Name.local doesn't work when adding ESPHome device to Home Assistant

Configuration
1

When I want to add new ESPHome device to Home Assistant, the mdns name doesn’t work, I have to use the ip address. Which is strange, because I can ping / avahi-resolve the mdns name from the same machine as Home Assistant is running on (or any other machine in the local network.
Example pictures Home_Assistant_ESPHome_1_Screenshot_2022-07-24_20-20-32 Home_Assistant_ESPHome_2_Screenshot_2022-07-24_20-22-14

I should be able to use the mdns name when adding the ESPHome device, right?
Home Assistant is the latest version (2022.7.6) it normally runs in a docker, but I have tried a Python venv today as well to see if there was any difference - it wasn’t.
The ESPHome devices run ESPHome version 2022.6.2, the Home Assistant machine runs Debian 11.
Any idea on how to debug this further?

2

You can try your hostname+domain (like sensor219b.fritz.box for example) so to make it connect without mdns.

Can you do it from the home assistan cli too?

3

Fix your network’s mdns.

4

There doesn’t seem to be a cli for Home Assistant installed in a Python virtual environment. Perhaps it is only for Home Assistant OS?

tingo@heim:~/projects/venv-test-homeassistant$ source env/bin/activate
(env) tingo@heim:~/projects/venv-test-homeassistant$ ha
-bash: ha: command not found
(env) tingo@heim:~/projects/venv-test-homeassistant$
5

Well, yes, that’s what I’m trying to do. The only problem is that it seems to work fine - outside of Home Assistant. That’s why I’m asking about clues to debug this further.

6

small update: I installed home-assistant-cli (had to fix a few errors, and not all commands work) and I can run a discover command

(env) tingo@heim:~/projects/venv-test-homeassistant$ hass-cli discover
Running discovery on network (might take a while)...
esphome:
   -  host: 10.13.37.189
      port: 6053
      hostname: sensor219a.local.
      properties:
          board: nodemcuv2
          platform: ESP8266
          mac: 60019451e05b
          version: 2022.6.2
      mac_address: 60019451e05b
   -  host: 10.13.37.40
      port: 6053
      hostname: sensorserver-room.local.
      properties:
          board: nodemcuv2
          platform: ESP8266
          mac: 58bf25db0237
          version: 2022.6.2
      mac_address: 58bf25db0237
   -  host: 10.13.37.162
      port: 6053
      hostname: sensorlabben-a.local.
      properties:
          board: d1_mini
          platform: ESP8266
          mac: a020a617d3d7
          version: 2022.6.2
      mac_address: a020a617d3d7

octoprint:
   -  host: 10.13.37.107
      port: 80
      ssdp_description: http://10.13.37.107:80/plugin/discovery/discovery.xml
      name: OctoPrint instance "ironhive.local"
      model_name: 1.7.3
      model_number:
      serial:
      manufacturer: The OctoPrint Project
      udn: uuid:55d91cfe-74c0-4653-b6f4-540c145831ba
      upnp_device_type: urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:Basic:1
   -  host: 10.13.37.135
      port: 80
      ssdp_description: http://10.13.37.135:80/plugin/discovery/discovery.xml
      name: OctoPrint instance "caterpillar.local"
      model_name: 1.7.3
      model_number:
      serial:
      manufacturer: The OctoPrint Project
      udn: uuid:55d91cfe-74c0-4653-b6f4-540c145831be
      upnp_device_type: urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:Basic:1
   -  host: 10.13.37.190
      port: 80
      ssdp_description: http://10.13.37.190:80/plugin/discovery/discovery.xml
      name: OctoPrint instance "vespa.local"
      model_name: 1.7.2
      model_number:
      serial:
      manufacturer: The OctoPrint Project
      udn: uuid:55d91cfe-74c0-4653-b6f4-540c145831bd
      upnp_device_type: urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:Basic:1
   -  host: 10.13.37.56
      port: 80
      ssdp_description: http://10.13.37.56:80/plugin/discovery/discovery.xml
      name: OctoPrint instance "firefly.local"
      model_name: 1.8.1
      model_number:
      serial:
      manufacturer: The OctoPrint Project
      udn: uuid:55d91cfe-74c0-4653-b6f4-540c145831b9
      upnp_device_type: urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:Basic:1

it also finds a HP printer, Home Assistant itself and a few other things. So I would say yes - I can do discovery from Home Assistant cli.