Announcement: HADashboard v2 Beta3!

BarryHampants · April 6, 2017, 11:05pm

hass@debbie:~$ pip show aiohttp
Name: aiohttp
Version: 1.2.0

Somehow mine works and I have no virtual environment running at all. I did a clean install of debian on an old PC last week and both Hass and Appdaemon v2B3 seem to be running fine with aiohttp 1.2.0. I have no idea how to check dependencies or anything so I basically installed everything listed in the Appdaemon instructions immediately after installing Hass.

So perhaps sudo pip3 install 'aiohttp==1.2.0' performs a downgrade and lets everything still work?

kernald · April 7, 2017, 1:25pm

I was using Chromium until recently, but I had an issue with a small screen (320x240): the minimum window width is more than 240 pixels, so the window was cropped. I switched to uzbl, it doesn’t have the issue, and is much more lightweight. Definitely worth the try, if you’re running something more than the browser on your Pi

turboc · April 7, 2017, 2:29pm

If you aren’t running AppleTv, then HA still seems to work on the old 1.x version. But if you have the appletv media player installed, you have to go to the 2.x version of aiohttp. Nice undocumented feature of the .41 release.

aimc · April 7, 2017, 3:57pm

My goal will be to harmonize packages across both - this one is temporarily an issue and the fix is not simple, but we’ll get there,

BarryHampants · April 9, 2017, 9:18am

So the latest upgrade to .42 broke HADashboard for me with it’s auto aiohttp upgrade.

I’m not sure of the consequences but after launching hass once with aiohttp 2.0.5 in place and then downgrading via sudo pip3 install 'aiohttp==1.2.0' and a quick sudo reboot I am able to get HADashboard working again.

Forgive the linux noob question…
Am I going to have to reinstall Hass in a virtual Env to let the appdaemon have its way with aiohttp? Or is there another way I can make them both happy? Running under another user?

quadportnick · April 9, 2017, 11:07am

You can run one or both under Docker. Docker is interesting because it isn’t the overhead of a VM, it just creates an isolated world for an application. Honestly I cannot fathom deploying ‘server’ apps without it anymore. I think people fighting with dependency versions and Linux distribution differences are freakin crazy

I’m working on a guide and some small updates that will hopefully be part of v2. It honestly is quite straightforward, it just takes time to ‘get it’ but in the end you are down to single commands to install and upgrade appdaemon. i am actually running v1 and v2 side by side right now, v2 just for the dashboard. (Not that I’m really worried that v2 can’t do the job, but, why mess around?)

turboc · April 9, 2017, 12:52pm

Does aiohttp 2.05 just break the dashboard, or does it break appdaemon in general. I’m still running the dashboard on a separate machine and my “automation” AD on the machine with HA. So my question is can I upgrade HA without breaking my “automation” AD?

BarryHampants · April 9, 2017, 12:54pm

Excellent - and thank you, you already answered my next question with your answer.

Docker sounds well worth spending the time to learn.

quadportnick · April 9, 2017, 1:17pm

If you want to give it a shot… Need feedback on people’s differences. It’s written around a x86 Docker build on my Hub for now, and next we need the Raspberry Pi (ARM) support worked out. Problem is Docker Hub can’t auto-build ARM – it’s easy enough to pull the git and build local, but, I’d like to do something more streamlined. People are doing it for HASS today so just have to set it all up

github.com

quadportnick/appdaemon/blob/hadashboard_beta/TUTORIAL_DOCKER.md

# Appdaemon with Docker
A quick tutorial to Appdaemon with Docker

## About Docker
Docker is a popular application container technology. Application containers allow an application to be built in a known-good state and run totally independant of other applications. This makes it easier to install complex software and removes concerns about application dependency conflicts. Containers are powerful, however they require abstractions that can sometimes be confusing. 

This guide will help you get the Appdaemon Docker image running and hopefully help you become more comfortable with using Docker. There are multiple ways of doing some of these steps which are removed for the sake of keeping it simple. As your needs change, just remember there's probably a way to do what you want!

## Prereqs
This guide assumes:
* You already have Docker installed. If you still need to do this, follow the [Docker Installation documentation](https://docs.docker.com/engine/installation/)
* You have Home Assistant up and running
* You are comfortable with some tinkering. This is a pre-req for Appdaemon too!

## Testing your System
Our first step will be to verify that we can get Appdaemon running on our machine, which tests that we can successfully "pull" (download) software from Docker Hub, execute it, and get output that Appdaemon is working. We will worry about our persistent (normal) configuration later.

