Pyssel

I have to admit that Proxmox(PX) simplifies your life ! 😎  So why this confession ? Well, I started up in the  Virtual Machines(VM) world with Linux KVM/QEMU and despite the  Virtual Machine Manager GUI the PX GUI helps you a lot. Not to forget the built in administration of Linux containers, LXC. So this post will be a quick introduction to Home Assistant(HA) setup in PX and a quick tour for containers.

When migrating a Proxmox(PX) install from a standard Intel server to a Mac Mini(MC) i got some problem. The MC booted from the USB, using the PX ISO file , but it froze direct after I had selected the installation method. So after searching the net it ended up with first installing Debian 13, which worked very well, and after that adding the PX software. Please note !!! that if you have a Mac with the T2 security chip , like the Mac mini 2018, you can’t boot, by default, from en external or removable media without changing security. Another thing is a utostart after power failure which is descibed in this post .

Updated 2026-06-30 I found this amazing application,   AIS-catcher , just scrolling around on Youtube and  it includes "all" you need for an AIS receiver staying ashore or installed on a boat. It is compatible with a wide range of Software Defined Radios (SDRs). These include RTL-SDR dongles (such as the ShipXplorer AIS dongle and RTL SDR Blog v4), AirSpy (Mini/R2/HF+), HackRF, SDRPlay, SoapySDR, and file/network input (ZMQ/RTL-TCP/SpyServer). 

I have been looking for e remote control to our 41 foot boat for years but they have been a little to expensive. I have even tried to build one myself but the Volvo Penta engines buzzer was very active 😎 and the instruments indicated errors.  So when I found the Maritronix remote (MXR) I was pleasantly surprised. (From 2 500 € net) We have 2 Volvo Penta(VP) engines D6-310 from 2006 and both a bow and stern truster,  Side power SP125Ti, and an anchorwinch which all are conected to MXR. All the different supported engine controls are  listed here .

Updated 2026-06-15 It's always nice to have ALL information at the same place, navigator/plotter, when You are out with the boat.  What could be missing is the engine information/data. If You have a Volvo Penta from 2006 or later it could be pretty easy. There are some "standard" NMEA 2000 gateways to choose from, for example;  Volvo Penta has it's own 22813366, 3889758 Raymarine ECI-100 Maretron J2K100 ..... Since you found this post, check this out => Remote Yacht control  

My old AirPort Time Capsule will not work with the new version of Mac OS 27 and since I really would like to have a local backup, besides iCloud, the tinkering started. It ended up with a Linux solution and an external USB disk, 2 Tb. In this post will show "how to" create a target for the Time Machine(TM) backup with a standard Linux host or with a Linux container in Proxmox.

Updated 2026-05-03 ! I have got some questions installing, just,  Signal K (SK) so will do a summary with links. Signal K is the hub to receive data, from different devices in different data formats, and send it on to different equipment, or databases, in different formats. Most common for standard marine equipment are the old NMEA 0183 and the newer NMEA 2000 protocol which is also handled.  Besides the SK "hub" function developers  have  created  plugins  for different purposes. This is due to that  SK is open-source ! Sharing is caring ! In this post you can check the devices I'm using connected to the SK server and also my setup.

I have been very fond of our weather website with the  Weather34 application (W34),  but there is an end to everything..... Doing an upgrade of the server it collapsed and showed a blank screen. I'm no programmer but I had to test if it was possible to update the app using ChatGPT and Gemini. Burt several hours later I gave up !!

I have been very fond of our weather website with the Weather34 application (W34), but there is an end to everything..... Doing an upgrade of the server it collapsed and showed a blank screen. I'm no programmer but I had to test if it was possible to update the app using ChatGPT and Gemini. Burt several hours later I gave up !!

Updated 2026-03-30 ! If you are running the IVT Anywhere or the  Bosch Easy remote  app you probably also can  retrieve its data with for example Node-RED. With the nice application  Bosch XMPP you can set up an integration with the cloud service supplied by your vendor. Please note !  that this app, 2026-03, doesn't work with Node.js V24 but there is a "work around". Check below.

Updated 2026-03-28 ! DMI is the Danish Meteorological Institute and the   Open Data API provides free and open access to DMI’s data.They are covering a pretty big area not just Denmark . I'm maintaining the weather station for Domstens yacht club and have become really interested in weather "issues". The actual use case for me is that I have to change the mooring, of our boat, if the water level exceeds 60 cm from normal.   For several years I have been searching for a free forecast API so I can get an early warning when the water level rises. Node-Red is used.

