misterhouse-users Mailing List for MisterHouse: Home Automation with Perl

I do a little of this with instant messaging. I have Prosody running as 
an instant messaging server (though IM you can install or find on the 
internet should work), and I run an IM client on my phone (currently 
Xabber, but I think it's no longer in Google Play, so aTalk might be an 
alternative). MH already has an IM module, though I'm just using 
command-line sendxmpp for my limited needs. Haven't tried pictures, 
though I see articles saying it is common in IMs and can be done in Prosody.

The SMS bridge is ideal, of course, if you could get that resolved. I 
need to do this short term once a year, and I get a Twilio account with 
a temporary number. They have a well established API.  Not sure I'd do 
it on a regular basis for the reoccurring costs, but you can decide if 
that makes sense in your budget.

For those in the Windows world, T-Mobile has their DIGITS program, which 
is really a Windows program that you can send/receive messages based 
using your regular number. There's no documentation on it's internal 
protocol, nor even if the program itself has an API. AutoIT might be a 
programmatic way around being restricted to just the UI. Wish they'd 
publish the communications protocol it uses to interface with their servers.

T-Mobile is also making a big push into IoT/cell connections. It's not 
hard to get a Dev account to start playing with that, but I didn't 
explore it enough to know if it will lend itself to this purpose.

-Brian M.


> I would prefer both text and image messages.  I send images by 
> monitoring for activity in MotionEye cam image directory when the 
> alarm is set.
>
> What are others using? I am considering WhatsApp as I think it still 
> has CLI tools.
>

OH, forgot to add that I use https://www.bulksms.com/ for sms 
notifications.  Its not free, but the API is pretty straightforward

Giles

On 21/12/2023 18:39, Giles Godart-Brown wrote:
> Jon
>
> I use prowl 
> (https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/prowl-easy-push-notifications/id320876271) 
> via the WebService::Prowl perl module
>
> Giles
>
> On 21/12/2023 18:31, Jon Boehm wrote:
>> Hi
>>
>> Fresh off my success in the geofencing tread (Geofencing from iOS 
>> integration), I have another question.
>>
>> How are people doing push notifications these days?  I had been 
>> sending push notifications via Google-Chat/Hangouts via shell script 
>> and command-line tools.  But Google killed these.  I transitioned 
>> back to the email-to-SMS bridge that cell providers support.  However 
>> this no longer works either.  Either Apple, Google, or TMobile are 
>> blocking them too now.
>>
>> I would prefer both text and image messages.  I send images by 
>> monitoring for activity in MotionEye cam image directory when the 
>> alarm is set.
>>
>> What are others using? I am considering WhatsApp as I think it still 
>> has CLI tools.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>> ________________________________________________________
>> To unsubscribe from this list, go to:https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/misterhouse-users
>>
>

Jon

I use prowl 
(https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/prowl-easy-push-notifications/id320876271) 
via the WebService::Prowl perl module

Giles

On 21/12/2023 18:31, Jon Boehm wrote:
> Hi
>
> Fresh off my success in the geofencing tread (Geofencing from iOS 
> integration), I have another question.
>
> How are people doing push notifications these days?  I had been 
> sending push notifications via Google-Chat/Hangouts via shell script 
> and command-line tools.  But Google killed these.  I transitioned back 
> to the email-to-SMS bridge that cell providers support.  However this 
> no longer works either. Either Apple, Google, or TMobile are blocking 
> them too now.
>
> I would prefer both text and image messages.  I send images by 
> monitoring for activity in MotionEye cam image directory when the 
> alarm is set.
>
> What are others using? I am considering WhatsApp as I think it still 
> has CLI tools.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> ________________________________________________________
> To unsubscribe from this list, go to:https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/misterhouse-users
>

Hi

Fresh off my success in the geofencing tread (Geofencing from iOS
integration), I have another question.

How are people doing push notifications these days?  I had been sending
push notifications via Google-Chat/Hangouts via shell script and
command-line tools.  But Google killed these.  I transitioned back to the
email-to-SMS bridge that cell providers support.  However this no longer
works either.  Either Apple, Google, or TMobile are blocking them too now.

I would prefer both text and image messages.  I send images by monitoring
for activity in MotionEye cam image directory when the alarm is set.

What are others using? I am considering WhatsApp as I think it still has
CLI tools.

Thanks

Yes, its working for me too, but via another web server, not directly 
into MH
Giles

On 21/12/2023 18:22, Jon Boehm wrote:
> Hi Timothy
>
> Thanks for the reply. Locative was a good call.  At first I wasn't 
> sure it was going to work because my apache config does some funky 
> proxy-forwarding and SSL encryption.  I couldn't get a test command to 
> work from the Locative Setting screen. The Locative notification said 
> it did work but my apache and MH logs proved it was being blocked.  I 
> can't explain what changed but after a few crossing of the geofence 
> line, and maybe some changes to permissions in iOS, all the sudden I 
> was getting fence crossing notifications. Low-and-behold MH started 
> receiving the notifications on this new set of events. MH is still 
> complaining about the extra location payload and I can't seem to tell 
> Locative to not append this info but that is minor as I can trigger 
> stuff in MH now!!! :-)
>
> Thank you for the pointer!!
>
> On Mon, Dec 18, 2023 at 11:55 AM Timothy Spaulding 
> <spa...@ic...> wrote:
>
>     Hi,
>
>     Take a look at Locative. It can call an URL to send depart/arrive
>     messages to which you could code MH to receive/handle.
>
>     *From:* Jon Boehm <jb...@co...>
>     *Sent:* Monday, December 18, 2023 12:46 PM
>     *To:* The main list for the MisterHouse home automation program
>     <mis...@li...>
>     *Subject:* [mh] Geofencing from iOS integration?
>
>     Hi,
>
>     How is everyone doing geofencing from an iPhone with misterhouse?
>
>     For a decade now, I had been having every member of my house have
>     a rule in the Find My app to send email leave/arrival messages to
>     a misterhouse-only private gmail account. On my server Thunderbird
>     monitors the gmail account. When Thunderbird saw a leave/arrive
>     email show up it passed the info to misterhouse via a bash script.
>
>     This all broke a few weeks ago when appropriately Apple broke or
>     disabled email geofencing messages.
>
>     What is the correct way of doing this with Misterhouse?
>
>     thanks,
>
>     Jon
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________
> To unsubscribe from this list, go to:https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/misterhouse-users
>

Hi Timothy

Thanks for the reply. Locative was a good call.  At first I wasn't sure it
was going to work because my apache config does some funky proxy-forwarding
and SSL encryption.  I couldn't get a test command to work from the
Locative Setting screen.  The Locative notification said it did work but my
apache and MH logs proved it was being blocked.  I can't explain what
changed but after a few crossing of the geofence line, and maybe some
changes to permissions in iOS, all the sudden I was getting fence crossing
notifications. Low-and-behold MH started receiving the notifications on
this new set of events. MH is still complaining about the extra location
payload and I can't seem to tell Locative to not append this info but that
is minor as I can trigger stuff in MH now!!! :-)

Thank you for the pointer!!

On Mon, Dec 18, 2023 at 11:55 AM Timothy Spaulding <spa...@ic...>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
>
>
> Take a look at Locative. It can call an URL to send depart/arrive messages
> to which you could code MH to receive/handle.
>
>
>
> *From:* Jon Boehm <jb...@co...>
> *Sent:* Monday, December 18, 2023 12:46 PM
> *To:* The main list for the MisterHouse home automation program <
> mis...@li...>
> *Subject:* [mh] Geofencing from iOS integration?
>
>
>
> Hi,
>
>
>
> How is everyone doing geofencing from an iPhone with misterhouse?
>
>
>
> For a decade now, I had been having every member of my house have a rule
> in the Find My app to send email leave/arrival messages to a
> misterhouse-only private gmail account. On my server Thunderbird monitors
> the gmail account.  When Thunderbird saw a leave/arrive email show up it
> passed the info to misterhouse via a bash script.
>
>
>
> This all broke a few weeks ago when appropriately Apple broke or disabled
> email geofencing messages.
>
>
>
> What is the correct way of doing this with Misterhouse?
>
>
>
> thanks,
>
> Jon
>

Hi,

Take a look at Locative. It can call an URL to send depart/arrive messages to which you could code MH to receive/handle.

From: Jon Boehm <jb...@co...>
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2023 12:46 PM
To: The main list for the MisterHouse home automation program <mis...@li...>
Subject: [mh] Geofencing from iOS integration?

Hi,

How is everyone doing geofencing from an iPhone with misterhouse?

