Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

Homebridge is a lightweight NodeJS server you can run on your home network that emulates the iOS HomeKit API. It supports Plugins, which are community-contributed modules that provide a basic bridge from HomeKit to various 3rd-party APIs provided by manufacturers of "smart home" devices.

Mike Polinowski
Alexa Camera Skill
Firmware Update
Full HD Series
INSTAR Cloud
INSTAR Deutschland GmbH
INSTAR Alexa Camera Skill

Control your camera with Alexa terminal

INSTAR Amazon Alexa

We offer both a INSTAR Cloud Skill and a INSTAR Camera Skill in the Alexa Skill Store. For the INSTAR Cloud Skill, all you need is an INSTAR Cloud account and an Alexa device with a display. Add the Skill on your Alexa device and use it directly.

Mike Polinowski
Apple Homekit
Firmware Update
Full HD Series
INSTAR Deutschland GmbH
Apple Homekit

Control your camera with your iPhone or iPad

INSTAR Homekit

The connection to the Homekit service is available from firmware version 3.2(361) (June 2021) for all Full HD models. You can upgrade the firmware of your camera directly via the Web interface.

Preparing the Homebridge Docker Image

Download

Start by downloading the Docker image from Docker Hub. It is recommended to use the latest version:

docker pull oznu/homebridge:latest

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

How to Run

Homebridge requires full access to your local network to function correctly which can be achieved using the --net=host flag. Currently this image will not work when using Docker for Mac or Docker for Windows.

You can run the image with the following command:

docker run \
  --net=host \
  --name=homebridge \
  -e PUID=<UID> -e PGID=<GID> \
  -e TZ=Europe/Berlin \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_CONFIG_UI=1 \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_CONFIG_UI_PORT=8080 \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_INSECURE=1 \
  -v </path/to/config>:/homebridge \
  oznu/homebridge

The </path/to/config> has to be created on your host system, e.g. :

mkdir /opt/homebridge
chmod 775 /opt/homebridge

Sometimes when using data volumes (-v flags) permissions issues can arise between the host OS and the container. We avoid this issue by allowing you to specify the user PUID and group PGID. Ensure the data volume directory on the host is owned by the same user you specify and it will "just work".

In this instance PUID=1001 and PGID=1001. To find yours use id user as below:

id <dockeruser>
uid=1001(dockeruser) gid=1001(dockergroup) groups=1001(dockergroup)

Configuration

Create a file name config.json inside the /opt/homebridge directory. A template can be found at the end of this tutorial. This configuration file will add 10 MQTT buttons for the Full HD camera with the IP address 192.168.2.117 and Admin Login admin / instar running it's MQTT Broker on port 1883 with the broker login admin / instar. Please changes these information inside the configuration file before copying it to the directory.

But we are not yet able to use this template as it requires 2 plugins we need to install first. So we have to start with a blank template, start up Homebridge and install the those plugins first.

{
    "bridge": {
        "name": "Homebridge",
        "username": "CC:22:3D:E3:CE:35",
        "manufacturer": "homebridge.io",
        "model": "homebridge",
        "port": 51826,
        "pin": "031-45-155"
    },
    "description": "This is an example configuration file with one fake accessory and one fake platform. You can use this as a template for creating your own configuration file containing devices you actually own.",
    "ports": {
        "start": 52100,
        "end": 52150,
        "comment": "This section is used to control the range of ports that separate accessory (like camera or television) should be bind to."
    },
    "accessories": [],
    "platforms": [
        {
            "name": "Config",
            "port": 8080,
            "auth": "form",
            "theme": "dark-mode",
            "tempUnits": "c",
            "lang": "auto",
            "sudo": false,
            "accessoryControl": {
                "debug": true
            },
            "platform": "config"
        }
    ]
}

Add this content to /opt/homebridge/config.json:

nano /opt/homebridge/config.json
chmod 775 /opt/homebridge/*

Run

You have already downloaded the image, now you can check the Image ID and run the container:

docker images

REPOSITORY                 TAG               IMAGE ID       CREATED       SIZE
localhost/oznu/homebridge  latest   f0039cfe89f4   46 hours ago  726 MB

Add your Image ID, Docker User and Group ID, Timezone and configuration directory to the following command:

docker run \
  --net=host \
  --name=homebridge \
  --privileged \
  --rm \
  -e PUID=0 -e PGID=0 \
  -e TZ=Europe/Berlin \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_CONFIG_UI=1 \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_CONFIG_UI_PORT=8080 \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_INSECURE=1 \
  -v /opt/homebridge:/homebridge \
  -ti -u root f0039cfe89f4 /bin/bash

Setting Up Homebridge

Wait for the Homebridge UI to spin up on Port 8080 and login with admin / admin:

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

You can install the following plugins through the Hombridge UI:

  • homebridge-camera-ffmpeg
  • homebridge-mqttthing

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

When installing the homebridge-camera-ffmpeg plugin you will be asked to fill out the following form to add your camera:

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

For this camera:

  • LAN IP 192.168.2.117
  • RTSP Port 554
  • Admin Username admin
  • Admin Password instar

You will have to add these two lines (change them according to your camera configuration):

