Really really great video. And the more we educate people on how to use Zigbee and other local control protocols, the more we can shift people away from cloud controlled devices. Great job!
Actually have one of those newfangled Sonoff dongles getting here in the mail tomorrow, and was really not looking forward to potentially re-pairing everything.. great timing!
Homeassistant can now do this. I just migrated to a new radio today without any problems. Well, no problems except the Z-Wave didn't migrate. Which is fine because I don't use that.
Video was just awesome.. I got to learn lots things. Thanks improving me.. Keep on making great videos like I will surely watch & will share with my friends.
seems a little point less for Zigbee2mqtt since it is already doing a backup every night. also it looks like it also automatically uses it, according to my tests by switching a ZZH! out with a Sonoff stick. I only had to change the /dev/serial/by-id/ point in the configuration.
Thank you very much for this video! I was searching how to make a backup of configuration and restore from it in case of disaster and this seems like exactly something i would need! Once again thank you, this video will save my a** one day! :)
Really like your videos/tutorials - simple and easy to follow :) Would be nice to see a video on installing and setting up SSH. I find there's a real lack of how-to on setting up SSH and accessing the docker containers for HA.
@@SmartLifeEnthusiast i must be honest I didn't even think that there would be a difference between the two. I'll keep that in mind for the future :) it's been a while since I posted this so I can't really remember the issue i was having off hand, but I know I wasn't able to correctly access the actual docker container because SSH wasn't configured.
@@EverythingSmartHome thank you for your quick reply :) I've watched you're beginner videos but i didn't see one that covers setting up SSH. But with that said, perhaps the level / ease of access to the docker containers depends on the type of HA installation. I had to setup SSH keys and do a login in order to access the containers. Anyway, appreciate the videos - by far the most useful HA videos I've come across
Hi Lewis thanks a lot. Just to share, as I'm on HomeAssitant OS I had to first enter Home Assistant container in order to get the first 'ls' commands provide the expected output. Many, many thanks :-)
Oh man, thank you so much. I was already wondering why my USB names did not show up. Following your adivse I got it to work. Moved to the container first then "lsusb" worked. Cheers
man, stop reading my minds!!!!!!! getting rid of my deconz congee stick since some device are not working properly was looking for new dongle 🙂 but I can't use a backup or similar - time for zigbee2mqtt awesome video as always 🤓
Good guide and love your content. But this guide is deprecated as migration is now supported natively, you should probably say this in the description so people (like myself) don't waste time trying to do something which is now very easy in HA 😀
A year on ... Clicking configure on my ZHA integration with Conbee II brings up an option to backup my ZHA config. Does that and the options under Migrate Radio replace the steps above? I'm getting ready to move to the Sonoff 3.0 dongle plus and to Zigbee2MQTT. Will I be able to restore the ZHA downloaded config to my Zigbee2MQTT? Thanks
I literally did all of this about three days ago while migrating HA from a Pi to a VM! Worked really well moving a ConnBee stick between machines and restoring the backup.
Strange , I’ve just posted a comment and it doesn’t appear. I was saying that sls gateway (based on z-stack) allow to make backup without any additional software. Anyway with the famous z2m project this trick is very useful ! Thanks for the video.
Nice video mate as always.I like to keep my zigbee and my home automation program(OpenHab) standalone from each other and just communicating with mqtt.So i have two separated backups.
Another really useful and well delivered tutorial. Am I correct in thinking that the config is just on the coordinator? If so, what would be the steps to move the coordinator to a different machine and still retain all devices?
Perhaps you can do a follow on video to automate the process of creating zigbee backups and placing them in the config directory. This would be a great backstop as our HA configs change over time.
Very nice, what would be the chances of this being wrapped up into a nice little integration for those of us that are less code savvy? It seems a transportable backup of the zigbee install is pretty vital.
Hey Lewis, thanks a lot for the very educational video. Just a thought: When ZHA is using the zigpy, is the HA doing backups of the coordinator? Because when I restore HA from the backup all works. Can’t this be extracted from the standard backup when moving to new hardware? And on the Living Room Lamp I see it’s associated to automations Alarm. Can you do a video what is hidden behind this? Thanks!
