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Frequently Asked Questions for Parkpow

General FAQ​

What is the difference between ParkPow Cloud and ParkPow On-Premise?​

The main difference is where ParkPow runs and who manages it.

ParkPow CloudParkPow On-Premise
HostingHosted by ParkPow at app.parkpow.com. Requires Internet access.Installed in your own environment using Docker, so you do not need to send ALPR data to our hosted solution.
Setup and maintenanceNo installation needed.You install, upgrade, and maintain the server, including SMTP and HTTPS configuration.
Data retentionVisits and alerts are stored for 1 year. See How long does ParkPow Cloud retain my data?You control data retention, for example by scheduling old data for deletion. See How can I improve performance with large data sets?
LicensePer camera. See ParkPow Pricing.Each license can be installed on only one machine. See ParkPow On-premises Setup Guide.

How long does ParkPow Cloud retain my data?​

Currently, ParkPow Cloud applies the following data retention policy:

  • Visits and Alerts: Stored for 1 year. After this period, they are automatically deleted.
  • Vehicles, Tags, and Alert Templates: These are not subject to automatic deletion and will remain in the system indefinitely, unless the account itself is deleted.

How do I export data using a timezone other than the Organization timezone?​

By default, exported data uses the Organization timezone. To use a different timezone when exporting visits from the Dashboard:

  1. On the Dashboard, apply any desired filters and click the Export button.
  2. In the Export Timezone dialog, select Your timezone (your personal timezone, set in Preferences) or any other timezone from the dropdown.
  3. Click Export.

The same option is available when you export vehicle data using Export Filtered or Export All on the Vehicles page.

All dates and times in the exported file use the selected timezone. This setting does not change the Organization timezone or the times displayed in ParkPow. For more details, see Export Timezone.

How do I change the Server Port?​

  1. In a terminal, go to the folder path where docker-compose.yml is located.
  2. Run the command docker compose stop
  3. Open your docker-compose.yml with any text editor and find the line - "8000:8000".
  4. Change the first number to the desirable port (example: "8088:8000").
  5. Save the file.
  6. Run the command docker compose up
  7. Now your On-Premise ParkPow will be available on http://local-or-public-IP:new_port/

What are the hardware recommendations to run ParkPow on Premise?​

  1. 2-4GB RAM should be sufficient. ParkPow on Premise was tested with 12 concurrent users. Additional requests will need to wait until the current requests are completed. If you expect a low number of concurrent users/requests, then you can be on the low side of the RAM recommendation.
  2. Storage is mainly a function of how many vehicle plate reads per month, the size of each image and how long you want to store the images. For example, if a parking lot has 500 vehicles coming in/out each day, at 1.3 MB per 1080p image, then that yields 20 GB of storage each month. If you plan to store the data for 2 years, then you will need roughly 0.5 TB of storage.
info

We have benchmarked ParkPow on an Intel Core I5-10500T CPU 2,30 GHz (passmark of 10216) on Windows. Memory usage is stable around 1GB and the machine processes 50 requests per second.

How do I update On-Premise ParkPow?​

Upgrading to the latest version

How can I configure On-Premise to automatically start?​

  1. In a terminal, go to the folder where docker-compose.yml is located.
  2. Run the command docker compose stop
  3. Edit docker-compose.yml with any text editor and uncomment the lines with the restart policy parameter:
services:
  db:
    image: platerecognizer/parkpow-postgres
    restart: unless-stopped
    ...

  web:
    <<:
      &app-config
      image: platerecognizer/parkpow-app
      restart: unless-stopped
    ...

  1. Run the command docker compose up

How do I change SMTP email configuration?​

  1. In a terminal, go to the folder where docker-compose.yml is located.
  2. Run the command docker compose stop
  3. Open your docker-compose.yml with any text editor and change appropriate parameters:
[email protected]
DJANGO_EMAIL_HOST=smtp.example.com
DJANGO_EMAIL_PORT=25
DJANGO_EMAIL_HOST_USER=user
DJANGO_EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=password
EMAIL_USE_TLS=True   # or DJANGO_EMAIL_USE_TLS=True
EMAIL_USE_SSL=False  # or DJANGO_EMAIL_USE_SSL=False
warning
  • If you are using Gmail, you need to create an app password. You can follow the instructions here.
  • Only one of TLS or SSL should be set to True. If both are set to True, ParkPow won't initialize.
  1. Run the command docker compose up

The recommended operating system for installing ParkPow is Linux. Running ParkPow in Docker over Linux offers better performance compared to running it inside a Virtual Machine, Docker Desktop (Windows) or utilizing WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).

Please ensure that you are using a system with an x86_64 architecture, as the ParkPow images provided are primarily designed for this architecture. If you require support for a different architecture, please let us know.

