OmniCOT + OmniTAK Integration Guide

This guide explains how to use OmniCOT (ATAK plugin) together with OmniTAK (TAK Server Aggregator) to create a powerful tactical data management solution.

Overview

OmniCOT and OmniTAK are complementary tools that work with the same TAK servers:

OmniCOT (This Plugin)

Platform: Android (ATAK plugin)
Purpose: Enhance ATAK with marker affiliation management and Area of Interest detection
CoT Features:
- Visual affiliation markers (Friendly, Neutral, Hostile, Unknown)
- Real-time Remote ID integration via Bluetooth
- Automatic affiliation federation across TAK servers
Connection: Uses ATAK's built-in TAK server connections

OmniTAK

Platform: Server/Desktop (Rust application)
Purpose: Aggregate CoT messages from multiple TAK servers
Key Features:
- Connect to multiple TAK servers simultaneously
- REST API for programmatic access
- Web UI for management
- Advanced message filtering and routing
- Real-time metrics and monitoring
Repository: https://github.com/engindearing-projects/omni-TAK

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    TAK Server Network                    │
│                                                           │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  │
│  │ TAK Server 1 │  │ TAK Server 2 │  │ TAK Server 3 │  │
│  │  Port 8089   │  │  Port 8089   │  │  Port 8089   │  │
│  └───────┬──────┘  └──────┬───────┘  └──────┬───────┘  │
│          │                 │                 │          │
└──────────┼─────────────────┼─────────────────┼──────────┘
           │                 │                 │
     ┌─────┴─────┐     ┌─────┴─────┐     ┌─────┴─────┐
     │           │     │           │     │           │
┌────▼─────┐ ┌──▼────────────┐ ┌──▼────────────┐ ┌──▼───────┐
│  ATAK    │ │    OmniTAK     │ │  ATAK Device  │ │  WinTAK  │
│  Device  │ │  Aggregator    │ │               │ │          │
│          │ │                │ │               │ │          │
│ OmniCOT  │ │  - REST API    │ │   OmniCOT     │ │          │
│  Plugin  │ │  - Web UI      │ │   Plugin      │ │          │
│          │ │  - Filtering   │ │               │ │          │
│  Sends:  │ │  - Metrics     │ │   Sends:      │ │          │
│  • CoT   │ │                │ │   • CoT       │ │          │
│  • Affil │ │  Aggregates    │ │   • Affil     │ │          │
│  • RemID │ │  all CoT data  │ │   • RemID     │ │          │
└──────────┘ └────────────────┘ └───────────────┘ └──────────┘

Use Cases

1. Command & Control Dashboard

Scenario: Operations center needs to monitor all field units across multiple TAK servers.

Setup:

Field units run ATAK with OmniCOT plugin
Operations center runs OmniTAK to aggregate data
Web dashboard displays real-time tactical picture

Benefits:

Unified view of all TAK traffic
Filter by affiliation, geography, or team
REST API for custom integrations
Real-time metrics and alerts

2. Multi-Domain Operations

Scenario: Different units operate on separate TAK servers (e.g., ground, air, maritime).

Setup:

Each domain has its own TAK server
OmniTAK connects to all servers
Filters route relevant data to each domain

Benefits:

Cross-domain situational awareness
Maintain security boundaries with filtering
Centralized CoT message management

3. Development & Testing

Scenario: Developers need to test ATAK plugins against recorded or simulated traffic.

Setup:

OmniTAK records CoT traffic from production
Development ATAK instances connect to OmniTAK
Playback and analyze CoT scenarios

Benefits:

Safe testing environment
Reproducible test scenarios
API access for automated testing

Getting Started

Prerequisites

OmniCOT Plugin Installed
- This ATAK plugin should be installed and configured
- Connected to at least one TAK server
- Certificates configured in ATAK
OmniTAK Installed
- Clone from: https://github.com/engindearing-projects/omni-TAK
- Built and ready to run (Rust 1.90+)

Step 1: Extract Certificates from ATAK

OmniTAK needs the same certificates as ATAK to connect to your TAK servers.

