all running
> either Debian or Raspberry Pi OS, and have been using Linux exclusively
> since 1993, when I started using it while in college - perhaps I'm getting
> old, and it's starting to show ;-).
>
> Here are the steps I have taken to attempt to get this working:
>
> I uninstalled the MQTTSubscribe driver that I had installed earlier by
> running sudo weectl extension uninstall MQTTSubscribe, to "start fresh".
> I then performed each of the steps, starting from the beginning, found at
> https://github.com/bellrichm/WeeWX-MQTTSubscribe/?tab=readme-ov-file#weewx-mqttsubscribe
>
> Please note that during following these steps, I had to run weectl
> extension install
> https://github.com/bellrichm/WeeWX-MQTTSubscribe/archive/refs/tags/v3.zip
> as sudo, because otherwise it denied me because of permissions, and yes, I
> have followed all the instructions found here:
> https://github.com/weewx/weewx/wiki/Understanding-permissions#working-with-permissions-in-a-unix-environment.
>
> I also read here: https://groups.google.com/g/weewx-user/c/dPWhlQQgwWk.
> I'm "fairly sure" that I have the correct permissions to my user account,
> since I can edit /etc/weewx/weewx.conf without sudo, and can start weewx as
> my user on this device:
>
> myusername@Zero2W-1:~ $ systemctl restart weewx
> ==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.freedesktop.systemd1.manage-units ====
> Authentication is required to restart 'weewx.service'.
> Authenticating as: ,,, (myusername)
> Password:
> ==== AUTHENTICATION COMPLETE ====
>
> Other than that one thing, everything else seemed to be going good until I
> got to this point:
> https://github.com/bellrichm/WeeWX-MQTTSubscribe?tab=readme-ov-file#validate-and-test-the-configuration,
>
> and the validation ran fine, but the simulate just kept running, producing
> no errors, all I get is a blinking cursor for about 20 seconds, then the
> cursor stops blinking.
>
> At that point, I did a CTRL-C and got this:
>
> python3 $USER_ROOT/MQTTSubscribe.py simulate $RUN_MODE --conf
> mqttsubscribe.template.conf
> ^CTraceback (most recent call last):
> File "/etc/weewx//bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 3397, in <module>
> main()
> File "/etc/weewx//bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 3390, in main
> simulator.run()
> File "/etc/weewx//bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 3136, in run
> self.simulate_driver_packet(driver)
> File "/etc/weewx//bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 3047, in
> simulate_driver_packet
> for packet in driver.genLoopPackets():
> File "/etc/weewx//bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 2342, in
> genLoopPackets
> data = self._handle_empty_queue()
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> File "/etc/weewx//bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 2385, in
> _handle_empty_queue
> time.sleep(self.wait_before_retry)
> KeyboardInterrupt
>
> I have attached the "newly" generated MQTTSubscribeDriver configuration
> template, that was produced by following the instructions, with the only
> the user and password info changed, maybe you can see what is going wrong,
> or what I'm missing here. Also, I am in including the Micro Python code
> snippet from my Raspberry Pico 2W (The device I am publishing the sensor
> data via MQTT from, via WiFi) to show my data mapping, which is all being
> *sent
> to a single topic (weatherpi)*, on the Raspberry Pi Zero2W-1 device which
> has the Mosquitto <https://mosquitto.org/> server installed and working,
> along with the paho-mqtt <https://pypi.org/project/paho-mqtt/> client,
> which I installed from the Raspberry Pi OS repo, using sudo apt install
> python3-paho-mqtt. I'm pretty sure that everything is working up to
> receiving the information to the Zero2W-1:
>
> sudo tail -f /var/log/mosquitto/mosquitto.log
> 1760745310: New connection from 192.168.1.106:60569 on port 1883.
> 1760745310: New client connected from 192.168.1.106:60569 as pico2w (p2,
> c1, k0, u'myusername').
> 1760745310: No will message specified.
> 1760745310: Sending CONNACK to pico2w (0, 0)
> 1760745326: Received PUBLISH from pico2w (d0, q0, r0, m0, 'weatherpi', ...
> (132 bytes))
> 1760745342: Received PUBLISH from pico2w (d0, q0, r0, m0, 'weatherpi', ...
> (132 bytes))
> 1760745358: Received PUBLISH from pico2w (d0, q0, r0, m0, 'weatherpi', ...
