#AMD

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

rain cargo
#

This is my first venture into the HA platform

loud locust
#

If you want add-ons then you'll need to run HAOS in a VM

#

If you're comfortable with Docker you don't need add-ons

rain cargo
loud locust
#

No, Docker has no add-ons, add-ons only exist with HAOS

#

Add-ons are really just modified Docker images, tweaked for HAOS

#

So, if you already know and love Docker, it doesn't bring you anything you can't do for yourself

rain cargo
#

When I installed HA via Ubuntu Snap, is this Home Assistant Supervised installation method? If not, I think that add-ons are not possible?

loud locust
#

No, that's likely Core

#

No add-ons

rain cargo
#

@loud locust Is the smart play, at this point, to install a VM or docker on the Ubuntu box so that add-ons are possible?

loud locust
#

The smart play is up to you

#

Either HAOS in a VM, or Docker

rain cargo
#

Thank you for commenting. I arrived at a similar conclusion. In your experience, did you find add-ons to be a "must have"?

#

Worthwhile?

#

I am sensing this would be silly not to have.

loud locust
#

Never used add-ons...

rain cargo
#

I will follow the guidance of your blog. It would seem that "bring your own OS" is making it harder than it needs to be?

How did you decide whether to use VM or Docker?

loud locust
#

Docker all the way for me

rain cargo
#

Interesting! What adavantage was there with Docker over VM? I appreciate your guidance / experience

loud locust
#

Well, I have "some" Linux expertise ... I've been administrating *nix boxes for most of my career

#

HA actually got me into Docker, which turned out to be handy work skills too

#

A VM is great for isolation, but you have to dedicate a fixed slice of the computer to it

#

Docker is simple, convenient, and avoids having to pre-parcel your system

#

If you want the easy button then add-ons in a VM are convenient, but if you want flexibility then Docker is the One True Way (one of them, anyway 😛 )

rain cargo
#

I have used *Nix and VMs since 2005. Never used Docker. You have convinced me to add Docker to my skillset. I would prefer long term flexibility over short term easy setup

loud locust
#

Docker is awesome

#

Using it via compose files is easy - YAML that defines your containers

#

Learning to build your own containers is also not hard if you've got any *nix experience

#

Almost my entire home stack runs in Docker now

rain cargo
#

I am not a UNIX ninja, however, I can usually follow any discussion and troubleshoot a system.

loud locust
#

That's 90% of being a ninja 😛

#

(and better than most here)

rain cargo
#

Any thoughts / URLs / resources / procedures you would recommend for getting started with HA-Docker?

#

Lesson-learned (stuff to avoid) is also appreciated.

loud locust
#

The official docs are a good start

#
  1. Install Docker + Compose following the official Docker docs
#
  1. Install HA
  2. Set up backups
rain cargo
#

Perfect. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. I am sure you have plenty to do at work.

loud locust
#

I would suggest you pick a folder (eg /docker or /data/) and put everything under there

#

I have

/data/docker - compose and environment files
/data/homeassistant - HA config folder
/data/rclone - rclone config folder
etc
#

then I back up /data and get everything

rain cargo
#

Copy. Will do that: very sensible. One and done!

rain cargo
#

@loud locust Pleasantly surprised at ease of HA "Platform Setup" (Docker). https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/generic-x86-64

I installed it to ~/data/docker:

sudo docker run -d
--name homeassistant
--privileged
--restart=unless-stopped
-e TZ=America/New_York
-v /home/user/data/docker/config
--network=host
ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable

I found it necessary to use sudo or else an error was returned:

docker: permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket at unix:///var/run/docker.sock: Post "http://%2Fvar%2Frun%2Fdocker.sock/v1.24/containers/create?name=homeassistant": dial unix /var/run/docker.sock: connect: permission denied.
See 'docker run --help'.

loud locust
#

how ugly

#

Compose files FTW

#

That's also quite a funky path to your config folder 😛

rain cargo
#

I do not understand the first two lines. FTW = for the win?

loud locust
#

Yes

#

A compose file is a piece of YAML describing the container config

#

It is trivial to back up

#

It is trivial to restore

#

It is trivial to change

#

If you want to modify that command line, you have to ensure you don't mistype anything since it entirely replaces the previous command

#

Also, updates to containers are a lot easier with a compose file

#

pull & up vs pull, stop, delete, start

rain cargo
# loud locust It is trivial to back up

Thanks for the insight: hopefully the learning curve is not steep. Docker tech has really proliferated and I expect to experience first hand now why it is so popular that it has surpassed VMs.

