Restart or shutdown your Proxmox node from Home Assistant automation

There is a UPS monitoring through NUT configured in my Home Assistant. So I decided my Home Assistant could shut down my homelab servers on a low UPS battery.

Monitor USB UPS connected to Synology NAS in Home Assistant

There is a lot of automation you can do with this data, but today I want to write up a short guide on how to safely get the information from the UPS connected to your NAS via USB into the Home Assistant.

Intel NUC alternatives for your homelab

In 2013 Intel launched a line of small-form-factor barebone computers called "Next Unit of Computing" or NUC. Now it is the most frequently internet-recommended hardware platform for setting up an amateur server at home for pretty much everything. While Intel discontinued the NUC business in 2023, there are

Hosting Ghost Blog On Synology NAS

Do you want to know how and where RandomPlace is hosted? Or do you just want to know how to host a Ghost blog on your Synology NAS? I'm here today to answer both questions. It's been a long way to my current home lab configuration.

Simple and beautiful home server dashboard with Homarr and Dashdot

I was looking for a one-stop solution for the home lab dashboard that will show the main server starts and links to my self-hosted apps on the same page. And also will look not like a Windows 95. Also will be configurable from the UI. Also will be able to

What's up Docker? is like Watchtower but with UI and Home Assistant integration

What do you want the most when it gets to the notifications about new images available for your containers? I think the answer is consistency. Getting notifications by email or Whatsapp doesn’t look logical when Home Assistant has its own persistent notifications and powerful actionable notifications in the companion

Updating Home Assistant in Docker from Lovelace UI just like in Home Assistant OS

The Docker installation method becomes very popular among Home Assistant users. One of the downsides of the Docker installation method is the absence of update notifications and updates with a single button click. Today we will try to fix this with the power of Named Pipes (Whaaat??). Disclaimer. This is

Automatic backups of Home Assistant in Docker: rsync and rclone

There are many ways to backup your Home Assistant instance, but today we will review a simple script that runs on your server and does local and remote backups. Well, the core of this method is not just a script, but two very powerful and useful Linux command line utilities:

A simple yet powerful alternative for Studio Code Server for Home Assistant in Docker: Visual Studio Code + SSH

Visual Studio Code in a browser aka Studio Code Server is a very comfortable way to edit Home Assistant configuration files. But did you know you can use the Visual Studio Code desktop application on any PC to manage your home server remotely? Likely you have an SSH server running

Home Assistant in Docker #4: Add-ons. MQTT and Zigbee2MQTT

In the current post series, I’m describing the path I took from a regular Home Assistant setup on Home Assistant Blue to a home server with Docker and various software. Assuming we already have our Home Assistant in Docker up and running, it is time to add some addons

Home Assistant in Docker #3: docker-compose.yml for Home Assistant and MariaDB explained

In the current post series, I’m describing the path I took from a regular Home Assistant setup on Home Assistant Blue to a home server with Docker and various software. Assuming we already have ODROID-N2+ with Debian Buster and Docker setup, our next step would be bringing Home Assistant

Home Assistant in Docker #2: Installing Docker on ODROID-N2+ with Debian Buster

In the current post series, I’m describing the path I took from a regular Home Assistant setup on Home Assistant Blue to a home server with Docker and various software. Assuming we already have ODROID-N2+ with Debian Buster, our next step would be Docker installation. Previous posts series: * Debian

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Home Assistant in Docker #1: Debian Buster on ODROID-N2+ aka Home Assistant Blue

I ordered Home Assistant Blue on the day it was announced at Home Assistant Conference on December 13, 2020. It was exactly what I wanted – powerful hardware without any noise. And nice-looking, of course. It was a great speed improvement compared to Raspberry Pi 3B+, but this hardware can handle

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b-parasite DIY soil moisture sensor gets ZigBee and Zigbee2MQTT support

Did you remember a b-parasite project? It now has a ZigBee firmware sample you can integrate into Home Assistant through Zigbee2MQTT! Usually, smart soil moisture sensors use BLE or even WiFi for data transfer. But we want ZigBee, right? Why we want it is a topic for a separate post,

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Home Assistant Lovelace mobile dashboard example

I hate to dig into thousands of lines of someone’s YAML code and think I’m not the only one. That’s why I decided to tear down my Lovelace dashboard here for everyone who wants to reuse its components or get some inspiration for their dashboards. My Lovelace

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Automatic Home Assistant backup to Google Drive

You definitely should back up your Home Assistant regularly at least to avoid losing configurations you spend a lot of time on. Home Assistant has a tool for this also with a lot of improvements added recently, like automatic addon backups before updates. But, you know it is not very

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Popup with any cards for your Home Assistant Lovelace dashboard

Sounds nice, right? That was my dream for some time and I finally found the way to implement it using a powerful browser_mod addon for Home Assistant. First of all, you need to install browser_mod preferably through HACS. The main purpose of browser_mod is to control any

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Home Assistant Lovelace Custom Button Card templates collection

This is my collection of templates for the Custom Home Assistant Lovelace Button Card. Badge Flexible, responsive button showing additional state icons in the corners. Template badge: layout: vertical variables: size: 70 tap_action: action: toggle hold_action: action: more-info custom_fields: top_left_info: | [[[ if (variables && variables.

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Using stepper motor to control amplifier volume knob with ESP8266 and ESPHome

My living room multimedia setup consists of numerous devices with varying degrees of stupidity. I’m chasing to improve it adding additional DIY hardware and functionality not always because of hate of TV remotes but also because I’m in love with IoT and soldering. First, I’ve added WiFi

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IR code reader with ESP8266 Wemos D1 mini and ESPHome

Quick step-by-step guide on assembling an IR receiver for reading IR codes from your remotes based on Wemos D1 mini, Wemos IR shield, and using ESPHome. Components used 1. The housing from Broadling RM Pro+ 2. Wemos D1 mini development board 3. Wemos IR shield 4. USB to micro-USB cambe

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DIY Smart Appliance: Adding WiFi power control to an integrated amplifier

Previously I was using JBL Bar connected to a TV in my living room. It was controlled with WiFi IR bridge, so whenever my Chromecast or PS4 was in playing state, the Bar was turned on and ready. Now I have passive speakers with a simple integrated amplifier, and it

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Building WiFi IR remote control for any TV with ESP8266 Wemos D1 mini and ESPHome

Many modern TVs can be controlled not only with an IR remote. Many could be easily integrated with Home Assistant or any other smart home solution. Samsung smart TVs, LG with WebOS… But what if your TV is so dumb it even don’t have WiFi or Bluetooth? Today we’

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Send and receive SMS in Home Assistant with GSM modem

Yes, it is possible and you don’t need to build anything from sources. Sending SMS from your home could be useful, for example, to send emergency alerts. But what about receiving and parsing SMS messages? Well, I used it to integrate my car security system with my Home Assistant.

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Bed presence detection with Aqara window and door sensor and a cheap car part

Bed presence detection could be very useful in home automation to control the lights and appliances you don’t need at night, but want to be ready in the morning. And today we will build a bed presence sensor out of a very universal device for DIY IoT. It is