Installation and updates questions

Installation
1

Hello!

I am new to Home Assistant and have some questions:

  1. Is there a way, or what would be the better way, to get notifications of updates from Home Assistant?
  2. Could I do remote update from miles away?

A customer inquired about Home Assitant to be used (installing HA on this unit: Industrial 8-Channel ESP32-S3 WiFi Relay Module, Onboard isolated RS485 interface, Built-in Xtensa 32-bit LX7 Dual-core Processor, With Multiple Isolation Protection Circuits | ESP32-S3-ETH-8DI-8RO) with Node-RED, and my main concerns are updates / maintenance from long distance… without having the physical unit with me, how can I keep track of needed updates and how can I update the unit remotely?

2
  1. Yes you can set up notifications when updates are ready.
  2. Yes, you can do that with remote access set up (either yourself or through Nabu Casa).
  3. ESP32 is not something you run HA off, but you can use it with ESPHome.
1 Like
4

Hello Edgar and welcome,

As you state to have little experience with HA and at the same time mention a customer wants am integration with a very specific relay board, there are some concerns I have. Naturally I do not know what your expertise or background is, the technologies you mentioned are both very specific.

Home Assistant is a smarhome platform that is able to integrate a very wide range of devices and can be used as an automation engine, display information and much more.
You can backup and uupdate HA through the UI as long as you have Access to it.

ESP32 devices can run on ESPHome software and the ESPHome devices have a very good integration with HomeAssistant.

1 Like
5

If I got this correctly…

I could install esphome in the I/O unit which will be directly connected to the network, then it can talk to a computer that would have HA and Node-RED… for updates I could connect via VPN and do what I need to do remotely.

Question…
Is there a way to know of updates for HA and/or esphome when I am not tracking esphome everyday?

^^ Because this would be an installation I would do for somebody else I am not going to be looking at the program in the regular basis, but since I might need to do maintenance, then I would like to know when/if updates are available/needed…

6

Yes.

ESPhome updates are the least important updates to apply generally. If it works there is no urgent need to update.

Home Assistant follows a schedule for updates: Releases - Home Assistant

And then you have everything else. I would strongly suggest you get some hands-on experience yourself before you set up HA someplace else and be their tech support.

2 Likes
7

Yes so you will use ESPHome to flash the device and it will then run on its own. No need to update it afterwards unless there is config you need to change.

A VPN (or a Nabu Casa subscription) can be used to access it remotely.

Depending on your needs, node-red will not be required, I doubt you’ll need it in a base setup, it will only be another component to learn and to maintain.

I concur with Fleskefjes, get some hands-on experience before supporting this for someone else, ha is a tinkerer’s platform that is very powerful but might need some attention now and again.

What do you want to be able to do? Is it simply be able to provide a UI to turn the relays on/off? Or do you also want a dashboards and some history? Int he first case a simple webui on the esp might sufficient.

2 Likes
9

My new neighbor took an interest in my Smart Home and asked if I could help them get started. I bought them a Home Assistant Green, and set them up with a Nabu Casa account (so I can help manage their HA instance remotely - until they get up to speed). I gave them a few of my surplus switches, etc…, integrated their existing devices (Thermostat, Fireplace, Appliances, and Garage Doors), and set them up with some simple, but customized dashboards for each of them (Husband and Wife).

I can log in remotely for updates and maintenance (through their Nabu Casa link), and update their dashboards when I see something I think they might like. For example, I gave them access to my rooftop weather station, via a custom tab on their dashboards. Everything you want to do is possible, and the Nabu Casa access also helps support the HA family.

Just my $.02.

2 Likes
10

This for an industrial setting machine monitoring… might need some history saving and few email notifications depending on condition. It would NOT control anything on a machine… maybe from a different instant it might work to turn simple things like lights and so on an industrial building.

11

Ok a simple HA install and flashing the device with ESP should work.
If the environment is industrial (I do not know to which degree it is), consider an industrial device meant for extreme circumstances to run HA on.

12

Remotely controlling machinery is one thing.

Installing open source software that has never been tested in your specific situation that is going to control machinery and you are going to do that remotely is another.

Are you sure you have though this through carefully in case anything goes wrong? Are you going to have somebody on site or a live camera feed to check everything goes well?

Subscribing to Discord, Twitter, or other release announcement channels is convenient. Regularly checking in and seeing the prompts that an update is available is another.

Any specific NodeRED software requirements? What’s the WaveShare unit used for? Do you expect it needs to have any updates as well? What machinery are you controlling?