Continuing the discussion from ST Alternative?:
So, has anyone tried openHAB 2 yet?
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I looked into openHab awhile ago. I feel that Home Assistant is better alternative. It is not plug in play for sure.
Here is there official website: http://www.openhab.org
openHAB 1 was a bear to install and configure. I’m hoping that OH2 is more user-friendly.
Doesn’t look like that has improved. But its hard to tell.
Another negative (maybe?) is that OH uses Java, which is not as friendly to learn as Python.
Waiting for a good zigbee stick to hit the market. I have quite a few of the Iris motions tucked around the house.
This is all local, meaning all the home automation stuff is in the rpi?
same, i am pretty invested in zigbee, probably more zigbee devices than zwave.
Interested to know if anyone has transistioned, I have V1 a brief look, but looked like a PITA to setup and administer, V2 looks like it may have solved some of that…
I transitioned over to openHAB 2 about 6 months ago. I won’t say it was an easy transition, but I’m not a computer programmer and have no java experience but was able to figure it out. I love the speed and flexibility of it, and there is an active and helpful community. The software runs on a local computer (I use a raspberry pi 3) and connects to a large number of other devices through bindings. It even can connect to SmartThings through a MQTT bridge.
OpenHAB 2 allows some elements of the installation to be configured through a graphical user interface but not everything can be set up this way. Many settings can only be changed through editing text files, though it’s thoughtfully laid out and has a demo setup you can use to figure out how to do what you want. Again, the forum is a good resource.
Z-wave devices can be migrated using only a USB z-wave stick. Zigbee is not ready, but I understand that it’s a work in progress. OpenHAB works with Phillips hue, Alexa, Nest, INSTEON, Ecobee, Sonos, HomeKit, and many more.
I’d be happy to talk more about openHAB. I was a happy SmartThings user for several years, but I’m happy I made the transition. A note of caution for anyone looking to make the leap - be careful about following tutorials online as the software has evolved a lot and there’s quite a bit of out of date information out there. http://docs.openhab.org Is the best source of info.
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I just came from OH2. I can echo everything from the previous post. Don’t get me wrong, OH is an unbelievably powerful system and if there was a consumer version I’d buy it in a heartbeat. But it’s a system that you are constantly tinkering with as changes are made. And if you aren’t familiar with Linux (like me) it can be overwhelming.
SmartThings feels like a rich guy’s “C” average son’s science fair project. OH is the poor genius kid that blows the science fair away.
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LMAO, well said.
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I’ll miss seeing Mr. Bean on the openHAB forum! Maybe in a few years, when OH3 is released we’ll get you back! 
Maybe… Like I said though, if someone put out a consumer version of OH or based on ESH I’d buy it in a heartbeat.
I do have to say, my level of stress and “involvement” has gone down 100 percent with SmartThings. To initially plug it in, have everything added, and start pumping out routines (minus some device handlers and learning CORE) in an hour was a very good feeling.
Until then you can see “my” smiling face here!
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I hope it continues being a positive experience for you. It was and is a great platform and was my first foray into home automation.
Really, I think the best place to ask would be community.openhab.org.
Persistence and graphing was one of the hardest things to get working. Never used mysql, just RRD4J. I have a thread over there (under the same username) called “Adventures in RRD4J” or something like that that I go step by step my failure and eventually success setting up the persistence file. The key was the order that you put the items (specifically groups) at the bottom.
Not sure if any of that would help, but the good folks at the OpenHab forums will be sure to lend a hand.
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Can you outline or give us a URL for the exact steps to setup the MQTT bridge for OpenHAB2 to monitor the Samsung Smart Things devices I’ve got.
Thx!
Peter
Just saw this- sorry. There is no tutorial that covers the entire process.
You’ll need an MQTT broker set up. I use Mosquitto on a Raspberry Pi.
Then I followed the steps to set up the SmartThings MQTT bridge:
Then, you’ll need to setup a .items file in openHAB. This is pretty thoroughly documented in the MQTT binding pages in the openHAB docs site. If you have issues with this part, you should take those questions to the openHAB forum.
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I started with Home Assistant, and gave up when I realized that I had no way of controlling it outside my own house without setting up VPN, reverse proxy, etc. I do not want to expose my home IP to the world. Interface was not as smooth and organized as OpenHAB Basic UI.
I then jumped to OpenHAB 2, and got REALLY frustrated trying to secure add my few Z-wave devices that I wanted to add securely. This feature is currently under development, and seems to me far from finished. Also had many issues with Z-wave Binding when trying to configure parameters. Creating rules for all kind of automation using JAVA for someone that has little programming experience is a pain.
In total, I spent 2 full months trying to sort out how to configure all using HA and OpenHAB, and then I finally just gave up.
Bought a ST Hub, and configured everything I wanted in ST in two days (Sonos, Hue, Harmony Hub, Alexa, Z-wave motion sensors and dimmers). Everything just worked out fine without a fuss!
I know that ST has problems of it’s onw, specially regarding Cloud Control. But what good makes local control if I have to stop, debug and edit a script every time I realize that the rule I created doesn’t act as I wanted to?
Seems like most DIY Home Automation solutions so far are not for the faint-hearted at the moment…
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Well, everyone needs to find what works for them. After several years of frustration with SmartThings, I found the flexibility and reliability of openHAB to be a breath of fresh air. There is certainly a much steeper learning curve, but I’m not a programmer and once I started to get it the pieces just fell together. I’m sorry that wasn’t your experience… if you do ever decide to give openHAB another chance then look me up on the forums over there.
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Arguably, setting up your own VPN can be more secure (if you know what you’re doing) than relying on a cloud service you have no control over whatsoever.
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