Hey this is an incredible video man. I am in a case where i want to migrate my setup from zha to zigbee2mqtt in order to support some additional devices i bought. Would it be possible to use the open coordinator backup to do the migration or this is another beast that i need to handle manually?
I was wondering if this was possible also but somehow I don't think it would work. Zigbee2MQTT has more entities/sensors exposed, at least for the Aqara FP1 which kind of works in ZHA but not as good as in Zigbee2MQTT. On my first attempt I thought you could set up both but that was a fustercluck because you can't for obvious reasons. It's either ZHA, Z2M, or Deconz which I'm personally not a huge fan of. I also kept getting errors about the MQTT port already being used as I had already installed it to use Espresense because I have 3 ESP devices in MQTT for presnese based on what room my phone is in. Might just blow it all away and start over from scratch. Luckily I only have 8 ZigBee devices so it won't be a total nightmare. Probably just going to do a full backup, uninstall ZHA, I stall Zigbee2MQTT and set everything back up. Sucks but Zigbee2MQTT seems better but I didn't even know about it when I first installed ZHA.
Hi Lewis. Can you clarify if you run the original Sonoff firmware on the USB stick or have you reflashed it with other custom firmware (like e.g. Zstack). Does this backup procedure also work with other firmware? Would there be any reason for not using the original Sonoff firmware?
I'm installing a fresh instance onto a SSD tomorrow. My ha works ATM on a SD card but won't backup and don't have a recent backup worth using. Also have 17 ZigBee devices going through the same sonoff 3.0 dongle. I'm a proper noob compared to most and this video is way too complicated for me. I'm just gunna re-pair everything from scratch.
Hi loved the video! and yes zigbee is a dark art! haha i tried doing this as i want to move from a conbee 2 to a sonoff zigbee 3 dongle like in the video. The steps dont seem to work and i am not sure what to do. i tried using the ZHA toolkit but that is even more of a dark art for me. is the a up to date step by step somewhere that someone knows of? thanks for any help!
Nice, video. Thank you. I got a beginner question. I got Aqara M2 Gateway plug separately in holway, and Sonoff dongle plug directly into my home assistant. Is there a way to control my zigbee devices on two separate software, one on the Aqara app, and second would be a home assistant? I find if I got zigbee device pair with Aqara gateway all working fine on Aqara app but as soon as I want to add/pair that same device (Aqara light switch) with home assistant Sonoff dongle device is removed from Aqara app.
Hi, would you please make a video about your parents' biomass heater? I believe people should know about that technology since in some parts of the world they simply do not exist.
Hey man, Is there an updated version to to this?, About a year ago we didn't have the option to backup from the UI, but I'm not brave enough to tweak my zigbee without being sure I can restore everything :P Great Channel!
Awesome, thanks for this! I'm currently wondering if it's worth it to run zigbee2mqtt on a separate raspberry pi / device / VM. What's your take on this? My current setup is a conbee2 stick passed through on my Synology to a VM that runs home assistant. This is all enclosed in a server rack in my pantry which isn't great for the LQI. Rarely have devices not responding though
I have HA running "supervised" in a VM (Ubuntu/Debian) on TrueNAS in the basement of my house. Too far away for Zigbee. So I'm using the ZigStarGW gateway which connects via Ethernet/LAN to my HA VM and placed that at a central location. Wirks like charm without any issues.
Hi, just wondering how you are getting on with this dongle, I bought the same one which just arrived but not set it up yet, and seen some reviews saying its not very good on the original firmware and needs to be updated, are you still using yours and are you still on stock firmware or an updated version? I don't actually have home assistant set up yet but your videos have given me the inspiration to try it after messing around with alexa as a zigbee/smart home hub for a while and realising I needed something more powerful and had an old mini PC lying around so this dongle seemed like a perfect option. But then after reading the reviews figured I'd ask you the question as you know what you are doing so if you are running it stock then I'll probably do them same, just don't want to go through moving over from alexa to HA to then have to rebuild the home assistant later because I set it up with the wrong device. Either way thanks for the videos keep it up they are great for a home automation novice!
Definitely update the firmware.. I had about 35 devices (most thirdreality) without issues and then trying to add my hue bulbs and some other sensors stopped working... Wasted a ton of time trying to add routers and reset devices. Turns out the firmware update was the fix. Save yourself the trouble and update the firmware right away.
