Integration of devices that support the ZigBee protocol with the Ampio system is possible, for example, by connecting a gateway to the M-SERV-s module. Using Node-RED is a prerequisite to establishing a connection. This guide presents the example of ZBDongle-E from Sonoff with a dedicated antena as a gateway.
In order to connect the gateway, disconnect M-SERV-s from its power supply, connect the gateway device and power up the server again. After a couple of minutes, activate an SSH connection via a www interface (more guidelines available in M-SERV server configuration). Log in onto the root account on the server with the password you have created e.g. through the putty application.
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After entering the password, search for devices with the following command:
dmesg | grep tty
The gateway will most probably be added as ttyACM0.
Navigate to the folder where you can make changes:
cd /root
Clone the zigbee2mqtt repository:
wget https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/archive/refs/heads/master.zip
Unpack zigbee2mqtt:
unzip master.zip
Rename the folder:
mv /root/zigbee2mqtt-master/ /root/zigbee2mqtt/
Change current folder
cd /root/zigbee2mqtt
Install content:
npm ci
Open the file for editing
nano /root/zigbee2mqtt/data/configuration.yaml
Set the server field to mqtt://localhost.
The port field according to what was retrieved above e.g. /dev/ttyACM0.
MQTT connection fields according to your server settings, user is usually admin and the relevant password (login details as for the mqtt blocks in Node-RED). Remember to remove the # character indicating a line comment.
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After the change, save and close the configuration file. In putty this is done via Ctrl+x, then y and Enter.
Type the command
npm start
Create a folder:
sudo mkdir /ampio/rw/zigbee2mqtt
Grant permissions:
sudo chown -R ${USER}: /ampio/rw/zigbee2mqtt
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt.git /ampio/rw/zigbee2mqtt
Change the current folder:
cd /ampio/rw/zigbee2mqtt
and install:
npm ci
Open the file to be edited
nano /ampio/rw/zigbee2mqtt/data/configuration.yaml
Set the server field to mqtt://localhost.
The port field should be completed with information obtained in the previous step e.g., /dev/ttyACM0.
MQTT connection field should be filled with your server settings, user set to admin and the correct password should be provided (login details are the same as for the mqtt blocks in Node-RED).
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Once the changes are introduced, close the configuration file. You can do that in putty by clicking Ctrl+x, then y and Enter at the end.
Enter the following command:
npm start
A device added as an example in this guide is a temperature and humidity sensor SNZB-02 from Sonoff. Manuals for specific devices are available on websites of particular manufacturers. In the case of the sensor described here, in order to have it added, you need to press and hold in the button on the casing for 5 seconds. After a successful addition of the device, you should see a couple of messages on the terminal, including for example:
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After adding the sensor, it is possible to respond to data or send information to the CAN bus using certain nodes in Node-RED (e.g. mqtt out).
For the purpose of upholding security, after adding all required devices, the process must be stopped. One way to do it is by clicking Ctrl+c, opening the configuration.yaml file and setting permit_join:false. Once that is done, the process can be started again.
A guide that describes the basics of Node-RED use in the Ampio system is available here: Integration of the Ampio system with Node-RED. After adding secondary devices, data from the MQTT Ampio can be received. Topic on which the device is broadcasting can be viewed in a terminal via an SSH connection. In this case, it is the main topic and ID of the added device: zigbee2mqtt/0x00124b00250e039e.
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Data can be viewed after adding a debug node.
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If you want to for example, read the value of humidity from a sensor, you will need to send the following information through the node function:
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Different end devices can broadcast information in different ways, which is why it is worthwhile to view the data first in the debug window, before creating a function to send the information.
Log in again via SSH, being in the root folder download and run the script with the command:
curl https://dist.ampio.pl/scripts/zigbee2mqtt400.sh | bash -s
For the application to launch automatically after a power supply reboot, a suitable script must be written. Open the SYSTEM tab in the www interface of M-SERV and go to SCRIPTS. Download the attached file zigbee2mqtt.sh. Upload it by clicking on SELECT FILE, and then UPLOAD THE FILE. Then, tick the 5 min box next to the correct script and click SAVE.
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In order to confirm the correctness of configuration, reboot the server’s power supply and, after a couple of minutes, check whether everything is working as intended in Node-RED, in the debug window, for instance.
Download files: