So, we’re starting a new series of articles called “VMware Training. Season 2021-2022”, in which we will consider all new educational directions of VMware and we will update the information on previous versions of courses.
To begin with, let us recall the features of authorized training.
Authorized Training
Authorized training from the vendor is a pointer to the best way to master this or that technology. Training programs vary in duration, difficulty level, target audience, training format. Given the trends of recent events in the world, training centers will have to reorient themselves mainly to online learning.
The main components of authorized training are branded textbooks, access to the laboratory environment during training, certified instructors. The training programs themselves are focused on official international certification and are based on new versions of products and technologies, reflect the latest advances in virtualization and cloud technologies in VMware. The content of the Authorized trainings of the last generation have a practice-oriented nature and form the professional competencies of the specialist. VMware provides an equally high level of education, regardless of the location of the training center, controls the content of courses, provides educational and methodological and technical support. There is a system and regulations for training and certification of instructors. An independent certification system allows course participants to obtain internationally recognized documents. Different forms of training allow students to choose the most convenient training option.
To understand the list of training programs and directions, you must visit the official resource: VMware Learning and the corresponding section with the areas of study: Learning Paths.
Learning Paths
In the last school season 2020-2021 in Vmware Education were formed four major product areas of study:
Data Center Virtualization & Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure;
Network Virtualization & Security;
Virtualization & Cloud Management Platform;
Desktop, Application Virtualization & Mobility.
Now there are five such major product areas:
Multi-Cloud;
Virtual Cloud Network;
Digital Workspace;
App Modernization;
Intrinsic Security.
Brief Summary
In this article, we have read the list of areas and specifics of authorized training VMware. In the next post, we will learn about Multi-Cloud training programs.
Follow the news until the meeting is on air in a few days. Sincerely, AIRRA.
Congratulations to all who have been looking forward to the next post in the series “My Smart Home. From the beginning, Step by step to… ”. At the moment we have a working copy of the Home Assistant. From the software applications we have the File Editor and Terminal. We made the first settings in the configuration.yaml configuration file and updated the system to the current version.
Today we will talk about Sensors for monitoring the parameters of the hardware system – Raspberry Pi Power Quality Control Sensor and Processor Temperature sensor. It is also important to know about the health of the software part of the Home Assistant system: we configure the Sensors to monitor the status of the Processor, Memory, Disk and Network. Home Assistant stores the collected data in a database, so we will monitor the growth of its volume with an appropriate sensor. With the help of integration, we will control the Internet connection. We will also configure communication with external devices: configure the control sensors of the Uinterruptible Power Supply.
So, get comfortable, it will be interesting!
Sensors for monitoring system parameters.
All the functioning of our Smart Home depends on the reliable work of the Home Assistant. We entrust control of the basic parameters to the corresponding sensors. Of the hardware, it is the Raspberry Pi power quality control sensor and the processor temperature sensor. From software, – control of loading of the processor, memory, a disk, a network. It is also important to control Internet access settings.
Let’s start with hardware sensors.
● ● ●
Raspberry Pi Power Quality Control Sensor.
On all models of Raspberry Pi since the Raspberry Pi B+ (2014) except the Zero range, there is low-voltage detection circuitry that will detect if the supply voltage drops below 4.63V (+/- 5%). This will result in a warning icon being displayed on all attached displays and an entry being added to the kernel log.
Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker is based on this algorithm. In the Home Assistant, it is activated by adding the integration component of the same name.
To add this component to the integration, use the Configuration menu, Integration tab. Choose + Add Integration:
Figure 1: We begin the stage of adding and configuring the integration component Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker.
In the new window Set up a new integration in the search field enter Rasp. The search result should be displayed as a found integration component Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker:
Figure 2: Search for the integration component Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker.
We confirm the installation of the Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker integration component:
Figure 3: Request to confirm the installation of the Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker integration component.
If the Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker is successfully installed, we receive the following message:
Figure 4: Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker is successfully installed:
And the newly installed component will appear in the list of integrations:
Figure 5: List of installed integration components in which the newly installed Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker appeared.
Select the link – 1 entity, and on the Entity tab we will get the filter of integration elements “Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker”:
Figure 6: Filtered integration elements “Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker”.
Let’s select this filtered element and find out some of its parameters in the RPi Power Status pop-up window. We are primarily interested in Entity ID: binary_sensor.rpi_power_status. Let’s write down this meaning for ourselves, we will need it later.
Figure 7: Basic parameters of the integration element “Raspberry Pi Power Supply Checker”.
We will also open another RPi Power Status pop-up window using the icon at the top right. But we will see the status of the sensor, and the message that the history of the change has already begun to work, and events in the logbook are not yet found. This is normal because the state of the sensor has not changed since installation.
