homekit-pi

A simple way to get HomeKit working on a Raspberry Pi using homebridge

Getting Started

This is a simple way to get homebridege working on a Raspberry Pi. I have tested this on a Raspberry Pi 3 and a Pi Zero. There are some pretty detailed instructions here however I wanted a simple copy pasta doc to do this in the future.

Setting up your Pi

Set up your Pi, enable ssh and ssh into it.

(Obviously you will need to use your own username and IP/DNS here)

ssh pi@raspberry.local

Install

OS

Update Raspbian

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Install firmware updater

sudo apt-get install rpi-update

Update firmware

sudo rpi-update

Reboot

sudo reboot

Dependencies

Install a few OS dependencies

sudo apt-get install git make g++

Node

Install a precompiled version of node. I am using 8.x for ARMv6. If you need something different, grab it from here

wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v8.11.3/node-v8.11.3-linux-armv6l.tar.xz
tar xJvf node-v8.11.3-linux-armv6l.tar.xz
sudo mkdir -p /opt/node
sudo mv node-v8.11.3-linux-armv6l/* /opt/node/
sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/node" "node" "/opt/node/bin/node" 1
sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/npm" "npm" "/opt/node/bin/npm" 1

Add global node modules to your path

nano ~/.bashrc

Add the path to the end of the file

PATH=$PATH:/opt/node/bin

Reload your .bashrc

source ~/.bashrc

Install a few more OS dependencies that homebridge will need

sudo apt-get install libavahi-compat-libdnssd-dev

homebridge

Install homebridge

npm install -g homebridge

Plugins

This is a good time to install plugins. You can find a good list here

Only install this plugin if you use WeMo devices

npm install -g homebridge-platform-wemo

Configuration

You will now need to configure homebridge.

nano ~/.homebridge/config.json

Here's a sample config. You should create your own and save it.

config.json

{
  "bridge": {
    "name": "Homebridge",
    "username": "CC:22:3D:E3:CE:30", // change this
    "port": 51826,
    "pin": "031-45-154" // change this
  },

  "description": "This is an example configuration file with one fake accessory and one fake platform. You can use this as a template for creating your own configuration file containing devices you actually own.",
  "platforms": [
    {
      "platform": "BelkinWeMo",
      "name": "WeMo Platform"
    }
  ]
}

Test homebridge

You should now test homebridge.

You can do so by running

homebridge

This is a good time to set up your devices and test them with the QR code that appears.

Run at startup

You will want homebridge to run at startup.

sudo nano /etc/init.d/homebridge

paste this init script and save it

#!/bin/sh
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: homebridge
# Required-Start:    $network $remote_fs $syslog
# Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
# Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop:      0 1 6
# Short-Description: Start daemon at boot time
# Description:       Enable service provided by daemon.
### END INIT INFO

dir="/home/pi"
cmd="DEBUG=* /opt/node/bin/homebridge"
user="pi"

name=`basename $0`
pid_file="/var/run/$name.pid"
stdout_log="/var/log/$name.log"
stderr_log="/var/log/$name.err"

get_pid() {
    cat "$pid_file"
}

is_running() {
    [ -f "$pid_file" ] && ps -p `get_pid` > /dev/null 2>&1
}

case "$1" in
    start)
    if is_running; then
        echo "Already started"
    else
        echo "Starting $name"
        cd "$dir"
        if [ -z "$user" ]; then
            sudo $cmd >> "$stdout_log" 2>> "$stderr_log" &
        else
            sudo -u "$user" $cmd >> "$stdout_log" 2>> "$stderr_log" &
        fi
        echo $! > "$pid_file"
        if ! is_running; then
            echo "Unable to start, see $stdout_log and $stderr_log"
            exit 1
        fi
    fi
    ;;
    stop)
    if is_running; then
        echo -n "Stopping $name.."
        kill `get_pid`
        for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
        # for i in `seq 10`
        do
            if ! is_running; then
                break
            fi

            echo -n "."
            sleep 1
        done
        echo

        if is_running; then
            echo "Not stopped; may still be shutting down or shutdown may have failed"
            exit 1
        else
            echo "Stopped"
            if [ -f "$pid_file" ]; then
                rm "$pid_file"
            fi
        fi
    else
        echo "Not running"
    fi
    ;;
    restart)
    $0 stop
    if is_running; then
        echo "Unable to stop, will not attempt to start"
        exit 1
    fi
    $0 start
    ;;
    status)
    if is_running; then
        echo "Running"
    else
        echo "Stopped"
        exit 1
    fi
    ;;
    *)
    echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

exit 0

update permissions

sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/homebridge
sudo update-rc.d homebridge defaults

It should now run at startup. You can test your script by running

sudo /etc/init.d/homebridge start

Making changes

If you need to register your homebridge again

stop homebridge

sudo /etc/init.d/homebridge stop

then run it manually

homebridge

then start it again

sudo /etc/init.d/homebridge start

Thanks

All credit goes to homebride and homebridge-platform-wemo. Thank you!