-re -i rtsp://admin:instar@192.168.2.117:554/12

-i http://192.168.2.117/tmpfs/auto.jpg?usr=admin&pwd=instar

This will add the following lines to our configuration file:

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

With the MQTT plugin installed, we can import the MQTT Buttons in the accessories section of the configuration file - the necessary code can be found at end of this tutorial. Again, this code is for the camera with the following configuration and has to be adjusted accordingly:

  • Camera LAN IP 192.168.2.117
  • MQTT Broker Port 1883
  • MQTT User admin
  • MQTT Password instar

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

Add the complete accessories section to your file to add all MQTT buttons:

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

Commit your Changes to the Docker Image

Login to your host machine from a new terminal window and find out the Container ID that was assigned to the homebridge container:

docker ps -a

CONTAINER ID  IMAGE                                        NAMES
5b4bd0d0189d  localhost/oznu/homebridge:debian-no-avahi    homebridge

In this case the Container ID is 5b4bd0d0189d and I want to call the image, that will contain all our changes, instar-mqtt-homebridge:

docker commit 5b4bd0d0189d instar-mqtt-homebridge

We can now stop the original image and switch to our newly created image:

docker images

REPOSITORY                        IMAGE ID
localhost/instar-mqtt-homebridge  42e1bcaed5e6

The old container has the ID 5b4bd0d0189d - so we can stop this now and run the new image with Image ID 42e1bcaed5e6 instead:

docker stop 5b4bd0d0189d

To run the new image you have to modify the following command as before - but this time either use the Image ID 42e1bcaed5e6 or Repository Name localhost/instar-mqtt-homebridge you have to assigned to your new image:

docker run \
  --net=host \
  --name=instar-mqtt-homebridge \
  --privileged \
  --rm \
  -e PUID=0 -e PGID=0 \
  -e TZ=Europe/Berlin \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_CONFIG_UI=1 \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_CONFIG_UI_PORT=8080 \
  -e HOMEBRIDGE_INSECURE=1 \
  -v /opt/homebridge:/homebridge \
  -ti -u root 42e1bcaed5e6 /bin/bash

When you access the Homebridge dashboard you should now find all MQTT buttons under the Accessories tab (Click and configure them, if you want to add them to your main dashboard page):

Homebridge INSTAR MQTT to Homekit

Hombridge Configuration Template

{
    "bridge": {
        "name": "Homebridge",
        "username": "CC:22:3D:E3:CE:35",
        "manufacturer": "homebridge.io",
        "model": "homebridge",
        "port": 51826,
        "pin": "031-45-155"
    },
    "description": "This is an example configuration file with one fake accessory and one fake platform. You can use this as a template for creating your own configuration file containing devices you actually own.",
    "ports": {
        "start": 52100,
        "end": 52150,
        "comment": "This section is used to control the range of ports that separate accessory (like camera or television) should be bind to."
    },
    "accessories": [
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Alarm Area 1",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567889",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Alarm Area 1",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/area1/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/area1/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "1",
            "offValue": "0",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Alarm Area 2",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567891",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Alarm Area 2",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/area2/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/area2/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "1",
            "offValue": "0",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Alarm Area 3",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567892",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Alarm Area 3",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/area3/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/area3/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "1",
            "offValue": "0",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Alarm Area 4",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567893",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Alarm Area 4",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/area4/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/area4/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "1",
            "offValue": "0",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "PIR Sensor",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567894",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "PIR Sensor",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/actions/pir/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/actions/pir/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "1",
            "offValue": "0",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Link Areas",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567895",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Link Areas",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/actions/linkareas",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/actions/linkareas",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "on",
            "offValue": "off",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Alarm Email",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567896",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Alarm Email",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/actions/email",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/actions/email",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "on",
            "offValue": "off",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Alarm Push",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567897",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Alarm Push",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/alarm/push/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/alarm/push/enable",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "on",
            "offValue": "off",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Audio",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567898",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Audio",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/multimedia/audio/enable/high",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/multimedia/audio/enable/high",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "1",
            "offValue": "0",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        },
        {
            "accessory": "mqttthing",
            "type": "switch",
            "name": "Preset Position",
            "manufacturer": "INSTAR",
            "model": "IN-8015 FullHD",
            "serialNumber": "1234567899",
            "firmwareRevision": "0.1",
            "url": "http://192.168.2.117:1883",
            "username": "admin",
            "password": "instar",
            "caption": "Preset Position",
            "mqttOptions": {
                "keepalive": 30
            },
            "mqttPubOptions": {
                "retain": true
            },
            "logMqtt": true,
            "topics": {
                "getOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/status/features/ptz/preset",
                    "apply": "return JSON.parse(message).val;"
                },
                "setOn": {
                    "topic": "instar/local/features/ptz/preset",
                    "apply": "return JSON.stringify({val: (message)})"
                }
            },
            "onValue": "1",
            "offValue": "0",
            "confirmationPeriodms": 1000,
            "retryLimit": 3
        }
    ],
    "platforms": [
        {
            "name": "Config",
            "port": 8080,
            "auth": "form",
            "theme": "dark-mode",
            "tempUnits": "c",
            "lang": "auto",
            "sudo": false,
            "accessoryControl": {
                "debug": true
            },
            "platform": "config"
        }
    ]
}