Figure 8: RPi Power sensor status and change history.
This concludes the work with this element of integration. A little later, we will adjust the display of this sensor on the Lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
● ● ●
Raspberry PI 4 Processor Temperature sensor.
Our copy of the Raspberry Pi will be housed in a case mounted on a din rail of the electrical switchboard. Therefore, the issue of cooling is very important. Before choosing a cooling strategy, let’s evaluate the actual values of the temperature sensor of the Raspberry PI 4 Processor. Especially since Home Assistant himself has every opportunity to do so.
So, let’s create a temperature sensor for the Raspberry PI 4 processor. To do this, add the following code section to the configuration.yaml file:
sensor:
- platform: command_line
name: RPi CPU Temperature
command: "cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone*/temp"
unit_of_measurement: "°C"
value_template: '{{ value | multiply(0.001) | round(1) }}'
Figure 9: Raspberry PI 4 processor temperature sensor settings in the configuration.yaml configuration file.
Let’s check the configuration:
ha core check
Figure 10: Check the configuration of the Home Assistant OS.
And reboot the system.
ha core restart
Figure 11: Restart the Home Assistant Core to apply the new settings.
Check the presence of the added sensor in the Configuration menu on the Entities tab.
Figure 12: Check the availability of the Raspberry PI 4 processor temperature sensor in Entities list.
Select this item and immediately open another RPi CPU Temperature pop-up using the icon at the top right. There we will see the temperature values that the sensor recently measured as well as the historical data.
Figure 13: Information about RPi CPU Temperature sensor data.
This concludes the work with this sensor. A little later, we will adjust the display of this sensor on the Lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
● ● ●
Processor Monitoring Sensors.
Now let’s move from the hardware level of monitoring to software. We will be interested in the health parameters of such components of the Home Assistant OS as: Processor, Memory, Disks and Network.
Home Assistant has a built-in special platform called System Monitor with a set of sensors to monitor the local system. System Monitor allows you to monitor CPU usage and temperature, RAM and disk usage, traffic on network interfaces.
We will not immediately add all possible resource sensors to the monitoring. Let’s do it gradually, and start with CPU load sensors and system load sensors for the last 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes.
To activate the System Monitor platform and start collecting monitoring data in the configuration.yaml configuration file, add the following code:
Figure 14: We add the activation code of the System Monitor platform to monitor CPU load and system load for the last 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes.
After adding the parameters, check the configuration and reboot the system, as described above.
Important: In the Home Assistant version of 2021.12, the design of the Configuration section has been changed:
Figure 15: New design of the Configuration section Home Assistant interface.
Therefore, to check the operation of the added sensors, go to the already known section of the Configuration menu, Now the section is called Devices and Services, and the name of the Entities tab remains unchanged.
Here we will see recently added sensors:
Figure 16: New added processor load and system load sensors for the last 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes.
Similar to the above steps, open the Processor Use pop-ups with information about the status of the sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
Figure 17: Information about the status of the Processor Use sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
Perform similar steps for Load (1m), Load (5m), Load (15m) sensors.
Figure 18: Information about the status of the Load (1m) sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 19: Information about the status of the Load (5m) sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 20: Information about the status of the Load (15m) sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
This concludes the work with these sensors. A little later, we will adjust the display of these sensors on the Lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
● ● ●
Memory Monitoring Sensors.
Now let’s move on to configuring and testing the memory usage monitoring sensors. Add a few more lines to the code we added above:
Figure 21: Add parameters to monitor usage and free memory capacity in the configuration.yaml file.
After adding the parameters, you should check the configuration again and reboot the system, as described above.
To check the operation of the added sensors, go to the already known section of the Configuration menu, Devices and Services section, Entities tab. Here we will see recently added sensors:
Figure 22: New added sensors to monitor memory usage, percentage and free capacity.
Similar to the above steps, open the “Memory use (persent)”, “Memory use”, “Memory free” pop-ups with information about the status of the sensor and the collected historical data.
Figure 23: Information about the state of the Memory use (persent) sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 24: Information about the state of the Memory use sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 25: Information about the state of the Memory free sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
This will similarly complete the work with these sensors. A little later, we will adjust the display of these sensors on the Lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
● ● ●
Disk Monitoring Sensors.
The next step is to configure and test the disk usage and swap file sensors. Add a few more lines to the code we added above:
Figure 26: Add parameters to monitor disk usage and swap file in the configuration.yaml file.
After adding the parameters, you should check the configuration again and reboot the system, as described above.
The test is similar to the steps described above: In the Configuration menu, Devices and Services section, on the Entities tab, we will see the recently added sensors:
Figure 27: New added sensors to monitor disk usage, percentage and free capacity.Figure 28: New added sensors to monitor swap file usage, percentage and free capacity.