It is worth noting that Docker has the capability to emulate different architectures. However, if the host architecture is not amd64, it may result in slower performance.

How can I improve performance with large data sets?​

ParkPow is optimized to handle large amounts of data. Most of the time, the bottleneck is the database component of the application. The following checklist can be helpful when optimizing data for a large dataset.

  1. The PostgreSQL can be tuned for the particular hardware and environment. Parkpow provides a way to do this using a custom page under settings, http://local-or-public-IP:8000/optimize-db/ page. The config file can also be edited manually from the container,
# this will open a shell to the container environment
docker compose exec db bash

# the following can be executed inside the container
cd /var/lib/postgresql/data/

# take a backup of before the changes
cp postgresql.conf postgresql.conf.bkp

# you can edit the files using micro editor - https://micro-editor.github.io/
apk add micro
micro /var/lib/postgresql/data/postgresql.conf

# after editing you can save and exit the editor using -> F10 and y
# You can use Ctrl + F to search the word and esc to edit

# now to exit the shell, enter
exit

You have to restart the containers for the changes to take effect. Please note that this will result in some downtime.

Go to the folder path where docker-compose.yml is located and run:

docker compose restart
  1. Older data could be occupying most of the DB storage and affecting its performance. If they are no longer needed, they can be marked for deletion at regular intervals using Scheduled Tasks page at http://local-or-public-IP:8000/scheduled-tasks/

How can I enable HTTPS on ParkPow On-premises?​

To enable HTTPS on ParkPow, follow this guide.

How do I change a user password for ParkPow on-premise?​

Normally, users can change their passwords through the ParkPow web interface. To do it, they should log in and navigate, click the user icon in the bottom left corner, and select "Change Password". Even admins can't just change passwords for other users through the web interface. If you need to change a password for a user, you can use the following command:

To change a user's password, you can use ParkPow's management command through Docker:

  1. For regular users with email domains:

    docker compose exec web python manage.pyc changepassword [email protected]

  2. For admin/tenant accounts:

    docker compose exec web python manage.pyc changepassword user

This command will prompt you to enter and confirm the new password. The password change takes effect immediately.

This is especially useful if a user has forgotten their password and needs immediate access, even if they are the admin. All that's required is access to the server where ParkPow is running.

Configuration FAQ​

Why do I see unclosed entry/exit sessions for vehicles that entered the site yesterday and left today?​

When using Parking Management mode, review the site's Parking Occupancy Reset setting. If an occupancy reset runs while a vehicle is on the site, ParkPow does not match the vehicle's exit with its entry. Instead, the exit creates a new visit, and the entry visit remains without an exit.

By default, new sites reset the occupancy daily at 00:00. As a result, vehicles that enter before midnight and exit after midnight have their entry and exit recorded as separate visits.

To avoid this, schedule the Reset Time for a period when the site is usually empty, or set Parking Occupancy Reset to Never.

How can I get more accurate results from ParkPow?​

In the camera configuration, open the Advanced Settings to configure how ParkPow processes and matches vehicle data. These settings include:

  • Forward Cameras: Forwards detections from one camera to another camera.
  • Latitude and Longitude: The location of the camera.
  • Acceptance criteria: Minimum OCR Score, Minimum Detection Score, Mismatch Score, Fuzziness Score, and thresholds for Make/Model, Color, and Vehicle Type.
  • Days Lookback: Limits fuzzy vehicle searches to vehicles that had a visit within the specified number of days.

Resellers FAQ​

Can I white-label ParkPow for my customers?​

Yes. You can apply your own branding to ParkPow in the organization settings. See Account Management for more details.

SettingWhere it is appliedCloudOn-Premise
LogoNavigation menu, browser tab icon, and header of email notifications✓✓
Brand colorWeb interface, email notifications, and invite email button✓✓
Organization NameBrowser tab title, and signature and footer of email notifications✓✓
Invite email subject and Invite email bodyEmail sent when you invite a new user✓✓
LanguageNotifications, alerts, and default language of the web pages✓✓
Logo on the login pageLogin page✓
Hidden LinksHides selected menu links from users✓
Organization domainLinks sent in notifications✓
Sender email addressAll emails sent by ParkPow✓

Which ParkPow branding remains visible on ParkPow Cloud?​

On ParkPow Cloud, the following items always show the ParkPow brand:

  • The login page.
  • The domain app.parkpow.com.
  • The sender of the emails.

If you need full control over these items, use ParkPow On-Premise. You can then serve ParkPow on your own domain with HTTPS, and send emails from your own address by changing the SMTP email configuration.

