So when is OpenZWave (OZW) version 1.6 coming to Home Assistant?

[ha_steve]

@finity

It is my understanding that HACS only provides the custom integration. It doesn’t provide the “ozwdaemon container”. The thing provided by HACS wonb’t work until you have a “container” (qt-openzwave) already running.

Not quite. Fishwaldo publishes a docker container… Home Assistant developers take that container and uses it as a basis to construct the add-on container you see in the store. The purpose of that container is to publish topics to MQTT, which are then picked up by the new (beta) integration.

So you have two choices for the container part. You can use the one in the add-one store (which is based on the one released by Fishwaldo) and is a one-click install, or you can use the one released by Fishwaldo directly (but requires knowledge of docker among other things). The latter will always lead the former.

One of the things that is done in converting from the directly released one to the one you see in the store, for example, is bind-mount directories from the home assistant ecosystem into the container so that things like the cache file is stored outside of the container and persist across new version installs. This was not done (or done incorrectly) by the HA team.

So two things have to happen for the add-on store version to update:

1. Fishwaldo releases new version of qt-openzwave container
2. HA developer build a new version of the add-on based on (1)

Bugs can be introduced in step 2

[finity]

@ha_steve

Not quite.

Back at you…

I wasn’t referring to the add-on container, the official container or the differences between those two things. I know that the ozw official container and the add-on containers are different (as you saw in the other thread).

I was trying to (politely ) correct fishwaldo’s understanding of the difference between the “container” (offered thru the Add-on Store) and the “integration” (offered thru HACS).

Those were the differences I was pointing out in that post.

Then firstof9 let me know that he had been corrected in another thread that i hadn’t read yet.

So I think it’s all sorted out now.

[freshcoast (Z-Wave AI Bot)]

The HA addon container has no relation the the official container, except that they run the same applications. They are completely independent. They are not even the same Linux distribution (Alpine Linux vs. Debian).

[ha_steve]

right… i oversimplified.

[keith-michael]

I will tell you that the openzwave-qt is awesome. I tried it and because I know almost nothing about docker screwed my system up, big time. Took me weeks to get things running. And just tonight I screwed it up again. The problems I have are my own fault : I insist on running in venv and know so little about docker. But now I think I need to make some kind of change because I can’t go through renaming all my nodes again. I think I would rather live in a tent.

Be careful if you do go the docker route, make sure you are very comfortable working with it. The group of people working on the project are awesome and I can’t wait until it becomes easier for someone like me to use. I was able to follow instructions and cmd-line my way through it…but that doesn’t help you with the basics. I’m almost afraid to go tell my wife I hosed eh system again, going to bed disguested at myself.

[firstof9]

I made a Community Guide how to do this the easy way for a venv install.

How to test the OZW Beta without fully switching over

Prerequisite: MQTT Broker (Server) and Integration Test Migration for Supervised installs: Install the addon, but leave it off/disabled Open the zwave control panel and hit “Stop Network” Config/Activate the OZW Addon Activate the OZW (Beta) Integration from Integrations -> + You are now using the OZW Beta integration! Don’t like it and want to switch back? Easy. Remove the OZW Integration from Integrations -> Remove Stop/Disable the OZW Addon Open zwave control panel and hit “Start Netw…

[keith-michael]

Thank you! I’ll check it out now. Tried to go to bed and couldn’t.

[keith-michael]

I had a look. Thanks for the very concise article, I’m going to need it when I rebuild. I think my mistake was that I didn’t backup some very important files. And I probably wiped out my local storage for the container. Long story short, let’s say I ran the command last month :
-v /home/km/ozw:/opt/ozw
And then in my attempts to upgrade tonight I might have done something like
-/home/km/ozw:/opt/ozw/config
Which would mess up the left side.
Next time, I think I should be backing up /home/km/ozw at least one a day, correct?

[firstof9]

@keith-michael

Long story short, let’s say I ran the command last month :
-v /home/km/ozw:/opt/ozw
And then in my attempts to upgrade tonight I might have done something like
-/home/km/ozw:/opt/ozw/config

This is just where you’d like the persistent storage for ozwd to be located so you can modify it easy AND so that your ozwcache has a place to live when you update the container. Otherwise each update you’d start from scratch and the cache would need to rebuild, very bad day.

@keith-michael

Next time, I think I should be backing up /home/km/ozw at least one a day, correct?

I’d say just he ozwcache XML file.

[keith-michael]

Thanks. I think what I"m going to do next is this: Setup a small zwave network, practice Docker so I’m comfortable updating it, backup the ozwcache XML, try to break the whole thing several times, and when confident set it up for hopefully the last time. Someone recommended a Hub I haven’t heard of, called Hubitat. It can be used like Vera - I’d use only the z-wave portion, and this might be the better way for me. Who knows.

