Homebridge made simple, Homebridge

Updated 2023-10-26 !

HomeBridge(HB) is the software where You make Your home automation devices appear in the Apple Home App as native products. In this post a Raspberry Pi is used as the HB server.

There has really been big improvements in the installation process and I think the HB version is better/easier than HOOBS.

Migrate from HOOBS ?! Link

Homebridge images

There are images available, with good instructions, but this post will handle a manually install with Raspberry Pi OS.

Manually install
If You want to start from scratch, with a new SD card, there are instructions here how to install the Raspberry Pi OS. Please note that its sufficient with a RPi OS Lite install since HB have its own web-server. 

Then I followed these instructions to install HB.

Autostart
A systemd service will be installed which will autostart the HB server at power on and restart it at failure. Could be checked with 

$ sudo systemctl status homebridge

WEB UI

At the end of the installation the URL link to the UI will be shown. Something like

http://192.168.1.nn:8581

where You create a new user and add the password.

Homebridge plugins
And now You are done and can install the plugins that fits Your usage. This is done in the UI, clicking on the tab "Plugins" and then search for, as an example, the "RING" plugin.

Install and then click on "NPM" where You will get help for the settings part. Complete the installation with restarting the server and check the log window.

Additional help can be found in the WiKi and checking the other HB posts in this blog.

Add to the HOME app
In the home app click on the "+" sign in the upper right part, "Add Accessory => Scan a Setup Code"
Scan the code, in the WEB UI to the upper left, with the camera, on your iPhone/iPad, and then "Add to home".

Update homebridge

I always recommend to check that a backup is present, HB settings, before you upgrade. It's simple and done via the GUI and the meny up to the right. "Backup/Restore => Scheduled Backups". If not create a backup file, and then download to your computer.

Another way to backup is to create a bootable copy of your total setup.

Homebridge update documentation.

Start with a Raspberry Pi OS update from command line

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y && sudo apt clean

Then update HB via the GUI or the manual way via command line.

I had a problem that after an upgrade of "homebridge-config-ui-x" the GUI didn't work. So after a manual reinstall "sudo apt-get install homebridge" and a restored backup, of the settings, everything was up running again.

In some cases it could be that the update function don't cover all packages but with the below command you will be notified.

$ npm outdated -g --depth=0

Package                 Current  Wanted  Latest  Location                             Depended by

corepack                 0.18.0  0.22.0  0.22.0  node_modules/corepack                global

homebridge-config-ui-x   4.51.0  4.51.1  4.51.1  node_modules/homebridge-config-ui-x  global

node-red                  3.0.2   3.1.0   3.1.0  node_modules/node-red                global

npm                       9.6.7  10.2.1  10.2.1  node_modules/npm                     global

The update command for npm is 

$ sudo npm install -g npm@latest

Please note that Node.js 18.x, or greater, should be used. Help for upgrading Node.js !

Additional hints

Check log

If You have problems with the UI You can check the HB log in a terminal/ssh session with 

$ cat /var/lib/homebridge/homebridge.log or  $ sudo hb-service logs

Authentication

If You want to disable authentication change, in the WEB UI, "Settings => UI Settings => Advanced => Homebridge Config UI X Authentication" to "None"

CLI functions
To show the additional functions in the "hb-service" command just type

$ sudo hb-service

Port number
If You want to change the default port number for the UI please use one above 1024, due to permissions.

User Homebridge
Please note that the HB application us running with user "homebridge". From install log

Adding system user `homebridge' (UID 115) ...
Adding new group `homebridge' (GID 125) ...
Adding new user `homebridge' (UID 115) with group `homebridge' ...
Creating home directory `/home/homebridge' ...

HOOBS
And as said it's simple to migrate from HOOBS to Homebridge with a HOOBS backup. All settings and plugins are very nice restored !!