E-UBI Device Blueprint — Technical Specification

Section 01 — Hardware

Physical Components

Every E-UBI terminal is built around a Raspberry Pi single-board computer paired with a touchscreen display, solid-state storage, and a solar-aware power supply. The design is intentionally modular — swap components as the project scales.

🍓

Processing Unit

Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB)

Quad-core Cortex-A76 @ 2.4 GHz · BCM2712 · PCIe 2.0 for NVMe SSD. Pi 4 (4 GB) is the minimum for running Postgres + Node concurrently.

🖥️

Display

7″ Official RPi Touchscreen

800 × 480 px IPS · 10-point capacitive touch · DSI connector · 70 mA at 5 V. Ideal for kiosk-mode deployments.

💾

Primary Storage

128 GB microSD (U3/A2)

Samsung Pro Endurance or equivalent. High write-endurance is critical for Postgres WAL. Upgrade to NVMe SSD via PCIe hat for production nodes.

🔌

Power Supply

27W USB-C (Pi 5 official)

5.1 V / 5 A. For solar deployments use a 12 V→5 V buck converter (Waveshare Solar Power Manager D) with a 50 W panel + 10 Ah LiFePO₄.

📡

Connectivity

Wi-Fi 802.11ac + Gigabit Ethernet

Built-in on Pi 4/5. For remote deployments add a 4G LTE USB dongle (Huawei E3372) configured via ModemManager.

🎛️

Optional Peripherals

NFC + Audio + Speaker

PN532 NFC module (I²C) for tap-to-login. I²S DAC or 3.5 mm jack for music playback via TheEtherNet profile player.

📋 Bill of Materials

Component	Model / Part	Est. Cost (USD)	Required?
Single-board Computer	Raspberry Pi 5 — 8 GB RAM	$80	Required
MicroSD Card	Samsung Pro Endurance 128 GB	$18	Required
Touchscreen Display	Official RPi 7″ Touch Display	$80	Required
Display Case / Stand	SmartiPi Touch Pro 2	$30	Required
Power Supply	Raspberry Pi 27W USB-C PSU	$12	Required
Active Cooler	Official RPi 5 Active Cooler	$5	Required
NVMe SSD (Pi 5)	WD_BLACK SN770M 256 GB	$45	Optional
PCIe NVMe Hat	Pimoroni NVMe Base for RPi 5	$15	Optional
Solar Power Manager	Waveshare Solar Power Manager D	$22	Optional
Solar Panel	50 W 18 V Monocrystalline	$40	Optional
LiFePO₄ Battery	12 V 10 Ah LiFePO₄	$35	Optional
NFC Module	PN532 I²C Breakout	$8	Optional
4G LTE Dongle	Huawei E3372h-325	$30	Optional
Core kit total	—	~$225	—
Full solar kit total	—	~$430	—

Section 02 — Software

Software Architecture

The E-UBI terminal runs a single Express.js process that serves the static SPA build, proxies TheEtherNet API/WebSocket traffic, and exposes the community JSON API — all managed by PM2 and tunnelled to the internet via Cloudflare.

🗺️ Request Flow

🌐 Browser / Mobile
eubi-manifesto.com

→

☁️ Cloudflare Tunnel
cloudflared service

→

⚡ Express.js (port 3000)
eubi-server · PM2

GET /
→ dist/index.html (SPA)

GET /admin
→ public/admin.html

/api/*
→ JSON REST API

/ethernet-api/*
→ proxy → port 4000

/ethernet-socket.io
→ WS proxy → port 4000

GET /ethernet
→ TheEtherNet SPA

🕸️ TheEtherNet (port 4000)
ethernet-server · PM2

→

🗄️ PostgreSQL 16
Prisma ORM · port 5432

↔

📡 Socket.io
Real-time chat / events

⚡

Runtime

Node.js 20 LTS

Long-Term Support until April 2026. Install via NodeSource binary repo to stay current on ARM64.

🛣️

Web Framework

Express 5

Reverse-proxy middleware must be registered before body-parser to prevent POST body consumption before forwarding.

🗄️

Database

PostgreSQL 16

The ethereal role requires CREATEDB permission for Prisma shadow database operations during migrations.