Similar to the above steps, open the “Disk use / “, “Disk use / (percent)“, “Disk free /”, “Swap use“, “Swap use (percent)“, “Swap free” pop-ups with information about the status of the sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
Figure 29: Information about the state of the Disk use / sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 30: Information about the state of the Disk use / (percent) sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 31: Information about the state of the Disk free / sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 32: Information about the state of the Swap use sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 33: Information about the state of the Swap use (percent) sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 34: Information about the state of the Swap free sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
This will similarly complete the work with these sensors. A little later, we will adjust the display of these sensors on the Lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
● ● ●
Network Monitoring Sensors.
Finally, the last group of sensors in the System Monitor platform is network monitoring sensors. But before adding the code to the configuration file, you need to find out the required parameter – the alias of the network interface.
This can be done with the following command:
ha network info
Figure 35: We get information about the alias of the network interface.
And now, to the code we added above, we add a few more lines, using the alias just clarified as an argument:
Figure 36: Add parameters to monitor network interface in the configuration.yaml file.
After adding the parameters, you should check the configuration again and reboot the system, as described above.
The test is similar to the steps described above: In the Configuration menu, Devices and Services section, on the Entities tab, we will see the recently added sensors:
Figure 37: New added sensors to monitor Network interface of Home Assistant OS.
Similar to the above steps, open the “Network in enp2s0”, “Network out enp2s0”, “Network throughput in enp2s0”, “Network throughput out enp2s0“, “Packets in enp2s0“, “Packets out enp2s0” pop-ups with information about the status of the sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
Figure 38: Information about the state of the Network in enp2s0 sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 39: Information about the state of the Network out enp2s0 sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 40: Information about the state of the Network throughput in enp2s0 sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 41: Information about the state of the Network throughput out enp2s0 sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 42: Information about the state of the Packets in enp2s0 sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 43: Information about the state of the Packets out enp2s0 sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
This will similarly complete the work with System Monitor sensors. We have considered the full range of sensors on this platform. A little later we will adjust the display of all sensors on the lovelace panels of the Home Assistant. And now let’s move on to monitoring another important component of Home Assistant.
Home Assistant Database Size monitoring.
Monitoring the size of the Home Assistant database is very important. The database will expand during long-term use and after adding a significant amount of integration. The larger the database, the more SQLite read and write operations, which means that Home Assistant slows down. Extreme I / O will increase the load on the SD card, which means their accelerated degradation and failure.
In the default configuration, Home Assistant keeps a history of all events and states for all objects for approximately 10 days. This data provides the functions of History and Logbook. The data itself is stored using the Recorder integration, which by default writes it to the SQLite database file located in /config/home-assistant_v2.db.
The topic of database tuning is beyond the scope of this publication, but I promise that we will return to this issue later. For now, we will focus only on the process of monitoring the size of the database.
Figure 44: Add parameters to monitor Home Assistant Database Size in the configuration.yaml file.
This sensor will be updated every half minute. Because each state change will add a couple of lines to the recorder’s database, we reduce the refresh rate with the scan_interval parameter.
After adding the parameters, you should check the configuration again. But to use them, this time you need to restart the host. This can be done with the following command:
ha host reboot
After rebooting, perform the verification in the same way as above: In the Configuration menu, Devices and Services section, on the Entities tab, we will see the recently added sensor:
Figure 45: New added sensor to monitor the size of the Home Assistant database.
Select this item, and immediately open another pop-up home-assistant_v2.db using the icon at the top right. There we will see the size of the Home Assistant database, which recently measured the sensor as well as historical data. You can see the attributes of the sensor:
Figure 46: Information about the Home Assistant Database Size monitoring sensor data.
This will similarly complete the work with the Home Assistant database size monitoring sensor. A little later, we will adjust the display of this sensor on the Lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
Internet connection monitoring.
Another important parameter for constant monitoring is the quality of the Internet connection. It’s simple. Home Assistant has the ability to control these parameters using the integration component of Speedtest.net.
It is very easy to install. Go to the already familiar menu Configuration, section Devices and Services, Integration tab. We add a new Integration: + Add Integration. In the popup window Set up a new integration in the search field enter speedtest.net:
Figure 47: Installation of the integration component Speedtest.net.
After confirmation of the installation in a short period of time we will receive a message about the successful operation.
Figure 48: The integration component of Speedtest.net has been successfully installed.
After the successful installation of the speedtest.net integration component, we will see it in the list.
Figure 49: The integration component of speedtest.net is in the list of installed integrations.
Choose the link 3 entities. And we will see the filtered three sensors.
Figure 50: List of sensors of the integration component of Speedtest.net.
