IoBroker Installation on Raspberry Pi or Debian Linux

What is ioBroker? What good is ioBroker for me?

IoBroker is an open source free software for bringing different smart home devices (IoTs) together into a complete system (smart home system). These tools work on their own, but you get a complex control panel with a graphical interface that can be accessed on the local network with a web browser.

The original post on this section can be read here: What is ioBroker?

IoBroker consists of modules called adapters. Smart devices connect to ioBroker with adapters. You can install the necessary adapters with one click and use them after a quick installation.

IoBroker can be installed on a SoC single-card computer (RaspberryPI, OrangePI, etc.) or on a desktop PC running Windows or Linux. I recommend using Linux, I tried on Windows with little success.

A good solution is to install the operating system on a RaspberryPi 4.

The IoBroker Installation

I assume the operating system is installed. Raspberry OS on the Raspberry Pi or Debian 10 on the desktop PC

The original post on this section can be read here: ioBroker installation on Raspberry pi or Debian Linux

In the first step, upgrade the system.

sudo apt-get update && upgrade

Check the installed versions of nodejs and npm.

node -v
nodejs -v
npm -v

If the version is correct or no version number is returned, you can proceed to the nodejs installation

If the version is not correct it should be removed as follows:

sudo apt-get --purge remove node
sudo apt-get --purge remove nodejs
sudo apt-get autoremove

Then reboot the system.

sudo reboot

Install node.js

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

If the above doesn't work: on Debian as root

sudo su
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | bash - 
apt-get install -y nodejs

Restart the system again.

sudo reboot

Check the nodejs version again.

node -v
nodejs -v

If the answer to the "node -v" is "not found", enter the following at the command prompt:

sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node

Let's see the npm version:

npm -v

This must return a version number higher than 6.

If not, update npm:

sudo -H npm install -g npm@6

Install ioBroker (not as root!):

curl -sLf https://iobroker.net/install.sh | bash -

If all went well we can see something like this:

Other commands for ioBroker:

sudo systemctl stop iobroker
sudo systemctl start iobroker
sudo systemctl restart iobroker

Now open the IP address you received at the end of the installation in your browser.

For example: http://192.168.8.102:8081

You Can Start the Settings.

After completing the basic settings, go to the Adapter tab.

In the Adapter panel, install the required adapters.

One of the most important accessories of our self-made Smart Home devices is the ioBroker MQTT adapter. MQTT allows low-resource bidirectional communication, so the MQTT protocol is a good option for data exchange between ioBroker and microcontroller.

The original post on this section can be read here: ioBroker and MQTT adapter

The MQTT adapter must be installed first. To do this, enter MQTT in the viewfinder in the adapter panel, then select the MQTT Broker / Client adapter.

Click on the “+” button

When done, select Server / broker, select the IP address below. You can set a user name and password, but this is not required on an internal network.

We're done. You can use the MQTT adapter. Click the “Play” button.

In the Object panel is the MQTT adapter, nothing is connected yet.

Let's See Our First Device, for example:

I would like to show how easy it is to create various smart devices using NodeMCU ESP8266 in an arduino framework and integrate them into ioBroker using the MQTT protocol. For example we turn on an LED.

And the code:

/**************************************/
//  https://myhomethings.eu           //
//  ESP32 Module                      //
//  Pushsafer Test                    //
/**************************************/

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>

const char* ssid = "Wifi SSID";
const char* password = "Wifi Password";
const char* mqtt_server = "192.168.xxx.xxx";

int Led = D5;

WiFiClient espClient;
PubSubClient client(espClient);


void setup() 
{
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);
  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) 
  {
    delay(500);
  }
  client.setServer(mqtt_server, 1883);
  client.setCallback(callback);
  
  pinMode(Led, OUTPUT);
  digitalWrite(Led, LOW);
}

void loop() 
{
  if (!client.connected()) 
  {
    reconnect();
  }
  client.loop();
}

void reconnect() 
{
  while (!client.connected()) 
  {
    String clientId = "ESP8266_LED_Client";
    
    if (client.connect(clientId.c_str()))
    {
      client.subscribe("LEDtopic");
    } 
    else 
    {
      delay(6000);
    }
  }
}

void callback(char* topic, byte* payload, unsigned int length) 
{
  payload[length] = '\0';
  String strTopic = String(topic);
  String strPayload = String((char * ) payload);
  
  if(strTopic == "LEDtopic") 
  {
    if(strPayload == "false") 
    {
      digitalWrite(Led, LOW);
    }
    
    if(strPayload == "true") 
    {
      digitalWrite(Led, HIGH);
    }
  }
}

You can find more interesting things here

Our device has been released, now we can control it. In the text box, type “true” to turn it on or “false” to turn it off.

Instead of the LED, you can also switch a relay module.

I hope you enjoyed the article and it was useful information for you.

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Have a nice day!