[firstof9]

docker’s pretty simple, you can’t really break it

[keith-michael]

Hello, I’m Keith, nice to meet you! I can break my own zwave docker images really easy

[firstof9]

More like just a mis-configuration

[dbrunt (Daniel)]

@Fishwaldo

As for the “Beta” status - and newbies - I’m speaking from the OZW side perspective only, but since 0.110 landed, the feedback from everybody has been incredibly useful to me. Not just the bug reports and “things don’t work” but also the questions about how to do things. Its this feedback from newbies and experts alike that’s directing my efforts right now - either (obviously) fixing bugs, but also with regards to how users are actually using it, the confusion they are facing and how I can make things easier (e.g. AllInOne Container for ozwdaemon, which was copied by HACS quickly!)

Hello,

I am a newbie to HA. I know a little about docker having tried MQTT/Phoscon/deCONZ/mcsMQTT/JowiHue with HomeSeer. I have implemented the AllInOne container on my Pi where my RaZberry card is and have successfully migrated 9 Z-Wave devices thus far and integrated them into HA which is on another Debian box. Question is, where do I file questions about how to do things and/or bug reports? My VNC window for admin keeps closing…

Thanks, Daniel

[dbrunt (Daniel)]

My docker config:

docker run -d \
 --name ozwd \
 --restart=unless-stopped \
 --security-opt seccomp=unconfined \
 --device=/dev/ttyAMA0 \
 -v $PWD/ozw:/opt/ozw/config \
 -e MQTT_SERVER="192.168.1.104" \
 -e MQTT_USERNAME="homeassistant" \
 -e MQTT_PASSWORD="Aighio . . . Hoopie0uth" \
 -e USB_PATH=/dev/ttyAMA0 \
 -e OZW_NETWORK_KEY=0xBC,0x87,. . . . ,0xD6,0x17 \
 -p 1983:1983 \
 -p 5901:5901 \
 -p 7800:7800 \
 openzwave/ozwdaemon:allinone-latest

[firstof9]

@dbrunt

Question is, where do I file questions about how to do things and/or bug reports?

Direct your bug reports here:

Issues · OpenZWave/qt-openzwave

[adamoutler]

OZW is a huge mess of crap. I just got done setting it up. Now I’ve got to go to a separate device to put it into pairing mode or manage any devices at all. I have to have several apps to manage MQTT and ZWAVE. The worst part is these apps are at a low state of development and are little more than development tools. OZW is NOT ready yet unless you’re a developer.

Personally, I’m a developer, but I don’t want my house to be a development project. It should be using something a bit more stable than OZW.

[finity]

You don’t have to use the OZW (beta).

You can still use the original zwave integration. It’s what I use and have used for the 3 years I’ve used HA.

[adamoutler]

It’s too late now. My garage door doesn’t work anymore and I have several tools required to manage my devices. I’m not re-setting up my 60 devices.

I went into this because I got a SOUND_SWITCH device, which I understood from reading comments, was supported by OZW. It wasn’t.

Now, since HA has said they are integrating and it WILL be default in the future, my best option is to stay with OZW and hope for support, or develop it myself. I’m not happy with this decision, but it was made and now I’m going to live with it.

Another factor in switching over is a recent HA release stated this was in beta and encouraged users to try it. Saying OZW is in beta is like saying theoretical physics is in beta and we encourage you to try it. It’s nowhere near ready and calling OZW Beta is an insult to Beta. My experience is pre-alpha at best. It is not ready for testing. Generally the word Beta is used when the developer thinks they have all the major bugs worked out and there are only a few problems left to tackle. During a beta there “may” be user experience issues.

Installing OZW Beta required me to:

1. Install docker
2. Install an all-in-one docker machine (several times because I wasn’t aware of the particulars)
3. Install an integration
4. Delete my old integration
5. Install a separate MQTT server
6. Attempt to use the built-in OZW admin tool with all it’s bugs in way too small of a window size via a web VNC connection without security.
7. Install OZW admin on my desktop (which replaces the in-app UI)
8. Search for an MQTT Browser
9. Get pissed because MQTT Publish isn’t being accepted by Home Assistant.

And finally

9. Accept my reality where I can’t use my SOUND_SWITCH, and also my Garage Door Cover no longer works, so I’m just waiting and researching.

[ha_steve]

For people using “supervised” install most of your steps are unnecessary. One could argue that if you are using a non-supervised install method, then you have already bought into the roll-your-own approach because to achieve ANY of the same functionality of any add-on, you’d have to do all of the docker stuff.

If you are using a supervised install, then you did it wrong.

And the team has stated they are working on a migration tool.

And finally, the list of devices OZW 1.6 knows about is listed in the github repo…