🔷

ORM

Prisma 5

Schema at TheEtherNet/server/prisma/schema.prisma. Run migrate deploy (not dev) in production.

📡

Real-Time

Socket.io 4

Used for live DMs, typing indicators, and feed activity. WebSocket upgrade is proxied through the main Express server on /ethernet-socket.io.

🔄

Process Manager

PM2 5

Three managed processes: eubi-server, ethernet-server, and cf-tunnel. Auto-restarts on crash. Saves process list across reboots.

🔷 Database Schema (Prisma)

TheEtherNet/server/prisma/schema.prisma — key models

// Connection — set in .env as DATABASE_URL
datasource db {
  provider = "postgresql"
  url      = env("DATABASE_URL")
}

model User {
  id           String    @id @default(cuid())
  username     String    @unique
  email        String?   @unique   // optional since auth refactor
  passwordHash String?
  isGuest      Boolean   @default(false)
  createdAt    DateTime  @default(now())
  profile      Profile?
  posts        Post[]
  songs        Song[]
  sentMessages     Message[] @relation("SentMessages")
  receivedMessages Message[] @relation("ReceivedMessages")
  friends          FriendRequest[] @relation("FriendRequests")
}

model Message {
  id             String   @id @default(cuid())
  content        String
  createdAt      DateTime @default(now())
  sender         User     @relation("SentMessages", fields: [senderId], references: [id])
  senderId       String
  recipient      User     @relation("ReceivedMessages", fields: [recipientId], references: [id])
  recipientId    String
}
    

Section 03 — Assembly & Setup

Build & Initialise

Follow these steps in order — from flashing the OS to bringing up both PM2 processes and verifying the live tunnel. Each step includes the exact shell commands needed on a fresh Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit) image.

Flash Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit)

Use the official Raspberry Pi Imager. Choose Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit), enable SSH, set hostname, Wi-Fi credentials, and your user in the "Advanced options" before writing.

# On your desktop — download imager
$ snap install rpi-imager   # Ubuntu/Debian
# or: https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

# After first boot — update all packages
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
$ sudo apt install -y git curl build-essential
          

Install Node.js 20 LTS via NodeSource

Do not use the default apt repo — it ships an outdated Node version. Use the official NodeSource script instead.

$ curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
$ sudo apt install -y nodejs
$ node -v   # expect: v20.x.x
$ npm -v    # expect: 10.x.x

# Install PM2 globally
$ sudo npm install -g pm2
$ pm2 startup systemd -u $USER --hp $HOME
$ sudo env PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin pm2 startup systemd -u $USER --hp $HOME
          

Install PostgreSQL 16 & create the database

PostgreSQL 16 is available via the official PGDG apt repository. The ethereal role needs CREATEDB for Prisma shadow-database support during migrations.

# Add PGDG repo
$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt $(lsb_release -cs)-pgdg main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list'
$ wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y postgresql-16

# Create role + database
$ sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE ROLE ethereal WITH LOGIN PASSWORD 'ethereal_pass' CREATEDB;"
$ sudo -u postgres psql -c "CREATE DATABASE theethernet OWNER ethereal;"

# Verify connection
$ psql -U ethereal -d theethernet -c "\dt"
          

Clone the repository & install dependencies

Clone into your home directory. Install dependencies for both the main site and TheEtherNet server and client separately.

$ git clone https://github.com/EveOfSin/ccb-ubi.git ~/ccb-ubi
$ cd ~/ccb-ubi

# Main E-UBI site
$ cd eubi-site && npm install

# TheEtherNet back-end
$ cd ../TheEtherNet/server && npm install

# TheEtherNet front-end
$ cd ../client && npm install && npm run build
          

Configure environment variables

Create a .env file in TheEtherNet/server/. Never commit this file — it is already in .gitignore.

# TheEtherNet/server/.env
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://ethereal:ethereal_pass@localhost:5432/theethernet"
JWT_SECRET="replace-with-a-strong-random-secret-min-32-chars"
JWT_REFRESH_SECRET="replace-with-another-strong-secret"
PORT=4000
NODE_ENV="production"
          

Run Prisma migrations & seed admin account

Use migrate deploy (not migrate dev) in production — it applies existing migrations without creating new ones or touching the shadow database.