Similar to the steps described above in this article, we will open pop-ups “SpeedTest Ping“, “SpeedTest Download“, “SpeedTest Upload” with information about the status of the sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
Figure 51: Information about the state of the SpeedTest Ping sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 52: Information about the state of the SpeedTest Download sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 53: Information about the state of the SpeedTest Upload sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
This will similarly complete the work with the monitoring sensors of the Internet connection. A little later, we will adjust the display of these sensors on the lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
Uninterruptible power supply monitoring.
The operation of smart home algorithms primarily depends on a reliable power supply. Our Home Assistant on the Raspberry Pi platform will be connected to the uninterruptible power supply. Therefore, our next step is to set up monitoring of this device.
First, let’s add the Network UPS Tools integration package. To do this, in the Supervisor menu, Dashboard tab, select Add-On Store:
Figure 54: We begin the stage of adding and configuring the integration component Network UPS Tools.
In the search field, enter the UPS:
Figure 55: Search for the integration component Network UPS Tools. No results found in Official add-ons.
Important: If the search for Network UPS Tools did not return any results, it means that there are no official components. And in the repository community, the search was not performed in the absence of the repository address parameter.
Let’s check this assumption: Call the additional menu by selecting the three-dot icon at the top right of the page. Select Repositories. Manage add-on repositories pop-up window opens:
Figure 56: There are no registered Addresses of the repository of additional integration components.
The assumption of the absence of a repository address is true. Therefore, the following address should be added: https://github.com/hassio-addons/repository.
Figure 57: We add the address of the repository of additional integration components Home Assistant. Figure 58: The result of successfully adding the address of the repository of additional integration components Home Assistant.
Immediately after adding the above parameter, the Network UPS Tools component we need appeared in the search results:
Figure 59: Successful Search Component Integration Network UPS Tools among the repository of community Add-ons.
Next, on the Info tab, we can read current information about this component, version, and if necessary, go to the link to the page of project developers. Choose Install:
Figure 60: Start installing Network UPS Tools.
Next, check the status of the Start on boot and Auto update options. They must be turned on. A red indicator at the top right of the page indicates that the component is not running. But it’s too early to start.
Figure 61: Component installation was successful. We check the options Start on boot and Auto update. They must be turned on.
Next you need to configure the settings of this application. To do this, go to the Configuration tab and add the following code in the Options section:
Figure 62: Add the configuration code of the Network UPS Tools Add-on and save the settings.
We save the settings in the Options section. And in the network section, specify the host port on which data will be exchanged between the Client and the Network UPS Tools server. Save the settings in the Network section. And start the component. If all is well, a green indicator will appear at the top right of the page and at the bottom right indicators of CPU and memory usage by this component.
Figure 63: Successful start of the Network UPS Tools Add-on.
This is the end of the work on setting up the so-called Network UPS Tools server part, but that’s not all. That’s only half the job. You still need to configure the client part so that the Home Assistant can receive data.
To do this, we need to add the appropriate integration: Network UPS Tools (NUT). This can be done similarly to the steps described above (for example in the section with SpeedTest.net).
Go to the already familiar menu Configuration, section Devices and Services, Integration tab. We add a new Integration: + Add Integration. In the popup window Set up a new integration in the search field, enter the ups:
Figure 64: Search for the Network UPS Tools (NUT) Integration Component.
Component found. Select this element and get to the Connect to the NUT server pop-up window. We only need to enter two parameters: Username and Password, which we specified in the Network UPS Tools Add-on configuration earlier.
Figure 65: Specify the access parameters of the integration component to the Network UPS Tools service.
If we did not make a mistake in the user and password parameter and the previous steps of setup are performed correctly, we will be asked to select a list of resources (sensors) for monitoring. You can choose all, I chose only the following: Battery Charge, Battery Runtime, Input Voltage, Load, Self-Test Result, Status.
Figure 66: Selection of the list of resources (sensors) for monitoring.
In the final dialog, you will be prompted to link this object to the area of your Smart Home. We will not make this binding at the moment.
Congratulations! All our actions were performed successfully.
The list of integrations includes a new integration component Network UPS Tools (NUT), which receives data from the server.
Figure 68: New integration component Network UPS Tools (NUT) in the list of installed integrations.
Select the 40 entities link to go to the list of filtered sensors. The sensors we have selected are active, all others are off.
Figure 69: Filtered List of active and disabled sensors Network UPS Tools (NUT).
Similar to the steps described above in this article, we will open pop-ups with sensor parameters Mgeev1150Battery Charge, Battery Runtime, Input Voltage, Load, Self-Test Result, Status and data collected in historical terms.
