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Home Assistant waters my plants

finnian.io

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Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#111

Post by davemp »

cameronh90 wrote: post #51
davemp wrote: post #17

Fun project. Though it’s kind of unreal how complicated it is to set up HA and I literally do this for a living, both embedded sw and backend web dev. Docker compose with a zwave management server, reverse proxies for TLS, vlan isolation for the server, macvlan for HA container so it does see the host network, etc, etc. All to turn on and off a lightbulb with the sun. All the while AI is telling me to configure thing…

Sounds like the complexity is somewhat self-inflicted? I set up HA from scratch on a new mini PC with Proxmox and HAOS in about 30 mins having never touched either before. For VLANs, I just used port-based VLAN to attach it to the IoT VLAN, with firewall rule to allow UI access, but Proxmox has tagging support if preferred.

There’s like 10 replies telling me it’s not actually that complex then describe an equally or more complex solution that’s probably missing some of the security or features I have. I guess I wrote “complicated to set up” when I meant “complicated stack”.

A heavyweight blob of python running in a container talking to other containers running node-js on a Linux VM on a Linux host behind layers of networking to toggle 1 bit of information over a UHF link is really complex even if it only took 1 button click. My solution just removes the linux VM.

I’m not even saying I struggled, it took me like 1-4hrs depending on if you include the non HA stuff. I can clone the repo I made, populate the secrets/gateway, and type ‘make’ to rebuild my setup on a new machine. Everything is “zero-trust” with signed SSL certs, dynamic DNS+wireguard to tunnel in from a stable url, and room for more services. It’s cool, but it’s only toggled 1 light for years.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#112

Post by rickypp »

troupo wrote: post #110
rickypp wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"self-installing" being the key point. Those instructions require you to use some other piece of software to write the image onto your boot disk. In my case I used an Ubuntu livecd to download and write the image to the machine. It's obviously not a showstopper but it is slightly annoying.

> hose instructions require you to use some other piece of software to write the image onto your boot disk. I mean... That is how a lot of OSes are distributed: by giving you an ISO that you burn onto a USB dongle to install. > In my case I used an Ubuntu livecd to download and write the image to the machine. So... Same thing?

I'm worried that my writing is unclear and is being misinterpreted here.

The HAOS ISO cannot install itself onto a machine. That is my minor complaint.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#113

Post by subscribed »

the__alchemist wrote: post #46
xolox wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are at all comfortable with Linux system administration, manually setting up one or a handful of KVM/qemu powered virtual machines is not actually that hard at all (in my experience). If you like a GUI to guide your initial steps, "virt-manager" is pretty okay. I've been running 3-5 virtual machines for several years now based on a pretty vanilla Ubuntu Linux install (Debian would work just fine as well). Now…

IMO Linux system administration, KVM/Qemu, Docker, and virtual machines, and third-party tools in general are not something that should be involved in smart light bulb/sensor/pump etc management. Task for an RTOS or no OS IMO. Or a single executable that runs on any OS without config. Should be simple, fast, "just work".

exactly. Its stunning it has to be like this.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#114

Post by KaiserPro »

If you want to do this yourself

1) install HAOS, running it any other way is a step towards madness

2) get a decent zigbee controller

3) https://sonoff.tech/en-uk/products/sonoff-zigbee-smart-water...

Job done, the rest is all up to taste using either sensors or public data to infer water state.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#115

Post by jabroni_salad »

randusername wrote: post #31
davemp wrote: post #17

Fun project. Though it’s kind of unreal how complicated it is to set up HA and I literally do this for a living, both embedded sw and backend web dev. Docker compose with a zwave management server, reverse proxies for TLS, vlan isolation for the server, macvlan for HA container so it does see the host network, etc, etc. All to turn on and off a lightbulb with the sun. All the while AI is telling me to configure thing…

I also feel overwhelmed with HA homelab stuff. HA on my RPI is just not reliable, requiring a reboot 4-6 times a year for reasons I don't understand. Frustration at being in the literal dark doesn't translate to the right mindset to root cause. What I need is an opinionated guide on minimum viable virtualization, but so much of the resources online are from folks that are homelabing maximalists. I feel the same tempt…

1.get a cheap used miniPC from ebay

2. Buy a relevant dongle/antenna for the protocol you want to use. I recommend the ones from Sonoff or from the Home Assistant foundation (I started with the sonoff for zigbee, but added the ZBT-2 for matter/thread. they are both good)

3. install proxmox to the metal.

4. use tteck's install script to make the HAOS vm. Don't make the containers, make the HAOS VM specifically: https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/#home-assistant-os-vm

5. Plug in your dongle(s) and don't forget to assign them to the new VM. You should now be able to start using home assistant. If you're using zigbee, choose zigbee2mqtt rather than ZHA, it's more reliable overall.

My setup is around 2 years old and I haven't had to administrate it at all.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#116

Post by estimator7292 »

davemp wrote: post #17

Fun project. Though it’s kind of unreal how complicated it is to set up HA and I literally do this for a living, both embedded sw and backend web dev. Docker compose with a zwave management server, reverse proxies for TLS, vlan isolation for the server, macvlan for HA container so it does see the host network, etc, etc. All to turn on and off a lightbulb with the sun. All the while AI is telling me to configure thing…

I spun up a VM on my proxmox server and loaded HAOS. Job done. The only added steps involved giving the HAOS IP to my reverse proxy, now it's reachable from the outside net.

That's about as easy as it gets.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#117

Post by ternus »

cityofdelusion wrote: post #74

After years of doing this, I determined that dumb controllers are superior for my uses. A once a week irrigation with a simple rain sensor results in the same quality lawn/beds and better can run with pretty much zero maintenance burden on the sw/hw side. The vegetable garden is even dumber, just drip lines, a hose bib, and a dumb timer that flips daily in the morning powered by AS batteries. In my apartment days I j…

I have almost everything in my house HA-automated, but anything touching the water supply is all on dumb physical valves and electrical timers. If my light switches don't work, that's annoying. If a robot vacuum doesn't run, that's frustrating. If a water valve is stuck open, that's catastrophic.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#118

Post by ternus »

globular-toast wrote: post #40
liam_krewer wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can recommend Shelly for light switches over smart bulbs. It's a relay that fits inside the wall switch with zigbee to sit between the light and the switch.

They're not mutually exclusive. I have Shelly relays in my light fittings (not the switches) and use smart bulbs. When everything is working the wall switches just control stuff in HA. When HA is not working the switches control the relays in the Shelly directly, without HA. This is the only solution I'm aware of that gets you all of: * dimmable, * colour temp and RGB control, * regular switches that work as expected…

Philips Hue, and Zigbee direct-binding in general, can achieve this if you're willing to use their wall switches. Still works if the hub is offline.

Depends on your definition of "regular switches," I suppose -- but anyone with 3-way wiring (i.e. multiple light switches for a single socket) has given up on "up=on" for their switch.

Re: Home Assistant waters my plants

#120

Post by russdill »

I use Irrigation-V5 in combination with a flow meter to manage my sprinklers. Irrigation-V5 basically tracks the amount of moisture in the soil based on humidity, the amount of sunshine, temperature, rainfall, and of course when the sprinklers turn on and add water. It feels like magic. They can go for months in the winter without running, all on their own and then pop back on when things warm up and dry out, slowly decreasing the intervals between watering as summer approaches.

Really makes me want to integrate the whole thing into an ESP32 with a display so such a thing doesn't require HA.

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