Is it possible by this way to run a zigbee network with zha using a cc2531 usb stick and zigbee2mqtt using a sonoff zbridge at the same time? Hmm, it seems that i will have to try getting my mqtt2zigbee instance with its zbridge replicated to find that out...
You shared your zigbee network key in a RUclips video!!! Hey out of interest, what does the design on your credit card look like? Perhaps you could share a photo of that....
Oh calm down 😂 you think that number 1, this is my proper ZigBee network? Number 2, I did change the key before recording? Number 3, even if I did share my key, who cares 😂
Everthing worked for me up to the last step when I uploaded the backup to my SonOFF Zigbee Dongle plus. It worked, but when I restarted HASS, logs returned an error saying that "Couldn't restart ZNP coordinator". Does every SonOFF Zigbee Dongle follow the "znp" radio protocoll? I suppose so, no?
Good Morning. My name is Marcos Silva and I'm from Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. I really liked this video but as I have hearing problems I usually use CC in the videos so I don't have to turn my computer's audio volume too high and with that bother my wife and neighbors. Due to the fact that I wear an implanted hearing aid I cannot use headphones. Would it be possible to enable CC on your videos? I believe this would help not only me but all people who like technology and have hearing problems. Keep producing content with that quality. Thanks in advance Best Regards Marcos Silva
Thanks for the guide! i get an issue though when i run the backup. Using ZHA on HA OS on raspberry pi4b: File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/asyncio/tasks.py", line 492, in wait_for fut.result() asyncio.exceptions.CancelledError error: Lost serial connection: device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected or multiple access on port?) i made sure i had disabled ZHA before i ran this... Any ideas?
@@EverythingSmartHome thanks for the reply! yeah i'm using CC2531, and followed your instructions and can see it connected at /dev/ttyACM0 so i tried that. it also shows in the core.config_entries file under /dev/serial/by-id/usb-Texas_Instruments_TI_CC2531_... so i tried that as well, but still no luck... double and triple checked spelling and still cant find out why it wont work... as soon as i re-activate ZHA all my sensors come back, so the dongle itself is definitely working...
@@nickclapham3689 Did you find an answer? I've hit the same issue with the same stick (looking to upgrade from Sonoff CC2531 to the new 3.0 dongle and would rather not have to pair everything again!)
The script to install does not work anymore (obsolete branch) and on github definitely not for regular people . Can't figure out how to install this from there.
@@EverythingSmartHome Thank you for the reply. Installed via HACS just to deduce that apparently my Sonoff Zigbee bridge (with Tasmota) is not supported as the logs say ZEP is not running and the ZNP sctipt say it is only for ZNP devices when trying to run the automations form the blueprints.
One of the options this is not necessarily "easy" for adding a usb zigbee dongle, is where the HA platform is running on a virtual machine. As long as you are not going to have a situation where the VM client is moved from one VM server to another, you can pass through a usb port from the server to the client, you will have to check your own vm server documentation on how this is done for your platform, (i.e. it's the same idea, but process changes between esx, VirtualBox, KVM, Qemu, etc.) If you will be moving the platform from one instance to another, you may be in a situation whee digging out an old Pi2, (or possibly Pi1B that's been collecting dust) and then use that as the host to plug the zigbee dongle into, and extend the usb port you used to the HA platform using USB/IP (USB over IP.) There is a serious security concern with this as USB/IP does not have any security mechanism built in, so it's best to not have either device open to the outside, even with IPV6, or at the very least block tcp and udp port 3240 from the internet at your firewall. There are other concerns, but if you need remote access then make sure you can tunnel in over a secure tunnel. Of the two, I plan on using the former method. The servers are in a reasonably central location, and if there is a really good reason for me to move the HA instance from one server to another, it's probably a good enough reason for me to make that treck to the servers and move the zigbee dongle, Or have a second one already plugged in. In that latter case, following the instructions regarding being able to switch routers as needed, would definitely be useful. Granted I'd much prefer to have a High Availability Home Assistance setup with two (or more) HA docker images operating in separate kuberneties managed vms, but I'm sure someone would think it's a funny setup. I wouldn't mind seeing a video where two different Home Assistant servers are set up, that load balance, and interoperate for event management on a day to day basis, while also being located on different circuits in the house so that if someone overloads a circuit that your HA instance is on, it doesn't take down the Home Management. Perhaps that's just me. One option would be to have 2 or 3 Pi4's about the house, each able to handle the load (or a good chunk of it) with a central server that each of the pi's watchdog, and have a policy for who takes over if the primary drops. (It's also a good idea to have systems in place to handle hardware replacement or upgrades, in as non-disruptive a method as possible. I mean most of us really don't want to be getting up at 2 am to go do an upgrade without bothering an SO or family. Perhaps the video exists, I haven't found a lot of useful information on the concept though (and yes I've searched. Results haven't been very useful, which probably means my search terms went awry.)