Figure 70: Information about the state of the Mgeev1150 Battery Charge sensor and the collected data in historical terms.Figure 71: Information about the state of the Mgeev1150 Battery Runtime sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 72: Information about the state of the Mgeev1150 Input Voltage sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 73: Information about the state of the Mgeev1150 Load sensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 74: Information about the state of the Mgeev1150 Self-Test Resultsensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 75: Information about the state of the Mgeev1150 Self-Test Resultsensor and the collected data in historical terms. Figure 76: Information about the state of the Mgeev1150 Status sensor and the collected data in historical terms.
This will similarly complete the work with Network UPS Tools (NUT) monitoring sensors. In the following publications, we will explain how to configure the display of these sensors on the Lovelace panels of the Home Assistant.
What’s next?
So at the moment we know about the health of the hardware, software and database of our Smart Home core. We learned how to add and customize Add-on application components and Integrations. We also have information on the status of the power supply and the parameters of the uninterruptible power supply.
Do not forget to update the system and back up.
At this stage we will pause, and in the next publication we will tell about:
Greetings to all who read the series of publications “My smart home. From the beginning, step by step to… ”. In a previous article, I described the process of installing Home Assistant and its first settings.
Today we will describe how to add and configure additional software components – File Editor, Terminal. Make the first changes to the main configuration file: configuration.yaml. Let’s update Home Assistant to the current version.
So, let’s move on!
Software add-on: File editor
In Home Assistant, many parameters can be configured through the user interface, but there are enough of them, which are in the .yaml configuration files. So we need a tool to edit them.
You can find and install this official Home Assistant component by selecting the Add-on Store tab in the Supervisor section and entering the word File in the search field:
Figure 1: Search for the Text Editor component in the Supervisor section, Add-on Store tab.
Next, select Install:
Figure 2: Read the description of the component and start the installation.
Next, check the Start on boot option. It must be on. Optionally, we can enable the Show in sidebar option – display the File Editor menu in the Navigator on the left. We start the component:
Figure 3: Set the necessary options and start the component.
If the start is successful, this will be indicated by the corresponding green indicator at the top right. There will also be indicators to monitor the load of this component of the processor and memory:
Figure 4: Checking the successful start of the component.
When the File Editor component is successfully installed, open it via the link in the left navigator. Select the shortcut Browse Filesystem, and open the main configuration file: configuration.yaml:
Figure 5: Open the File Editor.Figure 6: Open the main configuration file: configuration.yaml.
This file now contains the default settings. There are not many of them. And we will gradually make our parameters there.
Let’s start editing the configuration.yaml file. Enter the following parameters:
homeassistant:
# Name of the location where Home Assistant is running
name: Elephant Home
# Location required to calculate the time the sun rises and sets
latitude: 50.724928
longitude: 30.380581
# Impacts weather/sunrise data (atitude above sea level in meters)
elevation: 109
# metric for Metric, imperial for Imperial
unit_system: metric
# Pick yours from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
time_zone: Europe/Kiev
The green indicator indicates no syntax errors. Do not forget to save the configuration through the appropriate graphic menu item:
Figure 8: Enter the following parameters in the configuration.yaml file. Save the file.
After saving successfully, this graphic element will disappear:
And to apply these added parameters, you must restart the OS Home Assistant. This can be done through the Configuration – Server Controls section:
Figure 10: Configuration and status management section of Home Assistant OS.
Select the Restart option:
Figure 11: Restart OS Home Assistant to work with new parameters.
Communication with Home Assistant will be lost for a while. After restarting and reconnecting to web services, you can perform a small check of the added settings. To do this, go to the Maps section and see the location of your smart home on the map of OpenStreetMap:
Figure 12: Location of your smart home on the map of OpenStreetMap according to the entered parameters.
Software add-on: Terminal
Before proceeding to configure various integrations, we need another software application: a Terminal.
But before you can proceed, you must enable the Advanced Mode in user profile:
Figure 13: Enable the advanced control mode of the Home Assistant OS.
Now, Find and install this official Home Assistant component is similar to how we installed File Editor, only in the search box by entering Terminal:
Figure 14: Search for the Terminal component in the Supervisor section, Add On Store tab.
Additionally, enable the option Auto update. We start a component:
Figure 15: Set the necessary parameters for this component and start it.
Similarly, after starting the component, the CPU and memory monitor indicators will appear:
Figure 16: Checking the successful start of the component.
You can check the operation of the installed application in the Terminal menu:
Figure 17: Terminal functionality in the web interface of Home Assistant OS.
Upgrading Home Assistant components
Some time has passed since the establishment of Home Assistant. Updates to this platform are released regularly. So it’s time to upgrade the system.
The whole sequence of steps can be performed in two ways – through the graphical user interface and through commands in the terminal. I will perform these actions using the console commands of OS Home Assistant.
● ● ●
Step One: System Backup.
To backup the state of the system before performing the update, use the functionality of snapshots.
We open the session of the terminal.
