HomeKit Bridge Q&A

Since someone has posted a question in the Beta testing thread about HomeKit Bridge (HKB) I thought it might be a good idea to have a topic for those kinds of questions. Particularly during the Beta testing of this plugin there is a lot of information that people aren't up-to-speed on in regards to the Integration or how it works or any of that.

That being said, there is a very good (and constantly growing) FAQ for HKB but it's currently inaccessible to the public as it's on a private Git with the Beta, however the Beta will likely enter open Beta in the next week or two so you may have access to that fairly soon. But if it's not there or you don't yet have access then fire away and I'll answer as much as possible.

Enjoying following the quick progress of this project. Big thank you to C4W and all the beta testers!!!!

Any plans to support Bala/Somfy blinds in this plug-in?

FYI, I couldn't find a way to move my post ahead of this one so I had to remove it, sorry Jalves

I can only answer that as maybe. What I prefer to see is to have HomeKit Bridge be hard coded for anything that is native to indigo and then deal with plugins in a different way. It's sort of a rabbit hole where I would have to add support for every plugin eventually, potentially destabilizing the plugin in the process over time. There will eventually be a method for people to customize the device mapping so that, literally, anything is supported but I haven't worked out all of the details on that. There is another method that I'm actively working on but don't want to reveal it just yet, but this won't directly answer your question but rather is the long-term solution.

I have an existing homebridge-indigo installation. I have never installed Homebridge Buddy. I have searched, but been unable to find, any specific instructions regarding upgrading from homebridge-indigo to HomeKit Bridge. Here are my questions/assumption checks.

• I assume I must stop homebridge-indigo from loading with launchctl (using a launch agent). Right?
• From a quick look at the HomeKit Bridge package, it looks like it contains everything needed, like node.js, etc. Right?
• Is there any way to take advantage of my existing homebridge-indigo (~/.homebridge/config.json)? Or, do I just start from scratch with HomeKit Bridge and redefine everything?
• Are there any other tips or pointers I should know about?

Thanks

I have searched, but been unable to find, any specific instructions regarding upgrading from homebridge-indigo to HomeKit Bridge

Homebridge Buddy was developed initially as a management tool for Homebridge-indigo, so there's no migration path from one to the other. It then became a self contained version of Homebridge-Indigo and now has been rewritten as HomeKit Bridge. Confused yet?

I assume I must stop homebridge-indigo from loading with launchctl (using a launch agent). Right?

You don't have to, you can run both side-by-side, which may be preferable so you can slowly migrate between the two. Eventually I think you'll want to stop it from running automatically though just because if it's not in use then why continue to run it?

From a quick look at the HomeKit Bridge package, it looks like it contains everything needed, like node.js, etc. Right?

Yes, it is 100% self contained. That being said you may have added Homebridge add-ons to Homebridge-Indigo that are not supported so you may evaluate that first.

Is there any way to take advantage of my existing homebridge-indigo (~/.homebridge/config.json)? Or, do I just start from scratch with HomeKit Bridge and redefine everything?

Starting over is really the only way, but you can do it slowly (see two questions above).

Are there any other tips or pointers I should know about?

HomeKit Bridge, while quite stable, is beta so know that going into this. The slow migration might be best suited for you so that if something isn't quite 100% you still have your existing setup. For me, I migrated entirely a while ago, as have many - if not most - of the people using HomeKit Bridge. In fact I think that Webdeck, who developed Homebridge-Indigo, has mostly migrated to HKB too.

I’ve fully migrated, so far it’s been exceptionally stable.


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...HomeKit Bridge, while quite stable, is beta so know that going into this.

No problem. As a world-class procrastinator, I am a firm believer in never finishing anything.

The slow migration might be best suited for you so that if something isn't quite 100% you still have your existing setup.

I'll probably just do a slash cut-over... but use the existing conf as a guide to what I need to implement.

Thanks for the response/answers/advice

Late to the game and only occasionally dealing with my indigo (which is good because it just works).

So at some point I installed Homebridge (but never installed Buddy).

Now looks like I should update to HomeKit Bridge, yes?

I see I can migrate slowly (great!). What I'm not clear on is how do I uninstall Homebridge once I'm done migrating.

Can someone point me towards some directions?

Thanks indebted to all of this hard work and endless hours,

Anthony

Sorry, been away on vacation.

Yes, you should upgrade to HomeKit Bridge, it's the latest and most stable of all the generations of HomeKit integration. As for pointing to directions, in what regards do you need them? You can check out the Wiki listed at the top of the HKB thread and there's a quick start guide that might be a good place to start.

Is there a good chance of messing up my existing HKB install if I tried to make homebridge-camera work separately? I'm not all that clear on how HomeKit manages separate homebridges and what sort of complication I might run in to there.

HKB is rock solid for me, even with my crappy CenturyLink internet. I'd hate to mess that up trying to add cameras, especially since I know camera support is on the HKB roadmap.

Sorry, been away on vacation.

Vacation? VACATION? What makes you think you deserve a vacation? I dunno.. kids today.. *grumble grumble*


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I'd hate to mess that up trying to add cameras, especially since I know camera support is on the HKB roadmap

Far more than that, it's fully working with SecuritySpy and Blue Iris. What is on the roadmap is just plugging in generic IP cameras that aren't attached to either of those systems.

Vacation? VACATION? What makes you think you deserve a vacation? I dunno.. kids today.. *grumble grumble*

You have no idea how much I needed to get offline and disconnect. It was bliss. I work a lot and put in horrendous hours and when I burn out I burn out hard, this was the hardest burnout I've had in years and I'm not fully recharged. I would say that I went from 1% on my charge to maybe 75% so it's quite a good start. I'm taking another vacation soon to try to get that last 25%.

Well I’m glad you’re refreshed!


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Okay, do I need to do anything other than delete homebridge? I vaguely remember some launchd install process - do I need to delete anything else?

Thanks for all the brilliant work.

Sorry, been away on vacation.

Yes, you should upgrade to HomeKit Bridge, it's the latest and most stable of all the generations of HomeKit integration. As for pointing to directions, in what regards do you need them? You can check out the Wiki listed at the top of the HKB thread and there's a quick start guide that might be a good place to start.

No one has thoughts on this?

I'm also considering installing homebridge-camera on another computer entirely, to keep any chance of messing up HKB to a minimum.

Edit: Never mind. Spent a couple hours poking at it, and my issues with getting the config.json to be something home bridge doesn't complain about are vague enough to be un-googleable. I'll wait.

I had posted a lengthy reply to that, it must not have saved or something....

My answer was that SecuritySpy and BlueIris are supported natively in the plugin, general IP cameras are on the roadmap but not yet implemented. Without retyping everything I typed before, what kind of setup are you talking about?