I have the same issue with some of my battery zigbee devices dropping off occasionally but I am using the conbee 2. Do you think the new sonoff zigbee usb will fix this? Also can you change the channel on the sonoff. I read the WiFi can interfere and changing to a different channel can prevent this?
great video as always. I use my old pc with VM to run HA. plugget to my pc a deconz and use zha. now I will change my old pc to a newer pc use the latest backup from the old one to the new one, and use the IP from the old to the new (change the IP for old one ;) ) so everything is as it was just that I have a new faster pc. that is the planned setup. now my question, how to I imigrate my old ZigBee (zha) to new pc? same as your video but not the ZigBee Hardware changes but the pc in my case without paaring my 70 ZigBee entities. thx in advance, Per
Please say coordinator when you mean coordinator and router when you mean router. It got really confusing at times. Coordinator is the "main" one plugged into your server, while the router is anything from mains voltage devices to CC2531, CC2652, and so on devices flashed with a router firmware (not a coordinator firmware).
You are obviously well versed in ZigBee, so I don't think it would be confusing for you - other than to point out I was using the wrong technical terminology (which was done intentionally for beginners who don't know what a co-ordinator is)
Fair point. But luckily we don’t have to worry about anyone who watched this video getting confused by this. Backing up your Zigbee coordinator comes at least a few levels after learning the terminology.
Zigbee is ok, the only problem that I have with this type of network is forced mesh structure. I would like to have possibly to exclude some devices from being repeaters.
Thanks a lot. Would it be possible to have a fresh install. The sonoff stick seems very nice. Possible to use it with zha without needing to edit config files?
What about Zwave? I’m considering truenas with a Hass os VM but hear the only way to get a usb dongle to work is to give sole access to the VM. It’s not a device by device option which is a problem for my situation.
My current stick died yesterday evening w/o having a backup - is there any chance to get the backup without old stick available (maybe some infor stored somewhere in HA)?
I would like to upgrade my Raspberry to switch to an SSD instead of my SD card, I use zigbee2mqtt with a Raspbee II hat and want to keep them, will my zigbee devices still be there after new install, please?
@@dave412r This happened to me as well. If you go into integrations and select "## device" under the ZHA integration (where you disabled and enabled ZHA) it will list all the devices with a circle that's crossed out on the right. click one of the devices and click the pencil to the right of the name of the device. in the new popup you have to hit the enable switch and save.
Great stuff but unfortunatelly I failed on first hurdle. For some reason open coordinator backup instalation is not going throgh. Tried several times and it is always end wwith error. Anyone else had this issue?
Nice guide but warning that you will now really confuse many users when the wrong termilogy is used as keep refering to ”Zigbee router” over and over again you really mean a ”Zigbee coordinator”. Know that a ”Zigbee router” is a other type of device on a Zigbee network mesh (usually most mains-powered Zigbee devices that will route messages in the Zigbee network mesh, those will kind of work like a ”repeater” or ”mesh access-point” if want to stick with WiFi termilogy, but suggest not use WiFi termilogy when talking about Zigbee as it will just confuse things more).
Yep, I just went for the terminology that most people will know what I'm talking about. Co-ordinator isn't something that people who know nothing about ZigBee will understand
@@EverythingSmartHome That's how containerization works. The container's state stays the same, until something modifies it. Unless something tells your container to install a specific version on boot, your packages will stay the same. I can modify files inside a container, but the second the container gets updated (like a new version is available from Docker Hub) or I remove and install it, the files gets reverted back to whatever was in the image.
