pySim - Read, Write and Browse Programmable SIM/USIM Cards

This repository contains Python programs that can be used to read, program (write) and browse certain fields/parameters on so-called programmable SIM/USIM cards.

Such SIM/USIM cards are special cards, which - unlike those issued by regular commercial operators - come with the kind of keys that allow you to write the files/fields that normally only an operator can program.

This is useful particularly if you are running your own cellular network, and want to issue your own SIM/USIM cards for that network.

Homepage and Manual

Please visit the official homepage for usage instructions, manual and examples. The user manual can also be built locally from this source code by cd docs && make html latexpdf for HTML and PDF format, respectively.

Git Repository

You can clone from the official Osmocom git repository using

git clone https://gitea.osmocom.org/sim-card/pysim.git

There is a web interface at https://gitea.osmocom.org/sim-card/pysim.

Installation

Please install the following dependencies:

• pyscard
• pyserial
• pytlv
• cmd2 >= 1.3.0 but < 2.0.0
• jsonpath-ng
• construct >= 2.9.51
• bidict
• gsm0338
• pyyaml >= 5.1
• termcolor
• colorlog
• packaging

Example for Debian:

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends \
	pcscd libpcsclite-dev \
	python3 \
	python3-setuptools \
	python3-pyscard \
	python3-pip
pip3 install --user -r requirements.txt

After installing all dependencies, the pySim applications pySim-read.py, pySim-prog.py and pySim-shell.py may be started directly from the cloned repository.

Archlinux Package

Archlinux users may install the package python-pysim-git from the Arch User Repository (AUR). The most convenient way is the use of an AUR Helper, e.g. yay or pacaur. The following example shows the installation with yay.

# Install
yay -Sy python-pysim-git

# Uninstall
sudo pacman -Rs python-pysim-git

Mailing List

There is no separate mailing list for this project. However, discussions related to pysim-prog are happening on the openbsc@lists.osmocom.org mailing list, please see https://lists.osmocom.org/mailman/listinfo/openbsc for subscription options and the list archive.

Please observe the Osmocom Mailing List Rules when posting.

Contributing

Our coding standards are described at https://osmocom.org/projects/cellular-infrastructure/wiki/Coding_standards

We are using a gerrit-based patch review process explained at https://osmocom.org/projects/cellular-infrastructure/wiki/Gerrit

Documentation

The pySim user manual can be built from this very source code by means of sphinx (with sphinxcontrib-napoleon and sphinx-argparse). See the Makefile in the 'docs' directory.

A pre-rendered HTML user manual of the current pySim 'git master' is available from https://downloads.osmocom.org/docs/latest/pysim/ and a downloadable PDF version is published at https://downloads.osmocom.org/docs/latest/osmopysim-usermanual.pdf.

A slightly dated video presentation about pySim-shell can be found at https://media.ccc.de/v/osmodevcall-20210409-laforge-pysim-shell.

pySim-shell vs. legacy tools

While you will find a lot of online resources still describing the use of pySim-prog.py and pySim-read.py, those tools are considered legacy by now and have by far been superseded by the much more capable pySim-shell. We strongly encourage users to adopt pySim-shell, unless they have very specific requirements like batch programming of large quantities of cards, which is about the only remaining use case for the legacy tools.