As a nodeJS developer I got shivers down my spine when you said that node is a "package manager". FYI nodeJS is a JavaScript runtime in which HomeBridge was written. So not a package manager but instead the core of HomeBridge.
Excellent content...thanks a lot...it was a good reference and helped me a lot as in less than 1 hour allowed me to go from not even know about Homebridge to have it up and running in my home!
So does the Raspberry Pi just stay plugged in somewhere for this to stay working? Can it perform other things too or can one Raspberry Pi only contain code for one function like this Nest control? Could I use one to control multiple accessories in Homekit that are otherwise incompatible?
Yes, you just let it stay plugged in for it to work, not unlike other smart home hubs. You can control other accessories simultaneously. You just need to install the plugin and the update your config.json file accordingly :-)
Being new to the whole Homebridge thing, am I right in thinking that the Raspberry Pi replaces the devices' hub stations? So I don't need to have a Link-Plus-Hub for a Lightwave device or Arlo-base-station for a Arlo camera? Thanks for the video! :)
none of this has worked for me i get to the end and then it says i don't have the npm so i redo with whats listed and still nothing idk what else to do.
Thanks! I got the Homebridge working great! I am having trouble making it run upon boot as the OS on my Raspberry Pi refuses to let me change the read/write permissions, which leaves me unable to transfer the two files needed for auto-boot on startup
Yes, mine works fine on startup. Did you enter each command from the link into your Raspberry Pi? If it still isn't working, what method are you using to change the read/write permissions? "sudo chmod -R 0777 /var/homebridge" should change the directory so that anyone and read and write to it.
hi mate, im hit a snag, im installing home bridge for broad link. there is no config edit like there is for your demo with nest. ive scanned the qr code in to my Home app but I dont are the accessory added to the home app . ( ive also had some trouble connecting via, fetch or vnc connect, ). so even if I made changes I can't link the file to the pi . hope you can help me . ive been at it for hours. ive come this far :(
Thanks for the great video! Could you offer any assistance on getting the nest cams to show video through the home app. I only see the cameras as motion sensors. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Good tutorial, can you help me? I'm trying to build the homebridge with raspberry. I want to make a system for my lighting, I want to be able to control the brightness of the lamp, but I can not. The lamp needs to be supported in order to change the brightness or any lamp
I do not have. I have only one conventional lamp. I thought that with raspberry it would be possible to control the brightness. What kind of lamp do you recommend?
If you’re looking for a simple way to control your lamp with HomeKit, you can check out either the iDevices Switch Outlet store.idevicesinc.com/idevices-switch/ or the LIFX Mini White Bulb www.lifx.com/products/lifx-mini-white The great thing about these is that they work with HomeKit natively, so you won’t need to fiddle with a Raspberry Pi for it to work. We’ll be having a review on the LIFX Mini bulbs on our site soon, so stay tuned to read it once it’s live ;)
can you please see the error i was getting after going over all the instructions, i have already been running Fibaro plugin with the existi config.json file, i replaced that with the nest, and getting following errors. [2018-10-7 21:36:24] Loading 1 accessories... /usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/api.js:64 throw new Error("The requested accessory '" + name + "' was not registered by any plugin."); ^ Error: The requested accessory 'WeMo' was not registered by any plugin. at API.accessory (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/api.js:64:13) at Server._loadAccessories (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/server.js:264:42) at Server.run (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/server.js:86:38) at module.exports (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/cli.js:40:10) at Object. (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/bin/homebridge:17:22) at Module._compile (module.js:569:30) at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:580:10) at Module.load (module.js:503:32) at tryModuleLoad (module.js:466:12) at Function.Module._load (module.js:458:3) at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:605:10) at startup (bootstrap_node.js:158:16) at bootstrap_node.js:575:3 pi@raspberrypi:~ $ homebridge
put it in to title "And how to edit config.json" coz install HB isnt that hard tbh, but this json file confuse the shit out of me not only there isnt any tutorial out in the open, but it was mentioned so few in any posts coz all the ppl asumes newcomers like me should know this already, which ofc i don't, so do the most ppl. and seeing video like this is super helpful.
I am having a hard time with validating my json file. Can you post the json file you used directly to copy and paste to change the values around? Thanks!
Does doing the ssh pi@(IP address) directly connect to the raspberry pi and allows me to control terminal on the pi? For example, if I do sudo apt-get update, will it actually run the update process on the pi?
Aditya Chittari Yes, that is correct. If you wish, you can run the commands on the Raspberry Pi itself, but you’ll still need to access it remotely to add your config.json file from your computer.
