Settings & controllers

What it does. Configures which network controller HollowMap reads from (if any), plus property location and port. Open Settings from the toolbar.

How to use it

Controller type

• UniFi — stable, most tested. Controller URL, username, password, and site(s). Use a local admin, not Ubiquiti cloud (SSO).
• Omada — beta. Controller URL, username, password, and site name (blank = first site).
• OpenWRT, MikroTik, Aruba Instant, Ruckus, Cisco Catalyst 9800 — early access. Built to the documented API; mappings may need tuning. Use Help → Contact support if yours does not line up.
• Cisco Meraki — listed but not usable yet: it connects, but every signal figure stays empty. Pick None instead until it is finished.
• None (no controller) — HollowMap records position only; the controller fields are disabled. Use this for standalone surveying. The walk, the track and pins all work; the AP and signal columns stay empty.

The password is stored encrypted (Windows DPAPI), never in plain text, in a file per controller — switching vendors will not reuse the previous vendor's password. Enter the password for each controller you configure. Changing settings restarts the server.

Other settings

• Favorite devices — Name=mac pairs, one per line. They appear as one-tap chips on the Record screen.
• Property latitude / longitude — used for the weather lookup that fills the humidity column. (The map centres on your points, not on this.)
• App port — default 9444.

Advanced settings (config.env / environment variables)

These have no UI field; set them in config.env in the state directory (%LOCALAPPDATA%\HollowMap) or as environment variables.

Setting	Default	What it does
ACCESS_KEY	generated	The key remote devices must present to read or write data. Generated on first run and stored in accesskey.txt. Set this to pin a known value.
RETENTION_DAYS	0	Delete samples older than this many days, checked hourly. 0 keeps everything.
POLL_MS	1000	How often to poll the controller. Minimum 250 ms. On errors HollowMap backs off automatically, up to 60 s.
HOST_IP	(blank)	Pin the LAN address advertised to phones. Blank prefers a 192.168.x.x address over Tailscale/WSL.
TLS_PIN	(on)	Controller certificate pinning. The first certificate seen for a controller is remembered (in pins/) and a later mismatch refuses the connection. Set to off to accept any certificate, or delete the pin file after a legitimate certificate change.

Access and privacy

HollowMap serves over HTTPS on your LAN with a self‑signed certificate. Reads and writes from a device other than the host machine require the access key, which is carried in the connect URL and QR code (?k=…). The key is shown only to the host machine — a phone that asks the server for the connect address gets a plain URL without it, so possession of the link is what grants access.

Data & privacy lists everything that leaves the PC.

Where to run it

Run the server on a machine wired to your network for accurate speed tests — see Getting started.

Troubleshooting

• Controller connected but the tablet says UniFi not seen — the controller poll is fine; the tablet was not matched as a client (walk code or IP). See Troubleshooting connections.
• UniFi login fails — use a local admin, not SSO.

Related

• Connect a device
• Troubleshooting connections