I came here to point the same thing out. Restarting a container leaves the containers file system as is....the standard approach would be to remove and redeploy the container. E.g. docker-compose down && docker-compose up -d Now that's not to say that the entrypoint script for HomeAssistant may perform some cleanup/resetting of the environment when it starts up. But if this is the case that's something that HomeAssistant is specifically doing.
You simultaneously instilled fear in me (I've never really thought of this problem haha) and then provided a solution. Well done!
Haha I know right, I never even considered this before!
Really really great video. And the more we educate people on how to use Zigbee and other local control protocols, the more we can shift people away from cloud controlled devices. Great job!
Haha indeed!
Big thanks! I had this CC2652R in the drawer wanting to replace my old Silicon Labs dongle. This procedure worked flawlessly.
Nice one, glad it was useful!
Actually have one of those newfangled Sonoff dongles getting here in the mail tomorrow, and was really not looking forward to potentially re-pairing everything.. great timing!
Would it be possible to do something similar to migrate from deconz to zha? I'd love a tutorial for this if possible at all.
Homeassistant can now do this. I just migrated to a new radio today without any problems. Well, no problems except the Z-Wave didn't migrate. Which is fine because I don't use that.
I do have a backup plan and I had to use it recently and it worked like magic :)
Awesome!
Thanks for all your helpful videos! Keep them coming!
Thanks my friend!
Video was just awesome..
I got to learn lots things.
Thanks improving me..
Keep on making great videos like I will surely watch & will share with my friends.
Thanks buddy!
The MCM - In the bin T-Shirt got me, awesome shirt!
Would like to see this when one is using Z2M! :)
Bless your Scottish heart. This is exactly what I need to do
😂😂
seems a little point less for Zigbee2mqtt since it is already doing a backup every night.
also it looks like it also automatically uses it, according to my tests by switching a ZZH! out with a Sonoff stick.
I only had to change the /dev/serial/by-id/ point in the configuration.
Thank you very much for this video! I was searching how to make a backup of configuration and restore from it in case of disaster and this seems like exactly something i would need! Once again thank you, this video will save my a** one day! :)
Nice one, cheers!
Really like your videos/tutorials - simple and easy to follow :) Would be nice to see a video on installing and setting up SSH. I find there's a real lack of how-to on setting up SSH and accessing the docker containers for HA.
Thanks! Check out one of the beginner's tips videos (forget which one) - I covered it in there
Make sure you use the "SSH & Web Terminal" add-on and not "Terminal & SSH".
This got me frustrated with some other tutorials
@@SmartLifeEnthusiast i must be honest I didn't even think that there would be a difference between the two. I'll keep that in mind for the future :) it's been a while since I posted this so I can't really remember the issue i was having off hand, but I know I wasn't able to correctly access the actual docker container because SSH wasn't configured.
@@EverythingSmartHome thank you for your quick reply :) I've watched you're beginner videos but i didn't see one that covers setting up SSH. But with that said, perhaps the level / ease of access to the docker containers depends on the type of HA installation. I had to setup SSH keys and do a login in order to access the containers. Anyway, appreciate the videos - by far the most useful HA videos I've come across
Hi Lewis thanks a lot.
Just to share, as I'm on HomeAssitant OS I had to first enter Home Assistant container in order to get the first 'ls' commands provide the expected output.
Many, many thanks :-)
No worries, thanks!
Oh man, thank you so much. I was already wondering why my USB names did not show up. Following your adivse I got it to work. Moved to the container first then "lsusb" worked. Cheers
Handy guide. Hopefully someone will figure out how to make this an add-on so we don't have to SSH in.
Thanks!
man, stop reading my minds!!!!!!! getting rid of my deconz congee stick since some device are not working properly
was looking for new dongle 🙂
but I can't use a backup or similar - time for zigbee2mqtt
awesome video as always 🤓
Haha, good luck!! Thanks!
When one issues a Full Backup of Home Assistant, one needs to also backup the Zigbee network as well?
I also would like to have an answer on that question
Good guide and love your content. But this guide is deprecated as migration is now supported natively, you should probably say this in the description so people (like myself) don't waste time trying to do something which is now very easy in HA 😀
Came looking for this comment. I was about to say the same
Hi there, great video! What made you decide to go with ZHA over Zigbee2MQTT?