Hi there! If you're running into trouble, Homebridge has a Reddit and Slack group that you can go to for troubleshooting. You can find the links on their GitHub page: github.com/nfarina/homebridge
Great video to follow. I just stuck on one point, maybe anyone can help. I made everything the same way like in the video, but when I reach the point "sudo nom install -g homebridge" I always get the following SyntaxError: SyntaxError: Block-scoped declaration (let,const,function,class) not yet supported outside strict mode... I also found some explanation and solution on google, but so far nothing helped. Thanks in advance for any help!
@@dinocalcum3797 Hi there! If you're running into trouble, Homebridge has a Reddit and Slack group that you can go to for troubleshooting. You can find the links on their GitHub page: github.com/nfarina/homebridge
If Homebridge works fine it shouldn't be an issue, but you could try typing in this command and see if it fixes the problem: sudo apt --fix-broken install Hope the tutorial was of help to you! :-)
Hi there! Glad you enjoyed! While we don't have any plans to do a tutorial on the broadlink rm, we will be having a video soon on how to control 433MHz RF Outlets with Homebridge. If you're looking for a device to control IR devices from your smartphone, I personally recommend the Logitech Harmony Hub. It's super easy to setup, so you shouldn't need much help relying on a tutorial ;)
Happy you liked it! It's true that the Logitech Harmony is more expensive, however, I would argue that it is more user-friendly and more polished. However, the downside, as you mentioned, is the price. So it really depends what you're looking for. Much like the RF Outlet tutorial we'll be making soon, it can be a real savings, however, sometimes buying a more expensive product means it is more polished, leading to a better user experience.
If you want to control Z-wave accessories, then yes, you will need a Z-wave USB or something like a Wink hub. In my case, the Nest works over Wi-Fi, so I didn't need one. :)
First time raspberry pi user. Using your video, I got all the way up to Fetch and uploading the json file to the home folder on the pi. How do I connect Fetch to the pi to add the file?
To connect, make sure the Hostname is set to your Pi's IP address. Then enter in your username and password for the Pi. (Default username is pi, default password is raspberry).
I'm sure you've probably moved on from this now as it has been a year but what got me connected is using Sftp and then on the additional dropdown menu at the bottom choosing port 22.
Hi, complete noob at this, and i can it figure out how to gain access to the necessary .homebridge file to add my config.json using sftp, in fact it doesn't even show up. Any thoughts?
I'm a noob to all this. I got as far as placing the config.jason file into the .homebridge but I cannot sftp into that folder. I can't find out how to change permissions or user name and password.
iOSHacker I did wind up getting it to work. My ftp client wasn’t displaying that folder but I typed it in when I made the connection and that got me straight there.
Hello, i installed a homebridge with the raspberry pi and a camera. It works perfect with Homekit. But when i at another homebridge with a camera, the Home kit cant find the second bridge and camera. How thats comes please?
Hi there! Are you running two separate Homebridge servers? If so, you should make sure that they are on different ports. You can edit the port in the config.json file :)
It can seem a bit daunting at first, but we tried to make the tutorial as easy to follow as possible. At least once you have it all setup, very little maintenance is required. ;)
Lets say I add a camera to the Rasp Pi and add it to Homekit. Is there a way to activate the camera (to be available in the homekit app) only when I execute a script/ python code? :D Thanks!
Hmmm. Good question! I believe the camera would always be on, but what you might be able to do is make the script activate a fake motion sensor in the same room as the camera. Then you should be notified with the footage from the camera shown :)
Seems like a lot of hoops to jump through for what is touted as a "turnkey" system. Your think they would have provided a parameterized installation script which would have installed all of the dependencies and the applications. Nest should do this if they are serious about selling their products. Most non-technical people would just throw up their hands and return the product saying that it's just too much trouble. For most practical purposes, they must sell an Android or iOS App that performs the most common functions on a cellphone or tablet, no need to configure a Raspberry Pi.
They do have apps for both iOS and Android. This tutorial is for setting up Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi to enable non-HomeKit devices to work with it. The problem most run into is having to keep a computer always running as a Homebridge server. Raspberry Pi is low-energy and serves this specific purpose without having to keep a computer on all the time.
Setting up Homebridge certainly isn't the most user-friendly task. Homebridge is more for people who are serious about their smart home setup and want all of their smart home products to work together. For many people, the iOS app Nest has is sufficient.