For a decade now, I had been having every member of my house have a rule in the Find My app to send email leave/arrival messages to a misterhouse-only private gmail account. On my server Thunderbird monitors the gmail account.  When Thunderbird saw a leave/arrive email show up it passed the info to misterhouse via a bash script.

This all broke a few weeks ago when appropriately Apple broke or disabled email geofencing messages.

What is the correct way of doing this with Misterhouse?

thanks,
Jon

Hi Jon

I have had a similar experience, there is an api (WebService::FindMyiPhone)that ‘did what it says on the tin’.  I called this every few minutes from MH. I got it working so it turned on the heating as I approached home, but alas, Apple changed the security and it stopped working . I haven’t had a chance to see if it got fixed nor found an alternative, but would be grateful if anyone else on the list has had better luck.

Happy Christmas/ Holidays
Giles

> On 18 Dec 2023, at 17:46, Jon Boehm <jb...@co...> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> How is everyone doing geofencing from an iPhone with misterhouse?  
> 
> For a decade now, I had been having every member of my house have a rule in the Find My app to send email leave/arrival messages to a misterhouse-only private gmail account. On my server Thunderbird monitors the gmail account.  When Thunderbird saw a leave/arrive email show up it passed the info to misterhouse via a bash script.
> 
> This all broke a few weeks ago when appropriately Apple broke or disabled email geofencing messages. 
> 
> What is the correct way of doing this with Misterhouse?
> 
> thanks,
> Jon
> ________________________________________________________
> To unsubscribe from this list, go to: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/misterhouse-users
> 

Hi,

How is everyone doing geofencing from an iPhone with misterhouse?

For a decade now, I had been having every member of my house have a rule in
the Find My app to send email leave/arrival messages to a misterhouse-only
private gmail account. On my server Thunderbird monitors the gmail
account.  When Thunderbird saw a leave/arrive email show up it passed the
info to misterhouse via a bash script.

This all broke a few weeks ago when appropriately Apple broke or disabled
email geofencing messages.

What is the correct way of doing this with Misterhouse?

thanks,
Jon

Thank you Giles!

  I’ll see if I made any changes to my local one. I’ve been using the power monitoring S31s with good success to trigger notifications for appliances (text messages for dishwashers and laundry).  Since you have probably the largest install-base, some runtime feedback from you would be great.


> On Dec 18, 2023, at 4:08 AM, Giles Godart-Brown <ggo...@gm...> wrote:
> 
> All
> I've been working on the async mode with Tasmota devices (I have over 50 of them) and have made the following changes to 
> Tasmota_HTTP_item.pm (attached -  search for GGB to find changes)
> 
> 1) moved the output file for async calls to data/tasmota_http to stop the data directory getting clogged in large installations
> 2) changed many of the print_log statements to use the new format print_log(message,severity,source) and added a few I needed 
>    to debug my additions
> 3) added condition checks at start of set code to allow devices detected elsewhere to be marked inactive or unplugged
>    unplugged is for devices temporarily unplugged e.g. Xmas tree lights 
>    active is used for devices found not to be working but ought to be OK
> 4) bug fix to change $self->send_cmnd($cmd) to $self->send_cmd($cmd)
> 5) added a "this_set_by" attribute so that the set_by attribute is preserved in async calls and not 
>    always set to "process item"
> 5) added a print log to the async process_check to print out the status in the event of a failure
> 
> Before i do a pull request, does anyone have any other additions?
> 
> Happy Christmas/Holidays
> Giles
> <Tasmota_HTTP_Item.pm>________________________________________________________
> To unsubscribe from this list, go to: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/misterhouse-users
> 

All
I've been working on the async mode with Tasmota devices (I have over 50 
of them) and have made the following changes to
Tasmota_HTTP_item.pm (attached -  search for GGB to find changes)

1) moved the output file for async calls to data/tasmota_http to stop 
the data directory getting clogged in large installations
2) changed many of the print_log statements to use the new format 
print_log(message,severity,source) and added a few I needed
    to debug my additions
3) added condition checks at start of set code to allow devices detected 
elsewhere to be marked inactive or unplugged
    unplugged is for devices temporarily unplugged e.g. Xmas tree lights
    active is used for devices found not to be working but ought to be OK
4) bug fix to change $self->send_cmnd($cmd) to $self->send_cmd($cmd)
5) added a "this_set_by" attribute so that the set_by attribute is 
preserved in async calls and not
    always set to "process item"
5) added a print log to the async process_check to print out the status 
in the event of a failure

Before i do a pull request, does anyone have any other additions?