Updated 2026-03-27 ! In search of the optimal solution on how to interface our IVT Heat pump,   first try here , I stumbled over   a nice integration   for Home Assistant(HA). A first quick setup is shown at the right. Please note !!! This integration stopped working with HA 2026.3.4 and the XMPP protocol(IVT) !!! But this one still works and can supply HA with data. The first obstacle was that it was HA which I knew about but never used.  So it was "back too school" and doing  a blog post  about a HA Core install.

Updated 2026-03-25 This post is for both Windows and Mac users !   I have been running Linux, Raspberry Pi OS , since several years but almost just the Lite version (without Desktop). But when my old MacBook Air "gave up" , with Mac OS, it came naturally to use Ubuntu Desktop since it's also based on the Debian Linux distribution and the most used Linux distribution. So it ended up with installing Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS (UOS) or the later 25.10 !

Updated 2026-03- 15 ! Node-Red (NR) is  Flow-based programming for the Internet of Things This post isn't made as a complete install guide, there are several, just some links to the best information I have found. The best thing is that even if you don't are a skilled programmer, but like logic flows, you can make really advanced things. It's pre-installed on some Raspberry Pi(RPi) distributions. Running  Node-Red with  multiple instances  ?

My  Home Assistant (HA) server setup is  virtualized   with  Linux KVM  and I needed a solution handling  Bluetooth  since the used  Mac Mini  just had a PCI connected one. HA recommends to use a  Bluetooth proxy (BTP) quote  " since Linux kernel updates have previously broken Bluetooth functionality and Bluetooth driver support Linux generally falls behind other operating systems for newer adapters. A Bluetooth proxy is particularly interesting to users who virtualize their instance, where the USB pass-through may cause additional problems ". So using  ESPHome  I will set up a BTP in this post !

Updated 2026-02-24 ! After testing Home Assistant (HA) for a while, I’ve realised it could improve my home automation, despite that I'm using Apple HomeKit. When I tested HA with Node-RED and some other "Add-ons", on a Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi), I found that its resources wasn’t enough. The following setup could be any computer but I recently bought an Apple Mac Mini M4, replacing my 2018 (M18) model, so the M18 was really a great candidate for my HA setup. I have converted to HA running on Proxmox !   😀

My Home Assistant (HA) server setup is  virtualized   with Linux KVM  and I needed a solution handling Bluetooth since the used Mac Mini just had a PCI connected one. HA recommends to use a  Bluetooth proxy (BTP) quote  " since Linux kernel updates have previously broken Bluetooth functionality and Bluetooth driver support Linux generally falls behind other operating systems for newer adapters. A Bluetooth proxy is particularly interesting to users who virtualize their instance, where the USB pass-through may cause additional problems ". So using  ESPHome  I will set up a BTP in this post !

Updated 2026-01-01 ! What is the purpose of a Home Assistant(HA)  according to Wikipedia ? Home Assistant is free and open-source software used for home automation. It serves as an integration platform and smart home hub, allowing users to control smart home devices. The software emphasizes local control and privacy and is designed to be independent of any specific Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.  Even for me, as someone running Apple HomeKit and Homebridge, it is a fantastic piece of software that bridges almost everything and enables highly intelligent integrations.  Since it is widely used, there is a wealth of information available. However, I couldn't find a clear "bullet list" on how to get started. This post will primarily contain links to other sources rather than writing extensive explanations myself.

Updated 2026-01-19 ! Having some Linux servers up and running I checked out  monitoring tools like Nagios, Zabbix, Cockpit or Prometheus. For small setups, home labs, or lightweight environments, those solutions can feel like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. In this post, I’ll show you how to build a   lightweight monitoring agent   using nothing more than a Bash script, MQTT, and Node-RED. The script collects key metrics from your server — disk usage, memory consumption, CPU load, and available package upgrades — then publishes them to an MQTT broker. From there, Node-RED visualizes the data in a clean, real-time dashboard. The result? A simple but powerful monitoring system that works across multiple servers, scales with your needs, and gives you instant visibility into the health of your infrastructure. And the best part: you control every piece of it.

In previous posts , I’ve been testing and figuring out how to manage my old control system for our underfloor heating. Now, it was time for something more bold, and since I’m increasingly impressed with Home Assistant(HA) and its software capabilities, that’s exactly what I did. Industrial-style ESP32 boards are becoming increasingly popular for Home Assistant and automation projects, especially when they include Ethernet, isolated inputs and relay outputs on a single PCB. The Waveshare ESP32-S3-ETH-8DI-8RO (W8) is one such board: it’s compact, well-equipped and clearly designed for serious control applications, rather than just hobbyist breadboards. In this post, I’ll share my experience setting up this board using ESPHome , pointing out the main configuration points, common mistakes and practical lessons I’ve learned along the way.