First, let’s learn about the list of existing snapshots:
ha snapshot list
Let’s create a new snapshot:
ha snapshot new --name snapbeforeupdate
Again, ask for a list of snapshots to see its properties:
Figure 18: Request a list of existing snapshots. Creating a new and view its properties.
● ● ●
Step Two: Check the configuration.
For a successful update, it is recommended to check the configuration of the Home Assistant OS:
ha core check
Figure 19: Check the configuration of the Home Assistant OS.
● ● ●
Step Three: Update the Home Assistant OS.
First we learn about the version number of our system:
ha os info
Figure 20: Get version number of our system.
Next, perform the update:
ha os update
After the upgrade, the system will automatically reboot. We will be informed about this by the lost connection:
Figure 21: Succesfully update OS Home Assistant and automatically Reboot system.
After reconnecting, we will receive up-to-date information about the updated version:
Figure 22: View information about the updated version Home Assistant OS.
● ● ●
Step Four: Update Home Assistant Core.
Similar to the previous step, we first learn about the number of our version:
ha core info
Figure 23: Get version number of our system and latest version number of Home Assistant Core.
Next, perform the update:
ha core update
Similarly, after the upgrade, the system will reboot. The connection will be lost for a while. Also, after rebooting, we will be forced to go through the login process again.
Figure 24: Update Home Assistant Core and automatically Reboot system.
After rebooting, run the command again:
ha core info
Figure 25: Get version number of our system Home Assistant Core.
Congratulations! This completes the update to the current version!
What’s next?
So at this point in time we already have the ability to work with configuration files, monitor the work of Home Assistant using commands in the terminal and we have updated the system to the latest version.
At this stage we will pause, and in the next publication we will tell about:
Sensors for monitoring system parameters: Raspberry Pi Power Quality and Processor Temperature Control Sensors; Processor, Memory, Disk, Network Monitoring Sensors;
Home Assistant Database Size monitoring;
Integration: Internet connection monitoring;
Add-On and Integration with external devices: Uninterruptible power supply monitoring.
Hello everyone who reads the series of publications “My Smart Home. From the beginning, step by step to…”. In the previous story, I described the necessary equipment to start implementation.
Now that all the components have arrived and are available, let’s move on to the software part. So we need any computer with Windows (x86 / x64), macOS, Linux x64 (64-bit) / x86 (32-bit), with the ability to work with an SD Card adapter and Internet access.
Let’s get started!
List of Software
The list for downloading software components is as follows:
№
Software Component Name
File Name
Size
Links
1.
Etcher for Windows (x86|x64) (Installer), v.1.5.121
balenaEtcher-Setup-1.5.121.exe
140 MB
2.
Home Assistant image for Raspberry Pi 4 64-bit, v.5.8
hassos_rpi4-5.8.img.xz
230 MB
Importantly! Other versions balenaEtcher and Home Assistant image will be required for other hardware platforms.
Figure 1: Select the required balenaEtcher software on the download page.
Figure 2: Select the required Home Assistant OS software on the download page.
Image burning
When all the software is available, you can start writing the image to the SD card. Three small steps.
The procedure is as follows:
Run balenaEtcher. Select the option “Flash from file”:
Figure 3: Step One: Select the option “Flash from file” in balenaEtcher application:
Choose the SD card that we will use to run the Home Assistant OS on the Raspberry Pi 4 platform:
Figure 4: Step Two: Select SD Card in balenaEtcher application.
Select “Flash!” to start recording an image. When balenaEtcher finishes recording the image and checks the result of the recording with the original, we will receive a confirmation:
So the SD card with the image of Home Assistant is ready! The following sequence of steps is as follows:
Insert the newly created installation media (SD card) into the Raspberry Pi 4 slot;
Connect the Ethernet cable to the network;
Connect the power supply;
In a few minutes we will be able to access the Home Assistant page at http: //X.X.X.X: 8123, where X.X.X.X is the address that Raspberry Pi received from the DHCP server:
Figure 6: Within a few minutes after starting the Raspberry Pi, we will get access to the OS Home Assistant and then make the first settings.
The first settings
So, Home Assistant OS is installed, it’s time to start setting it up.
At this stage, the web interface Home Assistant itself will offer to configure the basic parameters.
Create a Home Assistant owner account. This account will be an administrator and will always be able to change any settings. Enter the name, username, password:
Figure 7: Create a Home Assistant owner account. Enter the name, username, password.
Specify the name and location parameters of the house, time zone:
Figure 8: Set your location, time zone, and unit system.
If you want to share information with developers about the work of your copy of Home Assistant in terms of analytics, integration, statistics or diagnostic data – select the necessary items:
Figure 9: If want, set sharing information with developers.
