So under OpenHab1 you can use Habmin to add items and link zwave nodes using the binding etc…
Just so I understand what is going on, is it that the zwave binding works in principle in OH2, but instead of setting up items, it needs to be discovered as a thing instead? And you’re working out the best way to go about this?
So when it’s all sorted you’ll add a zwave device by pairing to the hardwave controller, then go to “descover thing” and it’ll appear ready to make a thing out of it etc…?
It might be worth having a read about OH2 principals - it’s different to OH2…
Things are effectively devices, things have channels, and channels link to items. So, when you include a new zwave device, it automatically creates the thing, all its channels, and the items that are linked to the channels…
Something like that…
You’ll be able to click on ‘Start discovery’ or something similar, this will put the controller into inclusion mode (so far the same as OH1 with HABmin). Hopefully this will find your thing and this new thing (device!) will be in an ‘inbox’ waiting for you to approve. Click on ‘Approve’ and it will be imported into the operational system - the thing gets created, the channels and items are also created and linked together…
(this might sound more complex than it really is - it’s all point and click)
The ‘bad’ thing is that now all your items will have names that you don’t want to use, so it’s more difficult in some ways to use ‘manually’. For example -:
thing = zwave_wenzhoutkbcontrolsystem_tz88_00_000_1508b604be0_node13
item = zwave_wenzhoutkbcontrolsystem_tz88_00_000_1508b604be0_node13_switch_1
This will make it more important in OH2 to have a GUI to control things. It is possible to create and link items with your own name, but neither HABmin nor PaperUI currently supports this so you get the computer generated name…
On the positive side, you don’t need to do any linking of binding strings to items - the zwave binding will automatically sort this out (once the device has been added to the database of course).
At the moment, there are still outstanding issues with configuration which make me hesitant to release this - hopefully this will be resolved in the coming week or two. It will take some time to add devices though and I’ll build this up a little slowly so we don’t add lots of devices and then find the format needs to change to support something…
Chris
Well I’m very impressed and appreciative of all the work you’re putting into this. It seems like a lot of work and I can’t thank you enough. I look forward to playing with it once it’s released…
Hi Chris,
I want to contribute by testing the Zwave Binding. I have some devices installed in my house.
How can I retreive it ?
Regards
Pascal
Currently it’s not available as I’m still finishing a little bit of testing here, and we are missing some functionality in the core ESH services to allow configuration of devices (namely setting of the associations). This is the issue that is currently holding up the finalisation of the the OH2 binding.
OK Chris.
I’m waiting for your new release. Don’t hesitate to send me an alpha or beta release for testing.
Have a good day.
Pascal
Any update on the ZWAVE binding for OH2? Not meaning to be pushy - just keen to get my OH up and running again! Had issues with using the old ZWAVE bindings under OH2 so rather than investing the time to fix these I am waiting for the OH2 compatible bindings 
I’m still working to iron out the issue in ESH that will allow me to add support for configuring associations - I don’t want to release a binding for general use until this is sorted as it will just result in lots of problems when people can’t configure their devices.
Other than this issue, the binding is working quite well I think. I’m sure there are still some issues, but I’ve been running it here for the past month or more and it’s been running fine…
Hopefully in the next week or two, this issue will be resolved and I’ll start to release the new binding - it will take some time to get the database converted, so I’ll be looking for a few experienced users to test things out first before spending too much time converting the database files…
Hi Chris,
that sounds great for me! I’m in a new home - after furnishing it i will spend my spare time during winter in testing OH2.
I got much experience with OH1 - but i won’t spend much time more on my old setup.
My FritzAHA-Equipment runs quite well under OH2, but i never finished implementing my new Z-Wave devices in OH1:
Aeon Labs Z-Wave USB Controller
Aeon Labs 4 in One MultiSensor
Reitz/Düwi Schuko Plug Switch 054375
Fibaro Universal Binary Sensor FGBS001 (shown as unknown device under latest OH1.8 snapshot)
Fibaro RGBW Controller
Fibaro Relay Switch 1x2.5kW FGS221
Maybe that i can provide german translations for this devices after testing them. Meanwhile i bought a homee Z-Wave base station, but i’ll never have fun with that - because the german developer never gives their costumer the promised API-documentation to make it possible to implement it in openHAB.
Regards
Heiko
Hi Chris,
this is indeed great news. If you give us hints on how to convert the database files to fit the new format I’m sure that you’ll find more help than you can ask for. I for my part can test things with a couple of devices from different vendors like Fibaro, Devolo, Aeon Labs… Like Heiko I don’t want to invest any more time in my old OH1 setup.
Looking forward to the new binding
Paolo
Hi Chris,
thank you very much for your reply - much apprechiated 
Chris, I did not seen any mention about Z-Wave Plus. For many users just beginning home automation, security is a top priority. I will not put a Z-Wave door lock on my new home unless it is secure. While there are few hardware options, they are beginning to show up and Westinghouse has a ZW+ lock that I will be purchasing soon. Will the new version of the ZW binding for OH implement security via Z-Wave Plus?
There is good progress being made. You may want to check out this thread: https://community.openhab.org/t/z-wave-schlage-lock-support/2341/111
Not in the initial version. While there is definately good progress being made by @dbadia, I think it will be a little while off yet. In the longer term (maybe a few months) then I really hope we can include this (should be ok I think 
).
This is documented here. However, I have a tool to convert the files from the old database, but more information is required - eg to provide something similar to the binding strings.
I don’t want to have everyone produce the database files yet though since if I have to make changes to the format, it could be a major waste of time. This is why I will try and get a couple of people running first to get the system a bit more testing before we go all the heavy lifting
Additional help once everything is initially tested would be greatly received… Of course, if people want to help, I’d also appreciate help with the OH1 database as there are always lots of requests for database inputs
I should have responded to this point, but just to be clear, ZWave+ is just the latest version of ZWave with increased range, and a few new features. So the current system works already with ZWave Plus (just not security). Of course there’s more classes that we might want to support (one day) that are new for ZWave Plus, but ZWave Plus is already supported…
For what it’s worth, you should decouple ZW+ and security as they have nothing to do with one another. Standard ZW supports security as does ZW+, but I’ve seen nothing to indicate that ZW+ has any additional security features
Go ahead and install one and use the key or keypad for now. They’re all (ZW and ZW+) secure by nature. ZW won’t allow locking/unlocking or much of anything over ZW unless the secure inclusion has taken place. They are, by design, secure whether you use the zwave functions or not.
Not trying to mince words, just looking to clear things up
Dave
Thank you Chris. In the meantime, is it safe to assume that it’s best to get a Z-Wave Plus door lock, and that when the security class is implemented fully in the OH binding, it can be securely operated? I really would prefer to use OpenHab since it’s open and has a strong community, and I may even be able to contribute.
Yes, if you want a zwave door lock, then your assumption seems correct… As above, it might be a few months off before this is fully integrated and stable, but clearly the guys are making great progress
Excellent, thanks Chris. I don’t mind waiting a few months, but I wouldn’t want to have to wait more than a year or so. Again, I will be happy to help test and troubleshoot and look at the code–my current plan is to get the Westinghouse RTS-Z lock, which seems to be maybe the only ZW+ lock actually available in a U.S. version. So when/if I get it, I’ll post and will be happy to test.