A year on ... Clicking configure on my ZHA integration with Conbee II brings up an option to backup my ZHA config. Does that and the options under Migrate Radio replace the steps above? I'm getting ready to move to the Sonoff 3.0 dongle plus and to Zigbee2MQTT. Will I be able to restore the ZHA downloaded config to my Zigbee2MQTT? Thanks
I am also interested in the answer of that question.
Can't seem to get this to run at all :( The repository has changed and if I try the new github address I just get errors saying not a Python script 😕
This absolutely must be built into ZHA.
That would be nice one day!
I literally did all of this about three days ago while migrating HA from a Pi to a VM! Worked really well moving a ConnBee stick between machines and restoring the backup.
Haha nice glad it worked!
This video literally came into my life a week too late - my CC2531 co-ordinator died last week and I had to re-pair every Zigbee device I own
Damn, I'll try harder next time 😂
This is an amazing video. Would love a Zigbee2MQTT version of this though 🙏
Strange , I’ve just posted a comment and it doesn’t appear.
I was saying that sls gateway (based on z-stack) allow to make backup without any additional software.
Anyway with the famous z2m project this trick is very useful ! Thanks for the video.
RUclips removed so many legit comments these days, sorry there isn't anything I can do to stop it at the moment.
And thanks!
Hi @Schmurtz Alex Can you explain how to do the backup using the Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 Dongle? Thanks.
Are these instructions invalid for HASS.IO users? (No docker, no PIP etc) ??
Nice video mate as always.I like to keep my zigbee and my home automation program(OpenHab) standalone from each other and just communicating with mqtt.So i have two separated backups.
Another really useful and well delivered tutorial. Am I correct in thinking that the config is just on the coordinator? If so, what would be the steps to move the coordinator to a different machine and still retain all devices?
Perhaps you can do a follow on video to automate the process of creating zigbee backups and placing them in the config directory. This would be a great backstop as our HA configs change over time.
lsusb do not show anything but id numbers and not any names...:(
Great tutorial. I have a quick question you left the old router in the whole time right? Thank you keep up the great work
Very nice, what would be the chances of this being wrapped up into a nice little integration for those of us that are less code savvy? It seems a transportable backup of the zigbee install is pretty vital.
Certainly would be nice if it was easier to do! One day I'm sure!
Your absolutely rock dude!
Great video, thank you very much! Do you know if can we use the backup and restore using the same coordinator but changing its radio channel?
I had this same question. Did you ever try it?
Hey Lewis, thanks a lot for the very educational video.
Just a thought: When ZHA is using the zigpy, is the HA doing backups of the coordinator? Because when I restore HA from the backup all works. Can’t this be extracted from the standard backup when moving to new hardware?
And on the Living Room Lamp I see it’s associated to automations Alarm. Can you do a video what is hidden behind this?
Thanks!
Hey Pavol, no I don't think so, because it's not backing up the co-ordinator. Zigbee devices are tied to the co-ordinator and not ZHA itself
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks!
What is the install command (using ssh) for open-coordinator-backup running on a Pi4 can seem to get this installed. Dont have a DIR called bin/bash?
I get "This branch is obsolete!" from the pip install command. Have the URLs changed?
Did you get it working? I just followed the instructions and hit the same error.
@@bruno-id1wh I didn’t I’m afraid, it was quicker for me just to re-pair all my zigbee devices.
@@charl13is Thanks. I think the same will be true for me.
That is an extremely helpful video!
Hey this is an incredible video man. I am in a case where i want to migrate my setup from zha to zigbee2mqtt in order to support some additional devices i bought. Would it be possible to use the open coordinator backup to do the migration or this is another beast that i need to handle manually?
I was wondering if this was possible also but somehow I don't think it would work. Zigbee2MQTT has more entities/sensors exposed, at least for the Aqara FP1 which kind of works in ZHA but not as good as in Zigbee2MQTT.
