Alexa-BACNet-Bridge

Allow Alexa to control BACnet devices. This leverages Fauxmo (credit to n8henrie) and WACnet (credit to HVAC.io) and allows Alexa to believe that BACnet devices are actually local WeMo switches.

Requirements:

1. A BACnet/IP system with known BACnet IDs
2. A networked Linux Box (I'm using a RasPi 3, running Ubuntu Mate 16.04)
3. Latest updates (a good idea in general) sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Testing

Sucessfully implemeted basic Area-by-Area, switching control with Lutron Quantum® and Lutron Vive systems networked with a RasPi 3, configured as described.

Files:

1. fauxmo.service to run fauxmo as a systemd service
2. wacnet.service to run wacnet as a systemd service
3. wacnet-x.x.x-standalone.jar from HVAC.io
4. fauxmo_config.json json file containing names, ports, on_cmds and off_cmds for each BACnet ID
   1. To-do: Create a tool that automatically generates this file from a BACnet ID report.

Raspi Python Upgrade

NOTE: fauxmo only requires 3.6, I experienced failures trying to only install 3.6.1 - Ultimately I decided to remove the system installed python versions. Then I used pyenv to reinstall the versions I wanted. After that, 3.6.1 installed without a hitch. I grabbed a beer while they were installing, but all three took under an hour on a Pi3. YMMV.

Install the prereqs for pyenv

sudo apt-get install -y make build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev wget curl llvm libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev xz-utils tk-dev

(Optional) Remove any existing python installs with

sudo apt-get autoremove python python3

Install desired Python version(s) with pyenv

sudo install -o $(whoami) -g $(whoami) -d /opt/pyenv
git clone https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv /opt/pyenv
cat <<'EOF' >> ~/.bashrc
export PYENV_ROOT="/opt/pyenv"
export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init -)"
EOF
source ~/.bashrc
pyenv install 2.7.12
pyenv install 3.5.3
pyenv install 3.6.1

Install Fauxmo into Python 3.6

You can now install Fauxmo into Python 3.6:

"$(pyenv root)"/versions/3.6.1/bin/python3.6 -m pip install fauxmo
pyenv which fauxmo # Show full path to Fauxmo console script

Install the commandline fauxmo-plugin

cd /opt/pyenv/versions/3.6.1/bin/fauxmo-plugins
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/n8henrie/fauxmo-plugins/master/commandlineplugin.py

Install WACnet

Save wacnet-x.x.x-standalone.jar somewhere. I chose /opt/wacnet/wacnet-x.x.x-standalone.jar Manually run WACnet run with: java -jar wacnet-2.1.4-standalone.jar If it fails, you probably need java: sudo apt-get install default-jre

Access in web broswer at: http://localhost:47800

Click on API in the upper right, then BACnet, then PUT. Here you'll have a console to send BACnet commands to your devices. This can be used to generate the required curl commands for the on_cmds and off_cmds. A curl HTTP put request to turn lights ON by setting the Binary Value (BV) for "Lighting State" to a "present-value" of 1, for a given "instance-id" 1764010 would look like:

curl -X PUT --header 'Content-Type: application/json' --header 'Accept: application/json' -d '{"properties": {"present-value": 1},"priority":0}' 'http://localhost:47800/api/v1/bacnet/devices/1764010/objects/5.3'

Download and modify fauxmo_config.json fauxmo_config.json

cd /opt/pyenv/versions/3.6.1/bin/
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samstevenm/Alexa-BACNet-Bridge/master/fauxmo_config.json
sudo nano fauxmo_config.json

Modify fauxmo_config.json with curl commands specific to your Instance IDs and BACnet attributes. Note that Room 1, is an example using Lighting State (5.3) while Room 2 is using Lighting Level (2.2). You can adjust the commands as necessary, to acheive your desired control.

1. Make sure you can control via the WACnet GUI.
2. Ensure you can control via curl from the command line (copy pasting from WACnet)
3. Now you can add the whole command to fauxmo_config.json. Be sure to escape any double quotes in you command: \"

At this point, I recommend manually running Fauxmo: fauxmo -c /path/to/fauxmo_config.json -vvv and running Device Discovery in the Alexa App before continuing.

Add Fauxmo and WACnet as system services

Download the service files

sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false wacnet #create a fake user to run wacnet
sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false fauxmo #create a fake user to run fauxmo
cd /etc/systemd/system
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samstevenm/Alexa-BACNet-Bridge/master/wacnet.service
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/samstevenm/Alexa-BACNet-Bridge/master/fauxmo.service
sudo chmod 644 wacnet.service
sudo chmod 644 fauxmo.service

NOTE: Be sure to make any required path changes to wacnet.service and fauxmo.service

I recommend using the full paths use in start scripts (systemd)

• "$(pyenv root)"/versions/3.6.1/bin/fauxmo -c /path/to/config.json -vvv
• /usr/bin/java -jar /path/to/wacnet-2.1.4-standalone.jar

Enable Services and Start

After you've tested everything manaully, you can enable and start your services, then use the Alexa App to discover new devices.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable wacnet.service
sudo systemctl enable fauxmo.service
sudo systemctl start wacnet.service
sudo systemctl start fauxmo.service

Troubleshooting Services

Try service wacnet status or service fauxmo status Try journalctl -u wacnet or journalctl -u fauxmo If this isn't enough detail find the line that says Restart=on-failure Comment that out (with #) and restart the service.