Devada Deepak Hi! Since we are an Apple focused website, we probably won’t dont a tutorial for Windows, but I’m sure if you need a tutorial for your specific needs that someone else has already created it ;)
As a nodeJS developer I got shivers down my spine when you said that node is a "package manager". FYI nodeJS is a JavaScript runtime in which HomeBridge was written. So not a package manager but instead the core of HomeBridge.
Love the tutorial! I definitely heard "Stockholm kit accessory" at 12:50
Heh heh. If you like Swedish smart lights, there's no need to use Homebridge, as Trådfri bulbs support HomeKit natively ;)
Excellent content...thanks a lot...it was a good reference and helped me a lot as in less than 1 hour allowed me to go from not even know about Homebridge to have it up and running in my home!
Thanks for your kind words! Happy that it helped you get Homebridge setup and running :)
So does the Raspberry Pi just stay plugged in somewhere for this to stay working? Can it perform other things too or can one Raspberry Pi only contain code for one function like this Nest control? Could I use one to control multiple accessories in Homekit that are otherwise incompatible?
Yes, you just let it stay plugged in for it to work, not unlike other smart home hubs. You can control other accessories simultaneously. You just need to install the plugin and the update your config.json file accordingly :-)
Great job explaining everything finally I got everything working!
Happy to hear it Sam! :-)
Being new to the whole Homebridge thing, am I right in thinking that the Raspberry Pi replaces the devices' hub stations? So I don't need to have a Link-Plus-Hub for a Lightwave device or Arlo-base-station for a Arlo camera? Thanks for the video! :)
none of this has worked for me i get to the end and then it says i don't have the npm so i redo with whats listed and still nothing idk what else to do.
homebridge command not found
Can these same steps be used to setup Homebridge with Ring products, i.e., Ring Doorbell or Ring Floodlight Cam?
Thanks! I got the Homebridge working great! I am having trouble making it run upon boot as the OS on my Raspberry Pi refuses to let me change the read/write permissions, which leaves me unable to transfer the two files needed for auto-boot on startup
Were you able to get your setup to start on boot?
Yes, mine works fine on startup. Did you enter each command from the link into your Raspberry Pi? If it still isn't working, what method are you using to change the read/write permissions? "sudo chmod -R 0777 /var/homebridge" should change the directory so that anyone and read and write to it.
Great vid! I’m going to connect an RPI 3 B+ and a relay to my gate motor. Which plug-in do you recommend to use. I’ll be using it via Apple HomeKit
hi mate, im hit a snag, im installing home bridge for broad link. there is no config edit like there is for your demo with nest. ive scanned the qr code in to my Home app but I dont are the accessory added to the home app . ( ive also had some trouble connecting via, fetch or vnc connect, ). so even if I made changes I can't link the file to the pi . hope you can help me . ive been at it for hours. ive come this far :(
Thanks for the great video! Could you offer any assistance on getting the nest cams to show video through the home app. I only see the cameras as motion sensors. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
you ever figure this out?
@@sdmedicscott Yes. www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-nest-cam
Thanks for sharing! @@BNK1283 :)
How do you go back and add more accessories if you could would you please make a video about it
You'll need to install the plugin you wish to use, and then update your JSON config file. :)
Good tutorial, can you help me? I'm trying to build the homebridge with raspberry. I want to make a system for my lighting, I want to be able to control the brightness of the lamp, but I can not. The lamp needs to be supported in order to change the brightness or any lamp
Hi there! We can sure try! Do you have a smart bulb in your lamp? If so, what kind?
I do not have. I have only one conventional lamp. I thought that with raspberry it would be possible to control the brightness. What kind of lamp do you recommend?
If you’re looking for a simple way to control your lamp with HomeKit, you can check out either the iDevices Switch Outlet store.idevicesinc.com/idevices-switch/ or the LIFX Mini White Bulb www.lifx.com/products/lifx-mini-white The great thing about these is that they work with HomeKit natively, so you won’t need to fiddle with a Raspberry Pi for it to work. We’ll be having a review on the LIFX Mini bulbs on our site soon, so stay tuned to read it once it’s live ;)
can you please see the error i was getting after going over all the instructions, i have already been running Fibaro plugin with the existi config.json file, i replaced that with the nest, and getting following errors.
[2018-10-7 21:36:24] Loading 1 accessories...