Before you start, you need to know the following:
* HA_URL: The URL of your running Home Assistant, in the form of http://[name]:[port]. Port is usually 8123. 
* HA_KEY: If your Home Assistant requires an API key, you'll need that

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ReneTode · April 9, 2017, 1:19pm

i was running appdaemon 1.3.6 side by side with V2 beta2 also.
no problem at all. and i dont have docker or virtual enviroment.

i kicked out the old appdaemon because i wanted the latest appdaemon and now are only running v2beta3.
why keep more processes running then needed?

quadportnick · April 9, 2017, 1:23pm

Yah, in the end I agree, for the sake of when it was brand new it was easier to do it that way, just in case something went wrong. Appdaemon is ‘simple’ in the scheme of things

I can bounce back my HASS when upgrading pretty trivially though, if 0.42 breaks me I can hop back to 0.40 in a few seconds. I also have a stack of stuff on a Pi, and I change my mind on what I’m running. It’s just mentally easier for me to process it all, and the Pi itself remains totally clean.

I used to run virtual machines for similar cleanliness, and for instance my NAS now, that used to be 12GB of VMs on a beefier box, but now it’s around 1GB running of Docker apps on an appliance, and actually there’s more apps now. I’m a pretty big fan

ReneTode · April 9, 2017, 1:32pm

i just read that piece about docker but it seems like a lot off hassle to me.
in appdaemon i use, edit and create files all over my rpi.
as i see it that isnt possible without creating those parts as part of the persistent part.

since i am using appdaemon and dashboard i see people with docker problems about every say.
i rather have a small problem that lots of other people have when upgrading once in a while (i update AD and hass about once in 2 months or so) then lots off problems keeping everything in containers.

aimc · April 9, 2017, 1:34pm

Just the dashboard - if you are running 1.5.2 aiohttp isn’t even used.

aimc · April 9, 2017, 1:51pm

I wanted to postpone it but I’ll take a look at supporting th HASS version of aiohttp in the next beta.

quadportnick · April 9, 2017, 2:39pm

Definitely an agree to disagree thing, but it’s clear we have completely different app deployment mindsets. Your statement of ‘files all over your pi’ freaks me the heck out from a design perspective. But the cool thing with open source stuff is we can all win and have all the options available.

For the Docker issues here, I think it’s really a lack of supporting Docker in the source. I’ve had steps in the threads that get lost and people are solving the same issues over and over again, so just taking the approach of helping @aimc in the source repo so it works best out of the gate for people who want that option.

rpitera · April 9, 2017, 2:41pm

Is this a global issue on updating to .42 or is it just for Docker users running HADash?

aimc · April 9, 2017, 2:42pm

My personal inclination has been the same as Rene’s, however, the plus side of docker is that it makes deployment very simple and foolproof which helps cut down on installation questions, and it seems a lot of people like this. So, if we are going to support Docker we will do the best we can with it and fortunately @quadportnick is helping me! Maybe I’ll even become a convert myself

quadportnick · April 9, 2017, 2:45pm

Haha maybe. I agree its a hard sell for you guys who are hacking down in that code a lot, it creates some complexity for you for sure. Where these things start shining are in very complicated, multi component scenarios, where you have n-tier apps and all of those pieces and orchestrating them together, and especially if you are concerned about deploying somewhere else…

We’re kind of touching on those benefits, in these small home user ways, so it can seem a bit much especially to folks who like getting dirty. I expect there are many who just want that “I just want this to run!” mentality and think pip is just a cute word.

Also I’m seeing Docker pop up on consumer grade NAS devices to run apps lately, as from THEIR perspective the modularization makes their world so much easier. I expect that could translate to a GUI experience for deploying&maintaining Appdaemon on those boxes.

The last thought being: Appdaemon is kind of an advanced tool to start with, however, I think HADashboard is putting it on the radars of more people who will never touch the Python side, so, it’s getting into more muggle territories that way

lordsiris · April 9, 2017, 2:46pm

I’m a big user of docker for everything I can, probably have about 12-15 containers. Can cause difficulties when trying to dev inside one but for just running things I don’t think I could ever switch back to just using a bunch of small virtual machines.

lordsiris · April 9, 2017, 2:47pm

@aimc are the widgets in beta3 is the format/syntax/code that you wanted to redo moving forward? Just asking as I wanted to look at making a widget and am fine waiting till the widget syntax in where you want it.

Thanks!