Happy Christmas/Holidays
Giles

I also noticed that it changes the set_by value to 'process item' if you 
use the async mode. I got around this by adding
             $self->{this_set_by} = $set_by;

at the beginning of the set subroutine

and
in process_check changing
                 #$self->SUPER::set( $state, "process item") unless (lc 
$state eq lc $self->state());
to
$self->SUPER::set( $state, $self->{this_set_by}) unless (lc $state eq lc 
$self->state());

I'll create an issue so both these can be picked up during the next release

Giles

On 11/12/2023 20:11, Giles Godart-Brown wrote:
> All
> I've just updated my MH installation to the latest Master release and 
> while experimenting with the async mode and Tasmota I noticed there is 
> a small typo on line 203 of Tasmota_HTTP_Item.pm
> it should read
> $self->send_cmd($cmd);
> and not
> $self->send_cmnd($cmd);
> Regards
> Giles

I have had similar experiences with alexa and what has worked for me is 
to shut down all alexa devices. Use the phone app to delete all home 
automation devices. Do a factory reset on one alexa device and use it to 
"Discover new devices". It's a pain but has worked for me in the past. 
Be aware that if this fixes it for you that you may have to repeat the 
process EACH TIME you want to add a new device so I recommend making 
sure you have all your devices defined the way you want them in the .mht 
file before doing this.

my current settings are the same as your but I have debug remarked and 
do not have the alexaHttpPortCount = 0 setting.



On 12/12/23 15:14, Giles Godart-Brown wrote:
> All
> I've just received my new Raspberry Pi5 and thought I would do a 
> straight install from scratch of the latest Master release.
> All is well, apart from Alexa which wont discover any of my MH devices.
> I've tried removing them all in the app and rebooting alexas but still 
> no good.
> The relevant part of my ini file is
> <snip>
> alexa_enable           = 1
> alexaEnableChunked     = 1
> alexaHttpIp            = 192.168.100.57
> alexaHttpPortCount = 0
> alexaHttpPort = 80
> debug=alexa:5
> alexaForceLongFormat=1
> </snip>
> I haven't changed my items.mht file from the version that worked on my 
> old Pi4
> Oddly I don't seem to be getting any alexa log messages during 
> discovery, just a couple during initialise viz;
> <snip>
> 12/12/2023 20:59:02 Alexa open_port: p=50000 pn=alexaSsdpNotification 
> s=Socket_Item=HASH(0x5555705140a8)
>
> 12/12/2023 20:59:02 Alexa open_port: p= pn=alexaSsdpListen 
> s=Socket_Item=HASH(0x5555705143d8)
> </snip>
> Anyone got any ideas?
> THX
> Giles
>
>
> ________________________________________________________
> To unsubscribe from this list, go to:https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/misterhouse-users
>

All
I've just received my new Raspberry Pi5 and thought I would do a 
straight install from scratch of the latest Master release.
All is well, apart from Alexa which wont discover any of my MH devices.
I've tried removing them all in the app and rebooting alexas but still 
no good.
The relevant part of my ini file is
<snip>
alexa_enable           = 1
alexaEnableChunked     = 1
alexaHttpIp            = 192.168.100.57
alexaHttpPortCount = 0
alexaHttpPort = 80
debug=alexa:5
alexaForceLongFormat=1
</snip>
I haven't changed my items.mht file from the version that worked on my 
old Pi4
Oddly I don't seem to be getting any alexa log messages during 
discovery, just a couple during initialise viz;
<snip>
12/12/2023 20:59:02 Alexa open_port: p=50000 pn=alexaSsdpNotification 
s=Socket_Item=HASH(0x5555705140a8)

12/12/2023 20:59:02 Alexa open_port: p= pn=alexaSsdpListen 
s=Socket_Item=HASH(0x5555705143d8)
</snip>
Anyone got any ideas?
THX
Giles

All
I've just updated my MH installation to the latest Master release and 
while experimenting with the async mode and Tasmota I noticed there is a 
small typo on line 203 of Tasmota_HTTP_Item.pm
it should read
$self->send_cmd($cmd);
and not
$self->send_cmnd($cmd);
Regards
Giles