/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/api.js:64
throw new Error("The requested accessory '" + name + "' was not registered by any plugin.");
^
Error: The requested accessory 'WeMo' was not registered by any plugin.
at API.accessory (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/api.js:64:13)
at Server._loadAccessories (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/server.js:264:42)
at Server.run (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/server.js:86:38)
at module.exports (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/lib/cli.js:40:10)
at Object. (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge/bin/homebridge:17:22)
at Module._compile (module.js:569:30)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:580:10)
at Module.load (module.js:503:32)
at tryModuleLoad (module.js:466:12)
at Function.Module._load (module.js:458:3)
at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:605:10)
at startup (bootstrap_node.js:158:16)
at bootstrap_node.js:575:3
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ homebridge
Hmmm. It says it can't find a "WeMo" accessory. Did you make sure you have a WeMo plugin installed?
put it in to title "And how to edit config.json"
coz install HB isnt that hard tbh, but this json file confuse the shit out of me not only there isnt any tutorial out in the open, but it was mentioned so few in any posts coz all the ppl asumes newcomers like me should know this already, which ofc i don't, so do the most ppl.
and seeing video like this is super helpful.
great video, till teh JSON part. Now I am lost on what to do windows user
Hi there! You should be able to edit it just fine using Windows Notepad. :)
Thanks for the awesome tutorial!
I am having a hard time with validating my json file. Can you post the json file you used directly to copy and paste to change the values around? Thanks!
Sure! You can find it here: pastebin.com/t1yUv1QH
Hope this helps! :)
Is there a free app that I could use instead of fetch?
I have an RPi that currently has Kodi installed on it. Which OS would your recommend using before installing HomeBridge?
Homebridge should run fine on your Pi even with Kodi installed, however, we have used it on macOS before and it works great there too!
Thank you! This is really good
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed :)
Does doing the ssh pi@(IP address) directly connect to the raspberry pi and allows me to control terminal on the pi?
For example, if I do sudo apt-get update, will it actually run the update process on the pi?
Aditya Chittari Yes, that is correct. If you wish, you can run the commands on the Raspberry Pi itself, but you’ll still need to access it remotely to add your config.json file from your computer.
How do you add more stuff to home bridge after you’re done coding everything
Hi there! You'll need to install the plugin you wish to use, and then update your JSON config file. :-)
nice video, i have installed home bridge but when i want to install a plugin i get error's also when i set sudo in the bigin. can you help me ?
Hi there! If you're running into trouble, Homebridge has a Reddit and Slack group that you can go to for troubleshooting. You can find the links on their GitHub page: github.com/nfarina/homebridge
Great video to follow. I just stuck on one point, maybe anyone can help. I made everything the same way like in the video, but when I reach the point "sudo nom install -g homebridge" I always get the following SyntaxError: SyntaxError: Block-scoped declaration (let,const,function,class) not yet supported outside strict mode... I also found some explanation and solution on google, but so far nothing helped. Thanks in advance for any help!
**sudo npm... of course..
@@dinocalcum3797 Hi there! If you're running into trouble, Homebridge has a Reddit and Slack group that you can go to for troubleshooting. You can find the links on their GitHub page: github.com/nfarina/homebridge
When I run 'sudo apt-upgrade' it says 'apt-utils : depends apt (=1.4.8) but 1.4.9 is installed. Is this a problem?
If Homebridge works fine it shouldn't be an issue, but you could try typing in this command and see if it fixes the problem:
sudo apt --fix-broken install
Hope the tutorial was of help to you! :-)
Awesome video I was looking for a tutorial like this could you make a tutorial similar but do broadlink rm?
Hi there! Glad you enjoyed! While we don't have any plans to do a tutorial on the broadlink rm, we will be having a video soon on how to control 433MHz RF Outlets with Homebridge. If you're looking for a device to control IR devices from your smartphone, I personally recommend the Logitech Harmony Hub. It's super easy to setup, so you shouldn't need much help relying on a tutorial ;)
first of all thank you for the great tutorial. Logitech Harmony Hub is a 99 pound device while broadlink rm is 19 ! and I think they do the same job.
Happy you liked it! It's true that the Logitech Harmony is more expensive, however, I would argue that it is more user-friendly and more polished. However, the downside, as you mentioned, is the price. So it really depends what you're looking for. Much like the RF Outlet tutorial we'll be making soon, it can be a real savings, however, sometimes buying a more expensive product means it is more polished, leading to a better user experience.
Is that rasbery pi need a z wave usb , right?
If you want to control Z-wave accessories, then yes, you will need a Z-wave USB or something like a Wink hub. In my case, the Nest works over Wi-Fi, so I didn't need one. :)
First time raspberry pi user. Using your video, I got all the way up to Fetch and uploading the json file to the home folder on the pi. How do I connect Fetch to the pi to add the file?
