Installation using manual setup - HAEdwin/homeassistant-apsystems_ecu_reader GitHub Wiki

This guide will walk you through installing the APsystems ECU Reader integration manually without using HACS.

Before you begin

  • With a manual installation, you won't receive notifications about the availability of a new version
  • Please mention that you used the manual installation method if you need support
  • Manual installations are not counted towards the total number of users for this integration.

Prerequisites

  • Home Assistant Core 2021.12.0 or newer
  • Access to your Home Assistant configuration directory
  • An APsystems ECU device on your local network

Installation Methods

You can install this integration using one of two methods:

Method 1: Using Home Assistant File Editor Add-on (Recommended)

Method 2: Direct File System Access

Method 1: Installation Using File Editor Add-on

This is the easiest method for most users, especially those running Home Assistant OS or Supervised.

Step 1: Install File Editor Add-on

  1. In Home Assistant, go to Settings → Add-ons
  2. Click Add-on Store
  3. Search for "File Editor"
  4. Click on File Editor by Home Assistant Community Add-ons
  5. Click Install
  6. Once installed, click Start
  7. Optionally, enable Start on boot and Watchdog

Step 2: Access File Editor

  1. Go to Settings → Add-ons → File Editor
  2. Click Open Web UI
  3. You should now see your Home Assistant configuration files

Step 3: Create Directory Structure

  1. In the File Editor, navigate to the root of your config directory
  2. If the custom_components folder doesn't exist, create it:
    • Right-click in the file tree → New Folder
    • Name it custom_components
  3. Inside custom_components, create another folder called apsystems_ecu_reader

Step 4: Download and Upload Integration Files

  1. Go to the APsystems ECU Reader GitHub repository

  2. Navigate to custom_components/apsystems_ecu_reader/

  3. For each file in the directory, download it individually:

    • Click on the file name (e.g., init.py)
    • Click the Raw button
    • Right-click → Save As and save to your computer

  4. In File Editor, navigate to your custom_components/apsystems_ecu_reader/ folder

  5. For each downloaded file:

    • Click the Upload button (folder icon with arrow) in File Editor
    • Select the file from your computer
    • Click Upload

Step 5: Verify Installation

In File Editor, verify that your custom_components/apsystems_ecu_reader/ folder contains these files:

  • __init__.py
  • manifest.json
  • config_flow.py
  • coordinator.py
  • ecu_api.py
  • ecu_helpers.py
  • sensor.py
  • binary_sensor.py
  • switch.py
  • number.py
  • button.py
  • const.py

When verified continue to the Final steps in this guide.

Method 2: Direct File System Access

Use this method if you have direct access to the Home Assistant file system or are using Home Assistant Core.

Step 1: Download the Integration Files

  1. Go to the APsystems ECU Reader GitHub repository
  2. Click the green Code button and select Download ZIP
  3. Extract the downloaded ZIP file to a temporary location on your computer

Step 2: Locate Your Home Assistant Configuration Directory

Your Home Assistant configuration directory is typically located at:

  • Home Assistant OS/Supervised: /config/
  • Home Assistant Container: The directory you mounted as /config
  • Home Assistant Core: ~/.homeassistant/ or your configured config directory

Step 3: Create the Custom Components Directory Structure

  1. Navigate to your Home Assistant configuration directory
  2. If it doesn't already exist, create a folder called custom_components
  3. Inside the custom_components folder, create a new folder called apsystems_ecu_reader

Your directory structure should look like this:

config/
├── custom_components/
│   └── apsystems_ecu_reader/
├── configuration.yaml
└── ... (other Home Assistant files)

Step 4: Copy the Integration Files

  1. From the extracted ZIP file, navigate to the custom_components/apsystems_ecu_reader/ folder
  2. Copy all files from this folder into your newly created config/custom_components/apsystems_ecu_reader/ directory

Step 5: Verify File Permissions

Ensure that Home Assistant can read the files:

  • Home Assistant OS/Supervised: No action needed
  • Home Assistant Container: Ensure the files have appropriate read permissions
  • Home Assistant Core: Run chown -R homeassistant:homeassistant /path/to/config/custom_components/ (adjust user and path as needed)

Final Steps (Both Methods)

Step 6: Restart Home Assistant

Restart Home Assistant to load the new integration:

  1. Go to Settings → System → Restart
  2. Click Restart and wait for Home Assistant to fully restart

Step 7: Add the Integration

  1. In Home Assistant, go to Settings → Devices & Services
  2. Click the + Add Integration button
  3. Search for "APsystems ECU Reader"
  4. Click on the integration when it appears
  5. Follow the configuration wizard to set up your ECU connection

Configuration

During setup, you'll need to provide:

  • ECU IP Address: The local IP address of your APsystems ECU
  • Update Interval: How often to poll the ECU for data (default: 30 seconds)

Verification

After successful installation, you should see:

  1. A new device in Settings → Devices & Services → APsystems ECU Reader
  2. Sensors for power production, energy totals, and inverter status
  3. Diagnostic entities for ECU status and communication

Updates

To update the integration:

Using File Editor:

  1. Download the latest files from GitHub
  2. Navigate to custom_components/apsystems_ecu_reader/ in File Editor
  3. Upload the new files, replacing the existing ones
  4. Restart Home Assistant

Using Direct Access:

  1. Download the latest version from GitHub
  2. Replace all files in the custom_components/apsystems_ecu_reader/ directory
  3. Restart Home Assistant