Home automation with the openHAB platform
At Your Service
© Lead Image © naiklon, 123RF.com
OpenHAB is an open source facility-automation platform that lets you network your smart devices independently of vendor or protocol.
OpenHAB [1], or the Open Home Automation Bus, is a vendor- and technology-independent open source facility-automation platform that can act as the brain of a smart home. OpenHAB follows the "Integrate Everything" principle, currently supporting more than 400 technologies and systems, including EnOcean, KNX, LCN, Loxone, Modbus, MQTT, Philips Hue, Z-Wave, and Zigbee. In fact, openHAB can integrate, visualize, and automate more than 3,000 different devices. You'll find a list of the supported technologies and systems at the project website [2].
See the box entitled "openHAB History" for some background on the openHAB project. One of openHAB's aims is to simplify sequence control. The openHAB control engine offers various options for automation, from UI-based rules, to Blockly based visual scripts, to full-fledged programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python, Ruby, openHAB DSL (with a Java-like syntax), full Java, and Groovy. You will even find official help libraries for JavaScript and Ruby that simplify the use of openHAB's Java interfaces. Less experienced programmers can use Blockly (Figure 1), then check out the generated JavaScript code and familiarize themselves with the JavaScript environment in openHAB.
OpenHAB is platform independent: It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and you can set it up on an Intel-compatible PC, a Raspberry Pi, a NAS appliance, or a Docker container. Users can access the applications via a web interface, but also via iOS and Android apps, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, or Apple HomeKit.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 Drops bcachefs
After a clash over some late fixes and disagreements between bcachefs's lead developer and Linus Torvalds, bachefs is out.
-
ONLYOFFICE v9 Embraces AI
Like nearly all office suites on the market (except LibreOffice), ONLYOFFICE has decided to go the AI route.
-
Two Local Privilege Escalation Flaws Discovered in Linux
Qualys researchers have discovered two local privilege escalation vulnerabilities that allow hackers to gain root privileges on major Linux distributions.
-
New TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro Powered by AMD Ryzen AI 300
The TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen10 offers serious power that is ready for your business, development, or entertainment needs.
-
Danish Ministry of Digital Affairs Transitions to Linux
Another major organization has decided to kick Microsoft Windows and Office to the curb in favor of Linux.
-
Linux Mint 20 Reaches EOL
With Linux Mint 20 at its end of life, the time has arrived to upgrade to Linux Mint 22.
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.