Zigbee 2 MQTT on an external server

DIMMonchik · March 19, 2024, 5:15pm

Hello! I am using Zigbee 2 MQTT on another server and MQ is installed on CHAOS. I would like to know how it is correct to specify a broker in Zigbee 2 MQTT in order for the added devices to appear immediately in Home Assistant.

code-in-progress · March 19, 2024, 5:16pm

You should be able to point Z2M to your :1883. You’ll also need to provide the username and password setup in the MQTT addon.

Your config should look like this:

mqtt:
  base_topic: zigbee2mqtt
  server: mqtt://192.168.1.175:1883
  user: ha_mqtt
  password: 123412341234

DIMMonchik · March 19, 2024, 5:21pm

I have tried that, but the new devices still do not appear in my HA.

francisp · March 19, 2024, 5:25pm

Did you add the mqtt integration ?

code-in-progress · March 19, 2024, 5:27pm

Have you looked at the MQTT logs or used something like the MQTT tool to see what traffic (if any) is being passed?

DIMMonchik · March 19, 2024, 7:37pm

But there are no Zigbee 2 MQTT devices in the MQTT integration

francisp · March 21, 2024, 8:20am

Show your Zigbee2MQTT configuration. I use an external Zigbee2MQTT too, never had problems.

TinkyWinky · February 8, 2025, 1:26pm

Having a similar issue. Using HAOS 14.1, Core 2025.1.2 on a Proxmox VM.

zigbee2mqtt refuses to start and complains:

[14:09:31] INFO: Preparing to start...
[14:09:31] INFO: Socat not enabled
[14:09:31] ERROR: Got unexpected response from the API: Service not enabled
[14:09:31] INFO: Starting Zigbee2MQTT...
Starting Zigbee2MQTT without watchdog.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
            READ THIS CAREFULLY
Refusing to start because configuration is not valid, found the following errors:
-  must have required property 'mqtt'
If you don't know how to solve this, read https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/configuration
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my config is

enabled: false
master: pty,raw,echo=0,link=/tmp/ttyZ2M,mode=777
slave: tcp-listen:8485,keepalive,nodelay,reuseaddr,keepidle=1,keepintvl=1,keepcnt=5
options: "-d -d"
log: false
mqtt:
  base_topic: zigbee2mqtt
  server: mqtt://172.22.2.42:1883
  user: ha_mqtt
  password: 123412341234
serial:
  port: /dev/ttyUSB0

(The server does not resovle names for some reason, but well.) I had a zillion attempts, all showing the same error. My MQTT does not require username + password, but at least with mosquitto, I can safely add some random username and password and still receive events.

I can log in to the HA server via ssh.
I can subscribe to MQTT events with mosquitto_sub -h 172.22.2.42 -t "#" -v and receive the proper events.
I am very sure that the device ttyUSB0 is correct.

What’s wrong with my config??

ShadowFist · February 8, 2025, 2:41pm

At first glance, you’re missing socat in the first line, which causes an indentation error because of the other socat options in the first 5 lines.

Should be something like this:

socat:
  enabled: false
  master: pty,raw,echo=0,link=/tmp/ttyZ2M,mode=777
  slave: tcp-listen:8485,keepalive,nodelay,reuseaddr,keepidle=1,keepintvl=1,keepcnt=5
  options: "-d -d"
  log: false
mqtt:
  base_topic: zigbee2mqtt
  server: mqtt://172.22.2.42:1883
  user: ha_mqtt
  password: 123412341234
serial:
  port: /dev/ttyUSB0

TinkyWinky · February 8, 2025, 3:23pm

That’s odd. When I update my config accordingly and press ‘save’, the first 5 lines immediately reappear (the socat section is untouched):

enabled: false
master: pty,raw,echo=0,link=/tmp/ttyZ2M,mode=777
slave: tcp-listen:8485,keepalive,nodelay,reuseaddr,keepidle=1,keepintvl=1,keepcnt=5
options: "-d -d"
log: false
socat:
  enabled: false
  master: pty,raw,echo=0,link=/tmp/ttyZ2M,mode=777
  slave: tcp-listen:8485,keepalive,nodelay,reuseaddr,keepidle=1,keepintvl=1,keepcnt=5
  options: "-d -d"
  log: false
mqtt:
  base_topic: zigbee2mqtt
  server: mqtt://172.22.2.42:1883
  user: ha_mqtt
  password: 123412341234
serial:
  port: /dev/ttyUSB0

Tried to find the yaml config file in the filesystem. The UI dialogue suggesteds /config/zigbee2mqtt.conf, but there is no such file but a zigbee2mqtt.db. And a /config/zigbee2mqtt/configuration.yaml which appears to be something else:

version: 4
homeassistant:
  enabled: true
advanced:
  network_key: GENERATE
  pan_id: GENERATE
  ext_pan_id: GENERATE

I guess, the config is stored inside the database.

Zigbee2MQTT version 2.1.1-1.

ShadowFist · February 8, 2025, 3:39pm

No, it should be stored in the /config/zigbee2mqtt/configuration.yaml you linked to.
What I suspect is happening is that Z2M is loading a backup of your old config and readding those lines.

There should be a hidden configuration.yaml.bk backup file in that path. Maybe try deleting that as a last resort.

Before you do, however, can you show a screenshot of your config tab in the Z2M addon? Obviously, hide the MQTT password before posting. I suspect you might have socat settings defined in both places.

TinkyWinky · February 9, 2025, 4:12pm

That’s it! You’re the pro! I was simply not recognizing, that the three text fields had the headings “socat”, “mqtt” and “serial”. This is the config now, z2m at least tries to start:

~~Now running into z2m issue #26255 but well…~~ Was related to the USB hardware (Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (-E)) and fixed by adding adapter: ember to the serial section ^{for more info, see Zigbee2MQTT 2.0.0 breaking changes · Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt · Discussion #24198 · GitHub}.

ShadowFist · February 9, 2025, 5:15pm

Glad you got it sorted!