Migrating MQTT1 items to MQTT2.4 items

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

@heX

My opinion: the existence of two equivalent folder with configurations, one of which is not mentioned in the documentation (everywhere it is specified that it is “userdata” but not a configuration) and which contains a configuration in an undocumented format - is bad engineering and bad architecture pattern.

Frankly the docs have not managed to keep up with the development in a number of areas, this being one of them. But referring to it as legacy does not mean it’s not supported nor does it make it invalid to use it. But it is a method of configuring openHAB that is left over from openHAB 1.x and IMHO the way it is loaded and processes is not ideal.

There is only one configuration folder. The stuff in /etc/openhab2/services gets copied to /var/lib/openhab2. In the case of addons.cfg, the actual file used by openHAB is in /etc/openhab2/config/org/openhab/addons.config. The file format is the same as the format used by /etc/openhab2/services/addons.cfg, minus the comments.

@heX

I also find it bad engineering to require manual input with a GUI without the ability to automate the process (via file or API).

There is nothing that you can do through any UI that cannot also be done through configuration files, the Karaf Console, or the REST API. Almost everything can be done through the REST API and Karaf Console. For now, there are three things that cannot be managed through those two:

• configuration of persistence
• configuration of sitemaps
• configuration and use of OH 1.x bindings.

In fact, everything that the UIs do is through the REST API. So you can’t do those three things through the UIs either. In OH 3 that list drops to one (right now), configuration of persistence.

The main supported way to configure OH is through the REST API. A UI exists for users to use but you can automate the interactions with the REST API to your heart’s content. There are several such scripts and programs on the forum that do so (e.g. moving data from one persistence database to a different one). Using text based configs in the /etc/openhab2 folder remains supported and probably will continue to be supported, but it is legacy support.

@heX

I understand the engineering reasons for the second directory and I do not judge them. We (programmers) do it all the time))).

And yet you persist in calling their efforts “bad engineering”.

@heX

But as you can see, I have already noted some problematic points in the documentation. Maybe it makes sense to discuss them and make PR?

About the only issue I see that you’ve identified thus far is that the documentation is behind in some areas. We are fully aware of this and are waiting for OH 3 to get closer to done before a full rewrite of the docs where this particular issue is high on the list to be corrected. That being said, the threshold to help with the documentation is actually very very low. You don’t even need to leave the browser to create and submit a PR. See How to file an Issue.