The integration setup phase can now be postponed. We will return to this direction later:
Figure 10: List of integrations found by the Home Assistant setup wizard.
Finish, we get the configured start web interface of Home Assistant:
Figure 11: Home Assistant Starting Page.
Congratulations! And this important stage has been successfully completed!
Testing environment
We will need a test site to test the changes that will be made in the productive environment of Home Assistant. It is not necessary to allocate separate equipment for this task, so we will use the virtualization platform for this purpose.
As a cloud architect, I have my own test demo environment. It works on the basis of VMware vSphere 5.x and 6.x. Home Assistant OS can be successfully run in this virtualization platform, although with some features.
Since we will do such actions periodically, I decided to write a small script in Powershell (PowerCli). It is designed to automate the process of creating a test environment Home Assistant in the form of a virtual machine VMware vSphere 5.x, 6.x.
The script consists of 15 steps:
Define variables;
Download HASS OS vmdk.xz;
Extract HASS OS vmdk, rename from .tar, delete .xz;
Connect to VMware Infrastucture;
Set Datastore properties;
Create HASS OS Virtual Machine;
Copy HASS OS vmdk to Virtual Machine Datastore Folder;
Create Configuration Specification HASS OS Virtual Machine;
Check if there is an IDE COntroller present;
Add IDE harddisk to VM configuration;
Set VM EFI firmware;
Reconfigure HASS OS Virtual Machine;
Start HASS OS Virtual Machine;
Get Ip Address HASS OS Virtual Machine;
Open Web Browser and go to Home Assistant Start Web page.
The script code is below:
<#
.SYNOPSIS
Automate create Home Assistant test Virtual Machine in VMware vSphere.
.DESCRIPTION
This script is designed to automate the process of creating
a test environment Home Assistant in the VMware virtual machine.
.NOTES
File Name : HassVmwareTestEnv.ps1
Author : AIRRA (roman@airra.net)
Prerequisite : PowerShell V2 over Vista and upper,
7zip4powershell module,
VMware.VimAutomation.Core snap-in.
Copyright 2021 - AIRRA
.LINK
Script posted over:
http://blogs.airra.net
#>
# Step 1: Define variables
$HassVMDKUrl = "https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases/download/5.8/hassos_ova-5.8.vmdk.xz" # Home Assitant git download Release Path
$HassVMDKDownloadPath = $env:TEMP # Path to download Folder
$HassVMDKArchiveName = "hassos_ova-5.8" # Home Assitant VMDK Archive Name
$VIServer = "_" # Address of VMware Vcenter Server
$VIServerUser = "_" # User with admin permissions
$VIServerUserPassword = "_" # Password
$VIHost = "_" # Address of of VMware Esxi
$VIDatastoreName = "_" # Datasore Name
$VINetwork = "_" # Network Name
$HassVMName = "hassio.test" # Virtual Machine Name
$HassVMDKSourcePath = $env:TEMP
$HassVMDKSourceFile = "hassos.vmdk"
$HassVMDK = $HassVMDKSourcePath + "\" + $HassVMDKSourceFile
$PathDisk = "[" + $VIDatastoreName + "] " + $HassVMName + "/" + $HassVMDKSourceFile
# Step 2: Download HASS OS vmdk.xz.
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $HassVMDKUrl -OutFile ($HassVMDKDownloadPath + "/" + $HassVMDKArchiveName + ".vmdk.xz")
# Step 3: Extract HASS OS vmdk, rename from .tar, delete .xz.
Expand-7Zip -ArchiveFileName ($HassVMDKDownloadPath + "/" + $HassVMDKArchiveName + ".vmdk.xz") -TargetPath $HassVMDKDownloadPath
Remove-Item -Path ($HassVMDKDownloadPath + "/" + $HassVMDKArchiveName + ".vmdk.xz")
Get-Item -Path ($HassVMDKDownloadPath + "/" + $HassVMDKArchiveName + ".vmdk.tar") | Rename-Item -NewName $HassVMDKSourceFile
# Step 4: Connect to VMware Infrastucture.
[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls,[System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls11,[System.Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
Connect-VIServer -Server $VIServer -User $VIServerUser -Password $VIServerUserPassword
# Step 5: Set Datastore properties.
$Datastore = Get-Datastore $VIDatastoreName
New-PSDrive -Location $Datastore -Name vids -PSProvider VimDatastore -Root ""
Set-Location vids:
# Step 6: Create HASS OS Virtual Machine.
New-VM -Name $HassVMName -VMHost $VIHost -Datastore $VIDatastoreName -MemoryMB 1024 -NumCPU 1 -DiskMB 1 -NetworkName $VINetwork -GuestID debian6_64Guest
Get-HardDisk -VM $HassVMName -Name 'Hard disk 1' | Remove-HardDisk -Confirm:$false -DeletePermanently:$true