Same for me... cant connect fetch to the pi
To connect, make sure the Hostname is set to your Pi's IP address. Then enter in your username and password for the Pi. (Default username is pi, default password is raspberry).
I'm sure you've probably moved on from this now as it has been a year but what got me connected is using Sftp and then on the additional dropdown menu at the bottom choosing port 22.
Hi, complete noob at this, and i can it figure out how to gain access to the necessary .homebridge file to add my config.json using sftp, in fact it doesn't even show up. Any thoughts?
Hi there! :) Are you able to view the filesystem of your Pi from your computer? If so, does the folder /home/pi/.homebridge exist?
Great Video - I'm getting an error: Error: Cannot find module '../build/Release/dns_sd_bindings' when attempting to launch Homebridge
Resolution found here: github.com/nfarina/homebridge/issues/1315
Thanks for the link! If you need any other support, Homebridge does have Slack group which you can find on the main GitHub page :)
I'm a noob to all this. I got as far as placing the config.jason file into the .homebridge but I cannot sftp into that folder. I can't find out how to change permissions or user name and password.
Hi there! You shouldn't have to change permissions to add the file. Can't you just drag and drop the config.json file into the .homebridge folder?
iOSHacker I did wind up getting it to work. My ftp client wasn’t displaying that folder but I typed it in when I made the connection and that got me straight there.
Oh good! Glad the tutorial helped :)
Can i run a python script from home kit??
I haven't tried it myself, but perhaps this would work: www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-script2
Excellent video.
i dont have mac, how can i start then?
Use puTTY
thank you very match!!!man you are the best!!!!
No problem! Glad you enjoyed! :)
How many devices can run from 1 raspberry pi?
In Homebridge? I don't believe there's a set limit. Your wallet will probably hit the limit before Homebridge does ;)
Hello, i installed a homebridge with the raspberry pi and a camera. It works perfect with Homekit. But when i at another homebridge with a camera, the Home kit cant find the second bridge and camera. How thats comes please?
Hi there! Are you running two separate Homebridge servers? If so, you should make sure that they are on different ports. You can edit the port in the config.json file :)
thank you
I want this but looks to dam hard. I’m not computer savvy, wish they made some easy like connect to wifi
It can seem a bit daunting at first, but we tried to make the tutorial as easy to follow as possible. At least once you have it all setup, very little maintenance is required. ;)
iOSHacker good job man.
@@slackerzsincity6947 Thanks! :)
Lets say I add a camera to the Rasp Pi and add it to Homekit. Is there a way to activate the camera (to be available in the homekit app) only when I execute a script/ python code?
:D Thanks!
Hmmm. Good question! I believe the camera would always be on, but what you might be able to do is make the script activate a fake motion sensor in the same room as the camera. Then you should be notified with the footage from the camera shown :)
Can you be a bit more elaborate in what has to go into the config file? You showed something different in what you uploaded
It varies depending on the plugin you are installing. You can find the example config used in the video here: pastebin.com/t1yUv1QH
Seems like a lot of hoops to jump through for what is touted as a "turnkey" system. Your think they would have provided a parameterized installation script which would have installed all of the dependencies and the applications. Nest should do this if they are serious about selling their products. Most non-technical people would just throw up their hands and return the product saying that it's just too much trouble. For most practical purposes, they must sell an Android or iOS App that performs the most common functions on a cellphone or tablet, no need to configure a Raspberry Pi.
They do have apps for both iOS and Android. This tutorial is for setting up Homebridge on a Raspberry Pi to enable non-HomeKit devices to work with it. The problem most run into is having to keep a computer always running as a Homebridge server. Raspberry Pi is low-energy and serves this specific purpose without having to keep a computer on all the time.
Setting up Homebridge certainly isn't the most user-friendly task. Homebridge is more for people who are serious about their smart home setup and want all of their smart home products to work together. For many people, the iOS app Nest has is sufficient.
Exactly. You can run it on a Mac or Windows machine, but unless you have a desktop that'll always be running, the Raspberry Pi is a great alternative.
Awesome
Can you please make a video for windows pc
Using esp8266
Devada Deepak Hi! Since we are an Apple focused website, we probably won’t dont a tutorial for Windows, but I’m sure if you need a tutorial for your specific needs that someone else has already created it ;)
setup != set up
Fabulous tutorial and u gave such a sexy voice too