OTA change - documentation is wrong

ESPHome
1

How wonderfull, a new breaking change, not marked.
Further, the docs are incorrect, even better!

Taken from the docs:


# Example configuration entry
ota:
  - platform: esphome
    safe_mode: true
    password: !secret ota_password

Response:

ota.esphome: [source /config/esphome/facade-plug.yaml:29]
  platform: esphome
  password: !secret otapw
  
  'safe_mode' (and its related configuration variables) has moved from 'ota' to its own component. See https://esphome.io/components/safe_mode.
  safe_mode: True

Btw. Correct use of safe_mode is:

ota:
  - platform: esphome
    password: !secret otapw

safe_mode:
4 Likes
2

As part of this change also, safe_mode has been pulled out into its own top level component.

and also the third bullet under Breaking Changes:

image

You are welcome to submit a correction to the freely-provided community-created documentation for this free open-source project via the link at the bottom of the page.

3 Likes
3

If ESPHome makes a breaking change they should be the ones making sure the documentation is up to date before releasing it; that’s common sense for anything in a project. I understand it is open source and whatnot; but it should not be on the users to update the documentation for something they change (especially if it was working fine before). Otherwise delay the release until everything is up to date.

Thanks @fribse for the answer.

2 Likes
4

How do you suggest “they” check that?

You are totally correct, of course, “they should”. I’m not suggesting this is a good situation to be in, and I’m sure the ESPHome devs would agree.

However, the change is widely documented correctly, just missed in one place.

“Our” Tom has taken the effort to submit a pull request to get it fixed: Heads up for Esphome 2024.6 - #23 by tom_l

1 Like
5

I would even get further:

We need some kind of “Update/Migration-Tool”. Not just for esphome, but also for all kinds of “Breaking changes”, especially when they are trivial like this one.

HomeAssistant and esphome is nice, shiny and cool. It takes home automation from geeks to “normal people”. But as long as I can’t install it for my parents and tell them to keep it up to date without breaking it, it is useless for them.

1 Like
6

ESPHome is not like Windows: it doesn’t generally have security updates. There is no reason to update ESPHome unless you need to take advantage of new features. If devices are working, they will continue working.

Also, ESPHome is still very much a DIY / hobbyist project.

The same goes for HA: generally, there’s no reason to update a system that is working unless there is some sort of change to internet-facing integrations, third-party APIs etc.

7

It should though:

I know many users do take safeguards on their esphome devices, shielding them from the internet and such. But they are the least protected computing devices in your home. If I had bad intentions, they would be my target of choice.

8

ESPHome is not like Windows: it doesn’t generally have security updates. There is no reason to update ESPHome unless you need to take advantage of new features. If devices are working, they will continue working.

There are more than enough reasons for regular updates:

  • Security
  • Compatibility with HomeAssistant
  • If you postpone updates too long it’s a real mess with all breaking changes

To be clear: This was just an idea. Not just for esphome, but also for HA and all other config data for all apps and extensions. Maybe I should adress this at core.

A migration assist which could also suggest better configs would be great.

2024-06-21 11.31.16 imgflip.com 1b49b9fd5140

SCNR, end of spamming this thread, sorry :wink:

2 Likes
9

I assume that we will all do our best. I am therefore happy when I have managed to achieve something in HA that works and less happy when it suddenly no longer works. That’s the case with many things. Maintaining and using HA is a kind of hobby and hobbies take time :slight_smile: Thanx @fribse for the quick fix.