Option A: Automatic Extraction (Recommended)

# Clone OmniTAK
git clone https://github.com/engindearing-projects/omni-TAK
cd omni-TAK

# Connect ATAK device via USB and enable USB Debugging

# Run automated setup
./scripts/setup-tak-connection.sh --adb

This will:

Extract certificates from your ATAK device
Convert them to the correct format
Generate a ready-to-use configuration

Option B: Manual Certificate Transfer

In ATAK, navigate to the certificate location
Export or copy the certificate files
Transfer to your computer (email, cloud, USB)

Convert certificates:

cd omni-TAK
./scripts/convert-p12-to-pem.sh /path/to/cert.p12 certs

Step 2: Configure OmniTAK

Use an example configuration:

cd omni-TAK

# For single TAK server
cp config/examples/single-tak-server.yaml config/config.yaml

# Edit the configuration
nano config/config.yaml

Update the server address to match your TAK server:

servers:
  - id: tak-server-main
    address: "YOUR_TAK_SERVER:8089"  # Match ATAK's server address
    protocol: tls
    auto_reconnect: true
    tls:
      cert_path: "certs/client.pem"
      key_path: "certs/client.key"
      ca_path: "certs/ca.pem"
      validate_certs: true

Step 3: Start OmniTAK

cargo run --release -- \
  --config config/config.yaml \
  --admin-password your_secure_password

Look for successful connection:

INFO omnitak: Successfully connected to tak-server-main
INFO omnitak: Server listening address=0.0.0.0:9443

Step 4: Verify Integration

On ATAK (with OmniCOT):

Change a marker's affiliation (e.g., set a unit to "Hostile")
The affiliation should propagate through the TAK server

On OmniTAK:

Open Web UI: http://localhost:9443
Login with: admin / your_secure_password
You should see the CoT message with affiliation data

Check logs:

# In OmniTAK
# You should see messages being received
INFO omnitak_pool: Message received server=tak-server-main

Common Configurations

Configuration 1: Single TAK Server

Both OmniCOT and OmniTAK connect to the same server.

# OmniTAK config
servers:
  - id: production-server
    address: "takserver.example.com:8089"
    protocol: tls
    tls:
      cert_path: "certs/client.pem"
      key_path: "certs/client.key"
      ca_path: "certs/ca.pem"

Configuration 2: Multiple TAK Servers

OmniCOT devices on different servers, OmniTAK aggregates all.

# OmniTAK config
servers:
  - id: tak-east
    address: "tak-east.example.com:8089"
    protocol: tls
    tls:
      cert_path: "certs/client.pem"
      key_path: "certs/client.key"
      ca_path: "certs/ca.pem"

  - id: tak-west
    address: "tak-west.example.com:8089"
    protocol: tls
    tls:
      cert_path: "certs/client.pem"
      key_path: "certs/client.key"
      ca_path: "certs/ca.pem"

Configuration 3: Filtered Distribution

Filter CoT messages based on affiliation.

# OmniTAK config
filters:
  mode: whitelist
  rules:
    # Only friendly forces to backup server
    - id: friendly-backup
      type: affiliation
      allow: [friend, assumedfriend]
      destinations: [tak-backup]

    # All entities to primary
    - id: all-primary
      type: affiliation
      allow: [friend, assumedfriend, neutral, hostile, unknown]
      destinations: [tak-primary]

OmniCOT Features Available in OmniTAK

When OmniTAK receives CoT messages from ATAK devices running OmniCOT:

1. Affiliation Data

CoT Field: <detail><affiliation>
Values: friend, assumedfriend, neutral, hostile, suspect, unknown
Use: Filter and route based on affiliation

Example Filter:

- type: affiliation
  allow: [hostile, suspect]
  destinations: [threat-server]

2. Affiliation Metadata

CoT Fields:
- <detail><omnicot><marked_by> - Who set the affiliation
- <detail><omnicot><server> - Source TAK server
- <detail><omnicot><timestamp> - When it was marked
- <detail><omnicot><notes> - Optional notes

3. Remote ID Integration

CoT Field: <detail><remote_id>
Data: Bluetooth-detected drone information
Use: Track detected drones via OmniTAK API

API Integration

OmniTAK provides a REST API to access CoT data programmatically.

