FAQ about hardware to run the openHAB runtime

Introduction

This page summarizes how to get openHAB running on specific hardware. Users are welcome to provide tips & tricks here, e.g. on JVM experiences, embedded systems etc.

Please note: This page is NOT about home automation sensors, switches, etc. For a list of the systems openHAB can connect to, please see available bindings.

General Hardware Platform Requirements

The openHAB Runtime is a Java application. It requires JVM 1.6 or later.

openHAB is expected to run on all platforms (i.e. processor architectures and operating systems) where the required JVM version is available. This includes Windows, Mac OS X, and various distributions of Linux on x86, x86_64, and ARM architectures.

openHAB can be installed and operated on AMD or Intel powered commodity laptop, a desktop computer, or a special form factor platform, such as ARM based single-board computers.

Below are configuration notes for specific hardware.

X86 Linux

1. Install Linux

2. Install Java If not already present

3. Install and setup OpenHAB Use apt-get as described below (https://github.com/openhab/openhab/wiki/Apt-Repository)

4. Use symlinks if you use more than one USB port Create or add to existing file (/etc/udev/rules.d/50-usb-serial.rules) a rule like the following:

SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{idVendor}=="10c4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="ea60", SYMLINK+="zwaveUSB", MODE="0666"

to get IdVendor and IdProduct, you need type in the following: "sudo udevadm info -q all -n /dev/ttyUSB0"

There you can find the "ID_VENDOR_ID", "ID_MODEL_ID" . Replace these IDs in the rule and save the file. Now your stick can be referenced in OpenHab config as "/dev/zwaveUSB". You will also need to add the property to the Java command line by adding the following (device names delimited by ":" ) to the file /etc/init.d/openhab in the JAVA_ARGS section with your device names substituted.

-Dgnu.io.rxtx.SerialPorts=/dev/rfxcomUSB:/dev/zwaveUSB

ARM-based Single-Board Computers (SBC)

ARM-based embedded computers are a popular choice among home automation enthusiasts due to low cost and low power consumption. They are typically extensible with available add-on components and via programmable GPIO. Based on the community feedback and information about the openHAB requirements here is the short comparison of the SBC platforms: (April 2014) (click here for bigger picture).

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi Model B has an attractive price/performance point and is a proven choice for small to medium residential installations. Large installations with few dozens of devices and/or a significant amount of rule logic may experience sluggish event processing and delayed response to control commands.

NOTE There is an issue with the zwave binding on the RPi and the RPi is NOT RECOMMENDED if you intend on using zwave. Refer to the z-wave binding for more information

Java Installation

Raspberry Pi has FPU coprocessor supported by Raspbian Wheezy Linux. According to this press release, the current and all future Raspbian images will ship with hard-float Oracle Java 7 by default.

To setup your Raspberry Pi board for openHAB:

1. Install Raspbian Wheezy release 2014-01-07 or later. It includes Java 7 JRE that meets openHAB pre-requisite JVM requirements.

2. Install openHAB.

Optionally, a complete JDK 7 or 8 for Linux ARM v6/v7 Hard Float ABI is available for download from Oracle or from Apt Repository.

Tweaking Performance

• Stay up to date with rpi-update (https://github.com/Hexxeh/rpi-update/)
• For headless, use a memory split of 240 (e.g. run sudo rpi-update 240)
• For headless, add these to /etc/rc.local:

• Limit GPU IRQs

• fbset -xres 16 -yres 16 -vyres 16 -depth 8
• /opt/vc/bin/tvservice -o
• Overclocking does not seem to have big influences

CubieBoard, ODroid

1. Install Linux distro

On a separate system download:

• For CubieBoard2: The CubieBoard2 or CubieTruck works very well with OpenHAB for relatively large installations. The following Linux distros work with OpenHAB Cubi - Lubuntu

• For ODroid U3: Use Xubuntu (http://com.odroid.com/sigong/nf_file_board/nfile_board.php)

2. Install Java Hard Floating point If not already present, use (http://www.webupd8.org/2012/09/install-oracle-java-8-in-ubuntu-via-ppa.html)

3. Install and setup OpenHAB Use apt-get as described below (https://github.com/openhab/openhab/wiki/Apt-Repository)

4. Use symlinks if you use more than one USB port Create or add to existing file (/etc/udev/rules.d/50-usb-serial.rules) a rule like the following:

SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{idVendor}=="10c4", ATTRS{idProduct}=="ea60", SYMLINK+="zwaveUSB", MODE="0666"

to get IdVendor and IdProduct, you need type in the following: "sudo udevadm info -q all -n /dev/ttyUSB0"

There you can find the "ID_VENDOR_ID", "ID_MODEL_ID" . Replace these IDs in the rule and save the file. Now your stick can be referenced in OpenHab config as "/dev/zwaveUSB". You will also need to add the property to the Java command line by adding the following (device names delimited by ":" ) to the file /etc/init.d/openhab in the JAVA_ARGS section with your device names substituted.

-Dgnu.io.rxtx.SerialPorts=/dev/rfxcomUSB:/dev/zwaveUSB

Synology Diskstation

A package of OpenHAB 1.4.0 for Synology Diskstations is stored at OpenHAB google groups and on the package server https://www.hofrichter.at/sspks.
This package can be installed in DSM via the package manager -> manual installation or by adding https://www.hofrichter.at/sspks/ as package source - there is a tutorial on the Synology support pages about how to do that. This package is tested on DS213+ with oracle's java 7 from PC load letter.
In the Synology package manager you can

• install
• start
• stop
• uninstall

OpenHAB.
This package comes without any demo files - so the UI will not show much without giving OpenHAB some configurations ;-) It takes some time after the start of OpenHAB before the UI starts responding (less than a minute on a DS213+).

####Paths OpenHAB is installed at /var/packages/OpenHAB/target/ (which is linked to /volume1/@appstore/OpenHAB).
If the directory /volume1/public/OpenHAB/configurations exists, this directory will be used for all OpenHAB configuration files. This should make it easier to work with the OpenHAB designer installed on your PC.

If the directory /volume1/public/OpenHAB/addons exists, this directory will be used for all OpenHAB addons (bindings) files.

####Ports The UI is on port 8081, the console (via telnet) is on port 5555.

####Demo files In the OpenHAB google groups and on the package server https://www.hofrichter.at/sspks is an install-able package of the OpenHAB 1.4.0 demo files (only the demo files!) for Synology NAS. Prerequisite is that the OpenHAB package is installed.

After the installation of OpenHAB and the demo files http://your.synology.URL:8081/openhab.app?sitemap=demo should show the UI with the demo configuration.

"Text to speech" is disabled in configurations/rules/demo.rules otherwise the demo files are unchanged. This change was necessary (at leased on a DS213+) else OpenHAB stops responding. Give OpenHAB a minute or so after the start of OpenHAB before you expect any response in the UI ;-) ####Kernel drivers Some bindings (e.g. EnOcean) work with USB-sticks that require some kernel drivers. For qoric CPU Diskstations (e.g. DS213+) there is a short guide how to install those drivers at Samples-Tricks.

QNAP Turbo Station

There is a QPGK package to install openHAB v1.5 on a QNAP Turbo Station NAS. http://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?f=320&t=95315&p=423268