Can I customize the invite email that ParkPow sends when I invite a new user?​

Yes. Go to your organization settings and edit the Invite email subject and Invite email body fields. You can use placeholders such as {{organization.name}}, {{recipient}}, {{sender.email}}, {{sender.first_name}}, and {{sender.last_name}}.

Links and domain names are not allowed in these fields. ParkPow adds the official invitation link to the email automatically.

Yes, on ParkPow On-Premise. In the Hidden Links setting, select the links to hide, such as API Token, Documentation, or Settings. Hidden links do not apply to Admins, and at least one link must remain visible.

Can I use ParkPow Cloud to onboard users from different organizations?​

Yes. Keep in mind that all users of the account share the same vehicle database. If two organizations detect the same plate, both see the same vehicle record, including its tags, comments, and custom vehicle field data.

Visit data is isolated by site access. Users who can access only some sites or cameras see only the visits from those sites and cameras, and only the vehicles that have visits on them.

To control which sites and cameras each user can access, see Sites and Cameras Access.

If you need a separate vehicle list for each organization, we recommend Managed ParkPow instead.

Should I use a single ParkPow account or separate accounts for each customer?​

It depends on whether your customers can share the vehicle database:

  • Single account: All customers share the same vehicle records, including tags, comments, and custom vehicle field data. Each user only sees the visits of the sites and cameras they can access. See Can I use ParkPow Cloud to onboard users from different organizations?
  • Separate accounts: Each customer has its own vehicle list and branding. Each email address can belong to only one ParkPow organization, so every account needs a different email address.

Notifications FAQ​

Pushbullet: How do I change the location where my notifications show up?​

  1. In the Pushbullet app, go to Settings
  2. Set Notification location according to your needs (default is Bottom right)

Change notifications location

Pushbullet: How do I see all the notifications that were sent to my computer?​

In the Pushbullet app, go to All Devices to view all notifications that have been sent.

General: Webhook not receiving notifications​

  1. Verify the webhook URL is correct and active
  2. Check that "Custom payload" is enabled in ParkPow webhook settings
  3. Ensure the alert criteria match the vehicles being detected
  4. For Power Automate, check the Run History to see if requests are being received
  5. Verify any required authentication tokens or credentials are valid

Telegram: Not receiving messages​

  1. Verify you've started a conversation with your bot by sending it a message
  2. Confirm your Chat ID is correct by checking the getUpdates endpoint
  3. Ensure the Chat ID is properly entered in the ParkPow webhook configuration
  4. Check that your bot token is valid and hasn't been revoked

How can I make sure other users can see my alerts?​

All you have to do is make sure the Shared checkbox is checked in the alert template. This will make the alert visible to all users.

How can I include custom field notes in alert templates?​

You can achieve it in the following way:

  1. Identify your custom field by going to Custom Vehicle Fields page. Note which number it is.

  2. Go to the Alert Templates page.

  3. Create or edit an alert template:

    • In the message text area, you can configure the format to send the notes. If you just want the notes, you just have to add {custom_fieldN}, where N is the field you identified in Step 1. E.g. {custom_field1}. Take a look at the following example for reference:
     Alert for vehicle {plate_number}
     First Name: {custom_field1}
     Last Name: {custom_field2}
     Custom Note: {custom_field6}

  4. Proceed to save the alert template.

From now, when an alert is generated, it will include any custom fields you defined as the Message field in emails, or in the webhook payload as the message prop. See Alert Templates Message Format and Alert Result Examples for more details.

When configuring an alert by Direction of Travel, what happens when the direction of travel is empty in Stream?​

Enable the Use Fallback Direction option in the alert template. When direction data is missing, ParkPow uses the vehicle orientation instead, assuming Front orientation as 270 degrees and Rear orientation as 90 degrees. See Direction of Travel for more details.

How can I confirm that my Alert Template is properly configured?​

Go to the Alerts page and search for the plate that should trigger the notification. You can use the available filters to find the vehicle. If the vehicle is listed, the Alert Template criteria are correctly configured.

Why doesn't ParkPow send webhook notifications, and why was my webhook disabled?​

ParkPow automatically retries a failed webhook delivery up to five times, with a 20-second interval between each attempt. If the webhook continues to fail after those retries (about 2 minutes), ParkPow automatically disables it and sends an "Alert webhook failure" email to the email addresses configured in the alert template, or to the account owner if none are configured.

A disabled webhook stops sending notifications, but the Alert Template remains enabled. To resume the service, go to the Webhooks page, edit the webhook, and clear the Disable? option.

For more details, see Webhook.

Can I change the webhook HTTP method and Content-Type?​

Yes. When setting up a webhook, you can select one of the following options:

  • HTTP method: GET, POST, or PATCH.
  • Content-Type: application/json or application/x-www-form-urlencoded.