Authentication

# Get access token
TOKEN=$(curl -s -X POST http://localhost:9443/api/v1/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"admin","password":"your_password"}' | \
  jq -r '.access_token')

Query Connections

# List all TAK server connections
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  http://localhost:9443/api/v1/connections | jq

# Get connection details
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  http://localhost:9443/api/v1/connections/tak-server-main | jq

Stream CoT Messages

# WebSocket streaming (real-time)
websocat ws://localhost:9443/api/v1/stream

# Or use the Web UI
open http://localhost:9443

Query by Affiliation

Use filters to extract specific affiliations:

# Configure filter via API
curl -X POST http://localhost:9443/api/v1/filters \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "id": "hostile-only",
    "type": "affiliation",
    "allow": ["hostile", "suspect"],
    "destinations": ["threat-analysis"]
  }'

Monitoring & Metrics

OmniTAK provides Prometheus-compatible metrics:

# Metrics endpoint
curl http://localhost:9443/api/v1/metrics

Key Metrics:

omnitak_messages_received_total - Total CoT messages
omnitak_messages_sent_total - Messages forwarded
omnitak_connection_status - Connection health
omnitak_filter_matches_total - Filter statistics

Grafana Integration:

Configure Prometheus to scrape OmniTAK
Import OmniTAK Grafana dashboard
Visualize CoT traffic and affiliations

Troubleshooting

OmniTAK Can't Connect to TAK Server

Symptom: Connection refused or timeout errors

Solutions:

Verify server address matches ATAK configuration
Check certificates are correctly converted
Ensure firewall allows outbound connection
Test with: telnet your-server 8089

No CoT Messages Received

Symptom: OmniTAK connects but no messages appear

Solutions:

Verify ATAK devices are sending position updates
Check OmniTAK filters aren't blocking all messages
Enable debug logging:
```
logging:
  level: "debug"
```
Verify TAK server allows this client certificate

Certificate Format Issues

Symptom: "Failed to load private key" errors

Solution: Private key must be in traditional RSA format:

# Check format
head -n 1 certs/client.key
# Should show: -----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----

# Convert if needed
openssl rsa -in certs/client.key -out certs/client-rsa.key -traditional
mv certs/client-rsa.key certs/client.key

Affiliation Data Not Visible

Symptom: Messages received but affiliation not shown

Possible Causes:

OmniCOT plugin not installed on sending device
Affiliation data in different CoT field
API client not parsing <detail><affiliation> field

Solution: Check raw CoT XML in OmniTAK debug logs

Advanced Topics

Custom Filtering

Create sophisticated filters based on OmniCOT data:

filters:
  mode: whitelist
  rules:
    # Hostile entities with Remote ID data
    - id: hostile-drones
      type: composite
      operator: and
      conditions:
        - type: affiliation
          allow: [hostile, suspect]
        - type: field_exists
          field: "detail.remote_id"
      destinations: [threat-server]

Data Export

Export OmniCOT affiliation data for analysis:

# Stream to file
websocat ws://localhost:9443/api/v1/stream > cot_data.jsonl

# Parse affiliation data
cat cot_data.jsonl | jq 'select(.detail.affiliation != null)'

Integration with GIS

Use OmniTAK API to feed CoT data to GIS systems:

import requests
import json

# Get access token
auth = requests.post('http://localhost:9443/api/v1/auth/login',
                     json={'username': 'admin', 'password': 'password'})
token = auth.json()['access_token']

# Stream CoT messages
# (Use websocket library for real-time streaming)

Additional Resources

OmniTAK Documentation:

OmniCOT Documentation:

TAK Resources:

TAK.gov - Official TAK documentation
ATAK CIV - Civilian ATAK
TAK Server - Official TAK Server

Support

For issues with:

OmniCOT Plugin: Open issue at omni-COT GitHub
OmniTAK Aggregator: Open issue at omni-TAK GitHub
TAK Servers: Contact your TAK server administrator or visit TAK.gov

Together, OmniCOT and OmniTAK provide a complete solution for tactical data management! 🚀

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OmniCOT + OmniTAK Integration Guide

Overview

OmniCOT (This Plugin)

OmniTAK

Architecture

Use Cases

1. Command & Control Dashboard

2. Multi-Domain Operations

3. Development & Testing

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Step 1: Extract Certificates from ATAK

Step 2: Configure OmniTAK

Step 3: Start OmniTAK

Step 4: Verify Integration

Common Configurations

Configuration 1: Single TAK Server

Configuration 2: Multiple TAK Servers

Configuration 3: Filtered Distribution

OmniCOT Features Available in OmniTAK

1. Affiliation Data

2. Affiliation Metadata

3. Remote ID Integration

API Integration

Authentication

Query Connections

Stream CoT Messages

Query by Affiliation

Monitoring & Metrics

Troubleshooting

OmniTAK Can't Connect to TAK Server

No CoT Messages Received

Certificate Format Issues

Affiliation Data Not Visible

Advanced Topics

Custom Filtering

Data Export

Integration with GIS

Additional Resources

Support