$ cd ~/ccb-ubi/TheEtherNet/server

# Apply all pending migrations to theethernet DB
$ npx prisma migrate deploy

# Generate the Prisma client (if not already built)
$ npx prisma generate

# Optional: open Prisma Studio to inspect data
$ npx prisma studio --port 5555
          

Launch both servers with PM2

The ecosystem.config.js in eubi-site/ defines all three processes. After starting, save the list so PM2 resurrects them on reboot.

$ cd ~/ccb-ubi/eubi-site

# Start / restart all processes defined in ecosystem.config.js
$ pm2 start ecosystem.config.js

# Persist the process list across reboots
$ pm2 save

# Verify all three processes are online
$ pm2 list

# Stream live logs from both servers
$ pm2 logs --lines 50
          

Section 04 — Network

Cloudflare Tunnel

Cloudflare Tunnel (cloudflared) exposes the local Express server on port 3000 to the public internet under your domain — no port-forwarding or static IP required. The tunnel itself is managed as a PM2 process.

Install cloudflared on the Pi

Download the ARM64 binary directly from the Cloudflare release page.

$ curl -L https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases/latest/download/cloudflared-linux-arm64 -o cloudflared
$ sudo mv cloudflared /usr/local/bin/
$ sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cloudflared
$ cloudflared --version
          

Authenticate & create a named tunnel

# Opens browser — log in and select your zone (eubi-manifesto.com)
$ cloudflared tunnel login

# Create the tunnel (generates a UUID-named credentials file)
$ cloudflared tunnel create eubi-node-1

# Route DNS — replaces any existing A/CNAME record
$ cloudflared tunnel route dns eubi-node-1 eubi-manifesto.com
          

Write the tunnel config file

Create ~/.cloudflared/config.yml. The tunnel forwards all traffic to localhost:3000 where Express is listening.

# ~/.cloudflared/config.yml
tunnel: eubi-node-1
credentials-file: /home/pi/.cloudflared/<TUNNEL-UUID>.json

ingress:
  - hostname: eubi-manifesto.com
    service: http://localhost:3000
  - service: http_status:404
          

Add the tunnel to PM2 via ecosystem.config.js

Managing cloudflared as a PM2 process means it auto-restarts on crash and is included in pm2 save.

// eubi-site/ecosystem.config.js — cf-tunnel entry
{
  name: 'cf-tunnel',
  script: '/usr/local/bin/cloudflared',
  args: 'tunnel run eubi-node-1',
  autorestart: true,
  watch: false,
  env: { HOME: '/home/pi' }
}
          

Section 05 — Enclosure

Physical Design

The enclosure should be weather-resistant (for outdoor deployments), tamper-evident, and aesthetically aligned with the E-UBI brand — dark finish with gold accent lettering. Below are the recommended configurations for indoor kiosk vs. outdoor node.

🏢

Indoor Kiosk

SmartiPi Touch Pro 2

Designed specifically for the official 7″ RPi display. Includes a tilting stand, Pi 4/5 mount, and cable management. Available in black. Laser-engrave the E-UBI logo on the face plate.

🌧️

Outdoor Node

IP65 ABS Junction Box

200×150×75 mm NEMA 4X rated box. Mount display behind a polycarbonate window cutout. Use waterproof cable glands for power + Ethernet. Spray paint matte black with gold stencil.

🌞

Solar Mounting

Adjustable Tilt Bracket

Mount the 50 W panel at ~30–35° tilt facing true south (northern hemisphere) for maximum annual yield. Use an M8 stainless steel bracket rated for 60 mph wind load.

🎨

Branding

Gold on Matte Black

Vinyl cut or laser-engraved E-UBI yin-yang logo + "Community UBI Terminal" text. Font: Inter 700. Gold: #FFD700. Reserve 40 mm clearance around display bezel.

🔒

Security

Kensington Lock + Tamper Seal

Thread a Kensington cable through the Pi's mounting holes before closing the enclosure. Apply a tamper-evident holographic seal over the enclosure seam.

🌡️

Thermal Management

Active Cooler + Passive Vent

The official Pi 5 active cooler keeps the BCM2712 below 60 °C in ambient temperatures up to 35 °C. Add a 60 mm mesh vent near the top of the enclosure for convection.