# Step 7: Copy HASS OS vmdk to Virtual Machine Datastore Folder.
Copy-DatastoreItem -Item $HassVMDK -Destination vids:$HassVMName
# Step 8: Create Configuration Specification HASS OS Virtual Machine.
$vm = Get-VM -Name $HassVMName
$spec = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualMachineConfigSpec
# Step 9: Check if there is an IDE COntroller present.
$ideCtrl = $vm.ExtensionData.Config.Hardware.Device | where {$_.GetType().Name -eq "VirtualIDEController"} | select -First 1
if(!$ideCtrl){
$ctrl = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualDeviceConfigSpec
$ctrl.Operation = "add"
$ctrl.Device = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualIDEController
$ideKey = -1
$ctrl.Device.ControllerKey = $ideKey
$spec.deviceChange += $ctrl
}
else{
$ideKey = $ideCtrl.Key
}
# Step 10: Add IDE harddisk to VM configuration.
$dev = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualDeviceConfigSpec
$dev.Operation = "add"
$dev.Device = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualDisk
$dev.Device.backing = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualDiskFlatVer2BackingInfo
$dev.Device.backing.DiskMode = "persistent"
$dev.Device.Backing.FileName = $PathDisk
$dev.Device.ControllerKey = $ideKey
$dev.Device.UnitNumber = -1
$spec.deviceChange += $dev
# Step 11: Set VM EFI firmware.
$spec.Firmware = [VMware.Vim.GuestOsDescriptorFirmwareType]::efi
# Step 12: Reconfigure HASS OS Virtual Machine.
$vm.ExtensionData.ReconfigVM($spec)
# Step 13: Start HASS OS Virtual Machine.
Start-VM -VM $HassVMName
# Step 14: Get Ip Address HASS OS Virtual Machine.
$Ip = (Get-VM -Name $HassVMName).Guest.IpAddress | ?{$_ -notmatch ':'}
Do {
Start-Sleep -s 10
}
While ($Ip -eq "" -or $Ip -eq $null)
# Step 15: Open Web Browser and go to Home Assistant Start Web page.
Invoke-Expression "cmd.exe /C start http://$Ip[1]:8123"
Important: The script uses the following components:
7zip4powershell module,
VMware.VimAutomation.Core snap-in.
What’s next?
So, at this point we have a deployed and initially set up Home Assistant.
At this stage we will pause, and in the future we will talk about:
Software add-on: Text config editor, Terminal;
Configuration file: configuration.yaml;
Upgrading Home Assistant components to the latest version.
Congratulations to everyone who periodically reads my blog. This time it will be about my attempt to implement the smart home model.
It all started down to the banal simple, with the purchase of a small townhouse. And while the main construction work was going on, experiments with different platforms of the Smart Home core began in parallel. Among the candidates were Home Assistant, MajorDoMo, OpenHUB and many others. After testing in a virtual environment, there is one candidate left – Home Assistant, about whom I want to tell you. And also about options of its integration with other systems.
This step-by-step review may be useful to some readers, because it will save the most important thing in our lives, it’s time. Much of what will be described was born of many successful and not-so-successful attempts.
So let’s get started!
Hardware
Let’s start with the hardware. At the first stage, the set of devices is not large, so you will fit into the mini budget.
● ● ●
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
Figure 1: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B appearance.
This is the fourth generation of the main line of minicomputers from the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
Figure 2: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B placement of components and ports.
The technical characteristics of the board are as follows:
In its design of a smart home, it was decided to place its control components as much as possible in electrical switchboards. So we will need a housing for the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B on a DIN rail.
Figure 8: The DIN rail case for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B appearance.
The DIN rail case for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B specifications:
Length – 88 mm;
Width – 90 mm;
Height – 58 mm;
The base material is plastic;
Material type – Polycarbonate;
Color – Gray.
● ● ●
Bill of materials
So the starting list for purchasing components is as follows:
№
Component Name
Part Number
Price, USD
1.
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, 2Gb
–
~75$
2.
Official Raspberry Pi USB-C power supply for Raspberry Pi 4
Prices for components are given in $, based on data from online stores in Kyiv, Ukraine. In your area, they can vary to a greater or lesser extent.
My set of starter components:
Figure 9: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.Figure 10: Official Raspberry Pi USB-C power supply for Raspberry Pi 4.Figure 11: SanDisk 32 GB microSDHC memory card UHS-I U3 Extreme Pro A1 + SD Adapter Kit. Figure 12: The DIN rail case for Raspberry Pi 4 Model B.
● ● ●
The next step
The components have been ordered and are expected to arrive. So what do we do next? Download the necessary software and start the installation phase.
