The 35th annual conference on Astronomical Data Analysis Software & Systems 2025 in Görlitz, Germany

The ASTRI Mini‑Array is an international project led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) to build and operate nine dual‑mirror imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes for very‑high‑energy (TeV) gamma‑ray astronomy and stellar intensity interferometry. This paper presents the Startup System, an observatory‑wide startup/shutdown orchestrator and monitoring layer that interfaces with, yet remains distinct from, the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) framework, providing end‑to‑end visibility from telescope PLCs to the ICT backbone.
The Startup System is responsible for managing the startup and shutdown sequence of all critical on-site systems, including Power, Environmental, Timing and ICT Monitoring, Safety and Security, and the entire startup chain: Storage, Collectors, SCADA systems, Alarming System, Logging System, On-line Observation Quality System (OOQS), and the Human-Machine Interface (HMI).
Development followed an incremental prototyping strategy. We first released a minimal, simulator‑driven version to validate the operator workflows and user interface, then iteratively integrated real collectors and features. This approach enabled continuous architectural validation, early testing of core behaviors, and reduced integration risk.
Implementation adopts a modular, containerized stack with standardized interfaces (FastAPI, OPC UA, SNMP, Modbus, LDAP, InfluxDB). In nominal operations the Startup System runs on the main physical ICT node, the centralized entry point hosting Ironic and Ansible, which powers on and coordinates initialization of hardware and software across all telescopes. For development and validation, the same system can also run locally on capable macOS/Linux laptops, provided the project ICT infrastructure is reachable.
Recent integration tests have demonstrated that the Startup System successfully manages subsystem initialization, supervises alarms and monitoring workflows, and provides a user-friendly web-based dashboard for operators. The Startup System plays a central role in ensuring reliable on-site and remote operations of the ASTRI Mini-Array Project.