#

I suspect that the configuration is partitioned away from the execution / engine.

loud locust
#

Yes

rain cargo
#

@loud locust I appreciate your advice: there is no substitute for experience. I thought it would please you to know that the Container / Docker was successful: the initial thermostat integrations were successful. The 3rd screenshot shows the results of the Docker install: https://community.home-assistant.io/t/new-ha-install-initially-to-manage-radiothermostat/519910

The link indicates I would like to add charting and scheduling functionality for the thermostat fleet: my instinct tells me that I am not the first and that this has been done for many a thermostat in HA. Possibly in with the Radiothermostat CTXX series. The question in my mind is: How do I go about using resources (Google / Discord / Forum / ??? other) to find existing solutions?

loud locust
#

Search?

rain cargo
#

I Googled for 30 minutes last night: no solution found. I think that I am not using the right keywords. Is the charting / scheduling functionality a "automation" or some other keyword?

loud locust
#

Scheduling is also an integration

narrow cypressBOT
rain cargo
#

(Obviously) it would be best if I knew what I was doing search-wise to find solutions without bugging others. So I appreciate your input.

loud locust
#

Automations are how you do things

Integrations connect you to devices, services, or provide functionality

#

So, you'll use an automation to make something happen, and that will use information from integrations to decide when to do that something, and the services for those integrations to do the thing

rain cargo
#

Should I think of Integrations as the pipes / connections that allow the HA platform to retrieve data / send commands?

loud locust
#

If that works for you, sure

rain cargo
#

So maybe some type of scheduling (an Automation?) for each thermostat is the solution?

loud locust
#

Well, schedule with the scheduler

#

The automation is how you do things when a schedule starts/stops/is currently in place

rain cargo
#

Good. Your input provides me direction so that I can read / learn how to make a schedule object and then enact it upon the thermostat. My gut tells me somebody has already done this for the Radiothermostat models. I chose this thermostat because it has one of the few thermostats where you can send commands directly to the device (no cloud intermidiary).

loud locust
#

Well, ignore the hardware for a minute

#

The whole point of HA is that it abstracts all that away

#

The only thing that matters is that it's a thermostat you want to interact with

#

Doesn't matter who makes it, whether it's WiFi, Zigbee, cloud based, or connected by wet string

rain cargo
#

I like that! If the details of a thermostat are abstracted away, then is it reasonable to hypothesize someone has already created an integration that charts and schedules thermostat temperatures for a "canonical" smart thermostat? I pose the question because if it is reasonable, then maybe it makes sense to search for this unicorn?

loud locust
#

Well, they probably didn't use those terms

rain cargo
#

Agreed. I need to learn the local lingo

loud locust
#

There are likely many posts about heating/cooling schedules

#

Well, ditch the lingo, keep to the basics

#

If you worry about the fine details you're missing the world

rain cargo
#

Copy. I think the light-bulb is going off now. Now that HA has integrated the basic thermostat functionality, I need to think of the charting / scheduling functions as a separate "block" in a block diagram. I used the term charting to indicate graphing the temperature (maybe there is a better term). I did run across the "card" object and for assimilation into the mind.

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/thermostat-card-and-history-history-graph-card/121833

loud locust
#

There's many cards for showing things, but HA's automations don't use those cards, they're 100% for you

rain cargo
#

Are you indicating that the automations are for my charting / scheduling? or the cards?

loud locust
#

Charting is cards

#

Cards are not automations, or related to automations

rain cargo