> (132 bytes))
>
> Here is the last output from WeeWX with the "newly generated"
> configuration in place:
>
> systemctl status weewx
> × weewx.service - WeeWX
> Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/weewx.service; enabled; preset:
> enabled)
> Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2025-10-17 15:34:37 PDT;
> 22min ago
> Duration: 1.065s
> Docs: https://weewx.com/docs
> Process: 8805 ExecStart=weewxd /etc/weewx/weewx.conf (code=exited,
> status=4)
> Main PID: 8805 (code=exited, status=4)
> CPU: 1.063s
>
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 weewxd[8805]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
> File "/etc/weewx/bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 2011, in __init>
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 weewxd[8805]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
> super().__init__(service_dict, logger)
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 weewxd[8805]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
> File "/etc/weewx/bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 1751, in __init>
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 weewxd[8805]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
> raise ValueError("[[topics]] is required.")
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 weewxd[8805]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
> ValueError: [[topics]] is required.
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 weewxd[8805]: CRITICAL __main__: Unable to load
> driver: [[topics]] is required.
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 weewxd[8805]: CRITICAL __main__: ****
> Exiting...
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 systemd[1]: weewx.service: Main process exited,
> code=exited, status=4/NOPERMISSION
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 systemd[1]: weewx.service: Failed with result
> 'exit-code'.
> Oct 17 15:34:37 Zero2W-1 systemd[1]: weewx.service: Consumed 1.063s CPU
> time.
>
> At this point, I'm pretty sure (AFAICT) I just need to figure out how to
> get the data from there into WeeWX, using the MQTTSubscribeDriver. I'm
> sorry that there is so much info in this post, I'm just trying to convey
> what is in front of me, and get help to fix the problem. Please forgive my
> lack of knowledge here, this is my first experience with WeeWX. If you need
> anything else, please don't hesitate to ask, I am happy to help in any way
> I can - this is driving me bonkers!
> On Friday, October 17, 2025 at 1:05:35 PM UTC-7 vince wrote:
>
>> Read the web pages top to bottom a couple times (link)
>> <https://github.com/bellrichm/WeeWX-MQTTSubscribe>. They are there for
>> a reason. You might need to read it top to bottom a couple times. Invest
>> the time. Do what it says.
>>
>> Rather than randomly trying to hit a good configuration, definitely do
>> the configuration and testing steps starting at (link)
>> <https://github.com/bellrichm/WeeWX-MQTTSubscribe/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file#create-an-example-configuration>
>> and
>> do what the documentation says. That will output a validly formatted
>> template file you can edit to match your setup and test. Pay particular
>> attention to the comments in the template file it'll generate.
>>
>> Rich's driver/service is a little unusual in that it seems to have an
>> installer to even do the right thing to put it into place, but I haven't
>> tried that personally.
>>
>> On Friday, October 17, 2025 at 12:06:14 PM UTC-7 James Michael Wall wrote:
>>
>>> So, I must be doing something wrong, not sure what though. I am
>>> attaching my updated weewx.conf file, and the error that it generated.
>>>
>>> On Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 4:49:43 PM UTC-7 vince wrote:
>>>
>>>> Your weewx.conf section looks incomplete/incorrect. You are missing
>>>> all the configuration info you need to add.
>>>>
>>>> If you look at the examples in
>>>> https://github.com/bellrichm/WeeWX-MQTTSubscribe/tree/master/exampleConfigs
>>>>
>>>> they should give you the basic format needed although you’ll need to
>>>> figure
>>>> out your custom mapping of data to weewx database fields.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 4:28:06 PM UTC-7 James Michael Wall
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Also,
>>>>>
>>>>> Sorry, I forgot to provide WeeWX status, FWIW:
>>>>>
>>>>> $ systemctl status weewx
>>>>> × weewx.service - WeeWX
>>>>> Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/weewx.service; enabled;
>>>>> preset: enabled)
>>>>> Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2025-10-14 16:24:18
>>>>> PDT; 2s ago
>>>>> Duration: 903ms
>>>>> Docs: https://weewx.com/docs
>>>>> Process: 4176 ExecStart=weewxd /etc/weewx/weewx.conf (code=exited,
>>>>> status=4)
>>>>> Main PID: 4176 (code=exited, status=4)
>>>>> CPU: 904ms
>>>>>
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
>>>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
>>>>> File "/etc/weewx/bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 2011, in __init__
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
>>>>> super().__init__(service_dict, logger)
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
>>>>> File "/etc/weewx/bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 1751, in __init__
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
>>>>> raise ValueError("[[topics]] is required.")
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL weewx.engine: ****
>>>>> ValueError: [[topics]] is required.
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL __main__: Unable to
>>>>> load driver: [[topics]] is required.
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 weewxd[4176]: CRITICAL __main__: ****
>>>>> Exiting...
