Configuration

Usually this library is used with a particular CAN interface, this can be specified in code, read from configuration files or environment variables.

See can.util.load_config() for implementation.

In Code

The can object exposes an rc dictionary which can be used to set the interface and channel before importing from can.interfaces.

import can
can.rc['interface'] = 'socketcan'
can.rc['channel'] = 'vcan0'
from can.interfaces.interface import Bus

bus = Bus()

Configuration File

On Linux systems the config file is searched in the following paths:

  1. /etc/can.conf
  2. $HOME/.can
  3. $HOME/.canrc

On Windows systems the config file is searched in the following paths:

  1. can.ini (current working directory)
  2. $APPDATA/can.ini

The configuration file sets the default interface and channel:

[default]
interface = <the name of the interface to use>
channel = <the channel to use by default>

Environment Variables

Configuration can be pulled from these environmental variables:

  • CAN_INTERFACE
  • CAN_CHANNEL

Interface Names

Lookup table of interface names:

Name Documentation
"socketcan" Socketcan
"kvaser" Kvaser’s CANLIB
"serial" CAN over Serial
"ixxat" IXXAT Virtual CAN Interface
"pcan" PCAN Basic API
"usb2can" USB2CAN Interface
"virtual" Virtual