Hello,
I just installed openhab2 on an externally hosted vps ssd server (ubuntu 18.04 x64)
Now im looking for a way to “fake” the server of being on my home network so it can find all my light bulbs ettccccc.
does anybody know how to do this?
kind regards
Jeroen
Since many people install OH to maintain local control apart from the Internet, this is sort of backwards thinking for most of us.
What secure technologies do you envision you can use?
its just for testing puposes
I would think you would need to vpn back to your house. This way the server would appear on the same network as your lights.
Wouldn’t it be better to host openHAB on your internal LAN and host an instance of the openHAB Cloud server on your VPS?
Sort of. Usually the VPN will be in a different subnet from your main LAN. Because of that stuff like broadcast packets and UPnP and the like probably won’t work because that network traffic doesn’t cross subnets typically.
There may be a way to make VPN machines appear on the same local subnet but I have no experience on how to make that happen.
If your light bulbs are using something like Zwave, or Zigbee, you might have a little better luck. You will need to plug the controller/coordinator into a machine hosted locally and then you can expose that device to your VSP (connected via a VPN) using socat/ser2net.
I think you need a VPN server in your local LAN (some newer modem provided by ISP already offers this feature, browse its config page and check it out…). Alternatively you can install openvpn-server tool on a local pc just to try it out. Consider that the server must be up and running 24h/24h in the final deployment. An owned local server rather than the one shipped with the modem provides more configuration options.
As someone already pointed out, usually vpn servers create a separate subnet (something like 10.8.x.y) in which they place all vpn clients. I am new to openhab but as far as I understood all devices must be in the same LAN as the ssrver, so you either:
make your end device(s) using the vpn even if they are already in your 192.168.X.Y LAN. This can be convenient for selection and separation but not always feasible…
configure the vpn server so that it bridges the local “true” LAN (192.168.x.y) with the “virtual” LAN (10.8.X.Y), making all devices reachable each other.
Hope this help.
Well, in my personal experience many reasons might justify a vps deployment.
some ISPs (many) provides modem with port 80 closed. Some modems lacks even more in configuration… So you basically may need to bay a (good) modem that it is not so cheap…
you need a system up and running 24h/24h. In some case this can be tricky. Some might find more comfortable an external hw provider which takes care of maintenance
frontal preformance scalability: add ram, disk space and cpu power as needed
just create an account on a vps provider, no need for cabling, ordering boards, setup old pcs, etc
some vps are really cheap and you should run them for years before covering the expenses of a rp4 or another sbc or small pc. This is good if you just want to test and you are not sure if you’re gonna stick with this configuration…
Said so. Does anyone succeed with a vps remotely hosted openhab setup??
I am about to do so.
I am also planning to use docker images since I find it very usefull and scalable… But I will see…
Not necessarily but you might be giving up on some auto discovery that works through broadcast packets which won’t necessarily cross the subdomains. But as long as the IPs are routable between subnets, OH should be able to reach them.
It’s often important to look at the dates on posts. Note that this thread is from four years ago. Things may have changed significantly in that time. It’s usually better to open a new thread than to resurrect such an old thread.
There can be many good reasons for a VPS deployment but in the home automation context, what you give up often far outweighs and advantages a VPS would provide. You can’t deploy local only technologies (BT, Zigbee, Zwave, etc.) as easily/reliably. Internet access is always required.You are relying upon OPC (Other People’s Computers). etc.
You should not be exposing anything on your LAN to the Internet. There are many many alternatives that are far safer, including VPN and in the OH case myopenhab.org.
I understand your point and the local-first approach of OH … I am just wandering if it can fit a different deployment for slightly different needs…
I did not intend to redeem an old post. I just though that some others may ended up here (as I did) it could be helpful to provide some more options (as far as I know the VPN priciples haven’t changed that much in 4 years… )
Please excuse me anyway. I will open a new thead and post a more specific question regarding my case.