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 systemd[1]: weewx.service: Main process
>>>>> exited, code=exited, status=4/NOPERMISSION
>>>>> Oct 14 16:24:18 Zero2W-1 systemd[1]: weewx.service: Failed with result
>>>>> 'exit-code'.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 3:55:38 PM UTC-7 James Michael Wall
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hello,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I am new to using WeeWX, and am having trouble getting the
>>>>>> MQTTSubscribe driver to work properly. I am following the directions
>>>>>> found
>>>>>> at https://github.com/bellrichm/WeeWX-MQTTSubscribe as best as I
>>>>>> can, but some of it is hard for me to understand. My basic understanding
>>>>>> of
>>>>>> WeeWX and MQTT is very limited, so I am going to do the best I can to
>>>>>> explain my problem, provide whatever information necessary, and
>>>>>> (hopefully)
>>>>>> get this issue resolved so I can get my weather station working.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here is my Hardware/Software Setup Overview:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> *Weather Station/MQTT Client/MQTT Publisher:*
>>>>>>
>>>>>> BC-Robotics 1591B Weatherboard
>>>>>> <https://bc-robotics.com/shop/raspberry-pi-pico-1591b-weather-board/>
>>>>>> with Raspberry Pico 2W
>>>>>> <https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-pico-2/>, running
>>>>>> MicroPython v1.26.1-2025-09-11. This device is collecting, parsing, and
>>>>>> sending data from various weather sensors connected to it over WiFi on
>>>>>> my
>>>>>> local LAN using umqttsimple. This device is set up as an MQTT client,
>>>>>> which
>>>>>> publishes the sensor data using the topic "weatherpi" to the MQTT broker
>>>>>> on
>>>>>> the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W listed below.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> *Weather Reciever/MQTT Server/MQTT Broker/MQTT Subscriber/WeeWX
>>>>>> Server:*
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Raspberry Pi Zero 2W
>>>>>> <https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-2-w/>,
>>>>>> running Raspberry OS "Bookworm" with WeeWX version 5.1.0-4 installed as
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> Debian package via the WeeWX debian repo instructions. I have installed
>>>>>> Mosquitto version 2.0.11, and python3-paho-mqtt 1.6.1-1. I set up
>>>>>> Mosquitto
>>>>>> to act as an MQTT broker on this device, subscribed to the topic
>>>>>> "weatherpi", which is published by the Pico. I have installed the
>>>>>> MQTTSubscribe driver per the instructions found in the Github link
>>>>>> above.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> AFAICT, I have everything set up correctly on the Pico, and it is
>>>>>> publishing successfully to the Mosquitto MQTT server, but when I run
>>>>>> sudo
>>>>>> weectl station reconfigure, after going through all the prompts, I get
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> following error:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Traceback (most recent call last):
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weectl.py", line 75, in <module>
>>>>>> main()
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weectl.py", line 67, in main
>>>>>> namespace.func(namespace)
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weectllib/__init__.py", line 90, in dispatch
>>>>>> namespace.action_func(config_dict, namespace)
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weectllib/station_cmd.py", line 311, in
>>>>>> reconfigure_station
>>>>>>
>>>>>> weectllib.station_actions.station_reconfigure(config_dict=config_dict,
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weectllib/station_actions.py", line 164, in
>>>>>> station_reconfigure
>>>>>> config_config(config_dict,
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weectllib/station_actions.py", line 207, in
>>>>>> config_config
>>>>>> config_driver(config_dict, driver=driver, no_prompt=no_prompt)
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weectllib/station_actions.py", line 466, in
>>>>>> config_driver
>>>>>> settings = weecfg.prompt_for_driver_settings(final_driver,
>>>>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>>>> File "/usr/share/weewx/weecfg/__init__.py", line 520, in
>>>>>> prompt_for_driver_settings
>>>>>> settings = editor.prompt_for_settings()
>>>>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>>>> File "/etc/weewx/bin/user/MQTTSubscribe.py", line 2424, in
>>>>>> prompt_for_settings
>>>>>> if len(self.existing_options['topics']) > 1:
>>>>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^
>>>>>> File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/configobj/__init__.py", line
>>>>>> 554, in __getitem__
>>>>>> val = dict.__getitem__(self, key)
>>>>>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>>>> KeyError: 'topics'.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> In following the directions given in the top of the weewx-user group
>>>>>> with regard to posting, I am attaching my weewx.conf file, and system
>>>>>> log
>>>>>> from the RP Zero using the following command: journalctl -xe | grep
>>>>>> weewx
>>>>>> to this post. The other information requested is listed above. If you
>>>>>> need
>>>>>> anything else, please let me know, I am happy to help.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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