On my first attempt I thought you could set up both but that was a fustercluck because you can't for obvious reasons. It's either ZHA, Z2M, or Deconz which I'm personally not a huge fan of. I also kept getting errors about the MQTT port already being used as I had already installed it to use Espresense because I have 3 ESP devices in MQTT for presnese based on what room my phone is in. Might just blow it all away and start over from scratch. Luckily I only have 8 ZigBee devices so it won't be a total nightmare.
Probably just going to do a full backup, uninstall ZHA, I stall Zigbee2MQTT and set everything back up. Sucks but Zigbee2MQTT seems better but I didn't even know about it when I first installed ZHA.
Hi Lewis. Can you clarify if you run the original Sonoff firmware on the USB stick or have you reflashed it with other custom firmware (like e.g. Zstack). Does this backup procedure also work with other firmware? Would there be any reason for not using the original Sonoff firmware?
I'm installing a fresh instance onto a SSD tomorrow. My ha works ATM on a SD card but won't backup and don't have a recent backup worth using. Also have 17 ZigBee devices going through the same sonoff 3.0 dongle.
I'm a proper noob compared to most and this video is way too complicated for me. I'm just gunna re-pair everything from scratch.
Hi loved the video! and yes zigbee is a dark art! haha
i tried doing this as i want to move from a conbee 2 to a sonoff zigbee 3 dongle like in the video. The steps dont seem to work and i am not sure what to do. i tried using the ZHA toolkit but that is even more of a dark art for me. is the a up to date step by step somewhere that someone knows of?
thanks for any help!
Does anyone know how to do this? I'm looking to do the exact same! Thanks!
you don't update bellows back to the latest version?
Great tutorial, was struggling with SSH but got it working.
Nice, video. Thank you. I got a beginner question. I got Aqara M2 Gateway plug separately in holway, and Sonoff dongle plug directly into my home assistant. Is there a way to control my zigbee devices on two separate software, one on the Aqara app, and second would be a home assistant? I find if I got zigbee device pair with Aqara gateway all working fine on Aqara app but as soon as I want to add/pair that same device (Aqara light switch) with home assistant Sonoff dongle device is removed from Aqara app.
it wont install... it says this branch is obsolete :-(
Waiting on my Sonoff dongle to arrive, ordered a few days ago.
Enjoy it!
Hi, what about migrating zigbee2mqtt instead of ZHA?
Is there an actual written guide to this Lewis? I can't seem to locate it on your site.
Once again awesome!
Thanks Andrew!
Do you have a video showing how to set up Sonoff bridge with ZHA?
Thank you -I assuem the migtration to AMBER ZigBee will be similar - may be you can add a section or video for that.
Yes exact process we covered here!
Hi, would you please make a video about your parents' biomass heater? I believe people should know about that technology since in some parts of the world they simply do not exist.
Do you have list of zigbee devices that you are using? Im always looking for some interesting zigbe devices to add to my environment. Thank you.
I don't but can look into it!
Hey man, Is there an updated version to to this?, About a year ago we didn't have the option to backup from the UI, but I'm not brave enough to tweak my zigbee without being sure I can restore everything :P
Great Channel!
Awesome, thanks for this! I'm currently wondering if it's worth it to run zigbee2mqtt on a separate raspberry pi / device / VM.
What's your take on this?
My current setup is a conbee2 stick passed through on my Synology to a VM that runs home assistant.
This is all enclosed in a server rack in my pantry which isn't great for the LQI.
Rarely have devices not responding though
Depends on your situation and environment I guess!
I have HA running "supervised" in a VM (Ubuntu/Debian) on TrueNAS in the basement of my house. Too far away for Zigbee.
So I'm using the ZigStarGW gateway which connects via Ethernet/LAN to my HA VM and placed that at a central location. Wirks like charm without any issues.
What did you do with the old router? My guess is it went IN THE BIN.
Nice shirt, BTW.
Hahahaha definitely 😂😂
Hi, just wondering how you are getting on with this dongle, I bought the same one which just arrived but not set it up yet, and seen some reviews saying its not very good on the original firmware and needs to be updated, are you still using yours and are you still on stock firmware or an updated version?
