openHAB runs in a docker container, so is OS agnostic, yes?

[rlkoshak (Rich Koshak)]

@Chris_K

I see no problems with running openHAB on it since it can run windows and almost any linux I want, right?

Seems a reasonable machine. OH only requires specs equivalent to an RPi 2. This machine seems way more than that.

I don’t think the Atom processor would be a problem.

@Chris_K

Is ubuntu the OS of choice because it is a linux and probably the easiest linux with the most online support? I’m thinking about trying Clear Linux (I use it at work, etc) and if it can install all the softwares I need, I think it will be great. Thus, if it will run the openHAB docker image, there isn’t any direct reason this wouldn’t work, yes?

It’s one of the more popular dsitros. I run it because it’s easiest to find support for stuff. You can always find an article or the like telling you how to do something or fix something in Ubuntu. But Ubuntu is based on Debian so pretty much anything that is written about Ubuntu applies to any Debian based distro. I don’t know about Clear Linux (just read about it for the first time today) but if it’s Debian based you should be fine. If not, you may need to do some translations. Its worth noting a lot of OH users also run OH on CentOS/Fedora as well. It kind of doesn’t matter really.

As for Docker, it is most certainly not OS agnostic. I’m actually not at all certain that the OH Docker instance will work on Windows, for example. But if you are running it on Linux, you can kind of think of it as being OS agnostic. But I’m not sure that’s the best way to think about it. What it is is like a great big chroot on steroids (if you know Linux that sentence makes sense, if not don’t worry about it). It provides a way for a bunch of separate environments to share the same kernel. Depending on where you draw the line on where the OS starts and stops will probably dictate whether you treat a container as OS agnostic.

I think a better way to think about it is it comes with it’s own OS except for the kernel which is shares with the host.

@Bruce_Osborne

Docker is not as well supported currently, in my opinion. I have recently started testing Docker installations hoping to improve the documentation and perhaps the experience.

In what ways. I’ve been running and supporting Docker trouble shooting requests, and have even contributed a little bit to the code, for years. What may be missing is that we don’t teach you to use Docker. That’s outside the scope so you need to go “learn you some Docker” on your own.

@Bruce_Osborne

The file paths are different for Docker installs than for Debian package-based installations, so that would present some challenges in translating some solutions found here.

It’s the manual install with “the directory you unzipped OH to” being /openhab2 (maybe without the 2, I don’t remember) so, for example $OH_CONF would be /openhab2/conf/. But that only really matters if you are trying to use paths from inside the container (e.g. running executeCommandLine or the like) which, if that’s a requirement, Docker probably isn’t the best choice anyway. Any time you are interacting with the files you are doing so from where ever they exist on your host usually which, I recommend using the default manual installation location (i.e. /opt/openhab2/conf and /opt/openhab2/userdata).

@Chris_K

I’m about to jump in to this home automation thing. I’m an embedded programmer for 20 years and am getting into IoT at work, so the myriad of solutions to home automation is bewildering. I already can’t see the forest through the trees as it is! This thread is mostly helping me to see the obvious.

While reading the forums and documentation, it becomes clear there are several intertwined topics having to be addressed which are not overtly stated:

1. What and why Dockers
2. openHAB is installed via Docker container for version and dependency control
3. Which OS and why
4. How the openHAB docker interacts with the OS and the network
5. Communication Protocols, what they are and which brands use what
6. Probably more obvious things I’m overlooking

Question 1:
I’ve got an Intel Atom miniITX computer laying around that I’m going to use and I see no problems with running openHAB on it since it can run windows and almost any linux I want, right? I’ve had a few of these things and another was the pfsense firewall at work.

• Platform information:
  • Hardware: Intel Atom Cedar Trail-D Processor D2550, 4GB ddr3
  • OS: the latest Ubuntu (but will try Clear first)
  • Java Runtime Environment: will install latest needed for new install
  • openHAB version: latest

Question 2:
Is ubuntu the OS of choice because it is a linux and probably the easiest linux with the most online support? I’m thinking about trying Clear Linux (I use it at work, etc) and if it can install all the softwares I need, I think it will be great. Thus, if it will run the openHAB docker image, there isn’t any direct reason this wouldn’t work, yes?

Question 3:
Looking through the support requests, I’m seeing the majority of the issues being getting a software package, something plugged in to host computer, or service to work correctly (I consider an OS topic) or to get interaction with a protocol or specific piece of hardware (which is hacking things to talk to each other). Is that generally correct?

My first steps:

• I have a SmartLife power strip that I’d like to control locally including scheduling and automation.
• We were gifted a bunch of Feit bulbs and I’d really like to automate its color changing on a schedule or via a button in software or physically. The threads on the Feit give me hope.

Anyway, back to the main topic, @Chris_K, definitely spend some time with the docs and see How to get started (there is no step-by-step tutorial) for a bunch of other getting started resources.

If you want to use a bunch of commonly used third party tools like Mosquitto, InfluxDB, Grafana, etc, you might consider the manual isntallation of openHABian on a Debian based distro (Ubuntu works). This will get you more than just OH. The Docker image is just OH.