How to Connect phpVMS to Stratos

If your virtual airline (VA) runs phpVMS 7, Stratos connects to it through Skyvex Software's Stratos modules for phpVMS (Stratos Core API and Stratos Logbook API). They're free, open source and MIT-licensed, and they add the endpoints Stratos needs to your phpVMS install while reading and writing phpVMS's own data. Your site, PIREPs and pilot records keep working as they are. (New to modules? phpVMS modules explains how they plug in.)

Setting up an airline on skyvexsoftware.com is one guided journey with five waypoints: Create, Connect, Sign in, Take off and First PIREP. This walkthrough follows it, with the phpVMS side filled in. The VA onboarding guide has the full detail for every screen.

Before You Start

• Airline access. Stratos is in early access, and airline access is currently by request from the Skyvex Software homepage.
• phpVMS 7 with admin access. You need the Add New Module option in the admin sidebar. The modules don't run on phpVMS 5 or the in-development phpVMS 8. If phpVMS 7 isn't installed yet, start with the phpVMS installation guide.
• PHP 8.2 or newer on your host.
• HTTPS on your phpVMS site. The Verify step checks for it.
• Stratos installed on your own computer, so you can fly the first flight yourself. It's free for Windows, macOS and Linux from the download page.

Step 1: Create Your Airline

1. Sign in at skyvexsoftware.com. With no airline yet, you land on Welcome.
2. Choose I run a virtual airline, then Create your airline.
3. Paste your VA's website. Skyvex Software reads your name, ICAO code, logo and colours from it and checks what it runs on. Check the details it found.
4. No website yet? Choose No website yet, or a custom backend?, type the name and ICAO code (2 to 4 letters), and pick phpVMS 7.
5. Click Create. You go straight into the Connect step.

Step 2: Install Stratos Core API

Stratos Core API is the required module. It handles pilot sign-in, reads your fleet, airports, news and each pilot's bids, and runs the flight itself: start, position updates, filing the PIREP and cancelling.

1. Download the module zip from the Connect step. Keep it zipped.
2. In your phpVMS admin, open Modules, then Add New Module, and upload the zip. phpVMS extracts it to modules/StratosCore.
3. On the Modules list, find StratosCore and click Enable.

Prefer the server? Unzip it into modules/StratosCore instead. If someone else runs your site, Copy the steps for them copies these instructions to send on.

Step 3: Check the Module Is Live

Open your site plus /api/stratos/ in a browser (for example https://crew.yourairline.com/api/stratos/). It should return a short JSON response with the API version and "handler": "Stratos".

From phpVMS 7.0.10, installing or enabling a module clears phpVMS's module caches for you. On an older phpVMS 7 release the new routes can take hours to appear, so a 404 or the phpVMS welcome page here usually means stale caches. Clear them from Admin, Maintenance, Clear all caches (or run php artisan optimize:clear from a shell), then check again.

Step 4: Add the Logbook API (Optional)

Stratos Logbook API is a read-only module that lets Stratos and the platform show each pilot their phpVMS flight history: a sortable list of PIREPs, a detail view with the route on a map and the flight's event log, and lifetime stats. It files nothing.

Choose Yes, install the Logbook API in the Connect step, then install it exactly like Core: upload the zip under Add New Module and enable StratosLogbook. It needs Stratos Core API installed and enabled first. Choose No thanks if you don't need it; you can add it later. The Logbook API guide covers what it serves.

Step 5: Verify the Connection

The Stratos endpoint URL is your phpVMS address plus /api/stratos, for example https://crew.yourairline.com/api/stratos, and it's filled in for you. Click Verify. Skyvex Software checks that:

• your site is reachable over HTTPS
• the Stratos module answers
• the Logbook API answers, if you chose to install it

The address is only saved once the checks pass. You can change it later in your airline's Settings, Connection, and pilots keep using the old address until a new Verify passes.

Step 6: Sign In as a Pilot

The journey now waits for the first sign-in. Open Stratos on your computer and:

1. Choose Invite code in the airline list and enter the code the journey shows. (Your airline isn't in the Stratos airline directory yet.)
2. Sign in with your own phpVMS pilot username and password.

The setup screen lights up as soon as Stratos connects.

Step 7: Fly and File the First PIREP

Book a flight on your phpVMS site, then start it in Stratos and take off. The journey follows the flight on a departures board. Land, park and submit. Setup finishes when the first PIREP is filed, and the journey shows its block time and landing score.

Open phpVMS and check the PIREP arrived with the right pilot, route and times. ACARS for phpVMS explains how the flight data reaches it. From here, invite your pilots and check your airline's look and plugins.

How Pilots Sign In

By default, pilots sign in to Stratos with their phpVMS username and password. Behind the scenes, Stratos uses each pilot's phpVMS API key for every request, so pilots authenticate once.

If you'd rather pilots never type their phpVMS password into Stratos, you can switch to OAuth. That needs an OAuth server on your phpVMS install that supports public clients with PKCE. You fill in the details under Settings, Connection, OAuth set-up and run Test sign-in; pilots only move to OAuth once a test passes. The OAuth set-up guide covers it step by step.

What Ends Up in phpVMS

Stratos Core API owns no tables of its own, so uninstalling it leaves your phpVMS database as it was. The Additional Fields reference lists every extra field you can send.

Troubleshooting

To update either module, upload the new zip under Add New Module (phpVMS overwrites the old files). Before phpVMS 7.0.10, clear the caches again afterwards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Stratos phpVMS module free?

Yes. Both Stratos Core API and Stratos Logbook API are free and open source under the MIT licence. You can read the code, fork it, or send improvements back.

Does Stratos work with phpVMS 5 or phpVMS 8?

Not yet. The Stratos modules are built for phpVMS 7. They don't run on phpVMS 5, and they won't run on phpVMS 8 while it's still in development.

Do I need the Logbook API?

No. Stratos Core API is all Stratos needs to fly and file PIREPs. Add the Logbook API if you want pilots to see their phpVMS flight history in Stratos.

Can I connect Stratos without phpVMS?

Yes. Choose Use a custom backend instead in the Connect step, and point Stratos at a backend that implements the open Stratos API.

Where Stratos Fits

Stratos is the free ACARS client by Skyvex Software, and this is the whole connection: your phpVMS 7 site stays your airline's backend, and pilots never pay. The Stratos API modules guide is the reference for both modules.