I don't actually have home assistant set up yet but your videos have given me the inspiration to try it after messing around with alexa as a zigbee/smart home hub for a while and realising I needed something more powerful and had an old mini PC lying around so this dongle seemed like a perfect option. But then after reading the reviews figured I'd ask you the question as you know what you are doing so if you are running it stock then I'll probably do them same, just don't want to go through moving over from alexa to HA to then have to rebuild the home assistant later because I set it up with the wrong device.
Either way thanks for the videos keep it up they are great for a home automation novice!
Definitely update the firmware.. I had about 35 devices (most thirdreality) without issues and then trying to add my hue bulbs and some other sensors stopped working... Wasted a ton of time trying to add routers and reset devices. Turns out the firmware update was the fix. Save yourself the trouble and update the firmware right away.
Should I use the Sonoff Zigbee coordinator or that Russian one or the Home Assistant one? What's the difference?
Is it possible by this way to run a zigbee network with zha using a cc2531 usb stick and zigbee2mqtt using a sonoff zbridge at the same time? Hmm, it seems that i will have to try getting my mqtt2zigbee instance with its zbridge replicated to find that out...
You shared your zigbee network key in a RUclips video!!! Hey out of interest, what does the design on your credit card look like? Perhaps you could share a photo of that....
Oh calm down 😂 you think that number 1, this is my proper ZigBee network? Number 2, I did change the key before recording? Number 3, even if I did share my key, who cares 😂
This looks good, do you know if I can restore on to the new conbee currently sitting on my desk, I want to use it under ZHA.
Ah found the comment! 😅
Everthing worked for me up to the last step when I uploaded the backup to my SonOFF Zigbee Dongle plus. It worked, but when I restarted HASS, logs returned an error saying that "Couldn't restart ZNP coordinator". Does every SonOFF Zigbee Dongle follow the "znp" radio protocoll? I suppose so, no?
Good Morning. My name is Marcos Silva and I'm from Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. I really liked this video but as I have hearing problems I usually use CC in the videos so I don't have to turn my computer's audio volume too high and with that bother my wife and neighbors. Due to the fact that I wear an implanted hearing aid I cannot use headphones. Would it be possible to enable CC on your videos? I believe this would help not only me but all people who like technology and have hearing problems. Keep producing content with that quality. Thanks in advance Best Regards Marcos Silva
Thanks for the guide! i get an issue though when i run the backup. Using ZHA on HA OS on raspberry pi4b:
File "/usr/local/lib/python3.9/asyncio/tasks.py", line 492, in wait_for
fut.result()
asyncio.exceptions.CancelledError
error: Lost serial connection: device reports readiness to read but returned no data (device disconnected or multiple access on port?)
i made sure i had disabled ZHA before i ran this...
Any ideas?
You sure your pointing at the correct device?
@@EverythingSmartHome thanks for the reply! yeah i'm using CC2531, and followed your instructions and can see it connected at /dev/ttyACM0 so i tried that. it also shows in the core.config_entries file under /dev/serial/by-id/usb-Texas_Instruments_TI_CC2531_... so i tried that as well, but still no luck... double and triple checked spelling and still cant find out why it wont work... as soon as i re-activate ZHA all my sensors come back, so the dongle itself is definitely working...
@@nickclapham3689 Did you find an answer? I've hit the same issue with the same stick (looking to upgrade from Sonoff CC2531 to the new 3.0 dongle and would rather not have to pair everything again!)
@@TripleJ85 no I haven't... I'm trying to do the same do might have to bite the bullet and re pair everything
Super useful, thanks
Glad it was useful!
Can you use this to change the Zigbee channel without re-pairing your devices?
I don't think so but could be wrong
The script to install does not work anymore (obsolete branch) and on github definitely not for regular people . Can't figure out how to install this from there.
Have a look at ZHA-Toolkit (maybe ZHA-Toolbox) on HACS for this
@@EverythingSmartHome Thank you for the reply. Installed via HACS just to deduce that apparently my Sonoff Zigbee bridge (with Tasmota) is not supported as the logs say ZEP is not running and the ZNP sctipt say it is only for ZNP devices when trying to run the automations form the blueprints.
@@EverythingSmartHome Yeap, I agree that the script doesn't work anymore and ZHA-Toolkit is failing to backup as well
Not sure if I missed it but will this automatically back up or would I have to manually back up every time?
One of the options this is not necessarily "easy" for adding a usb zigbee dongle, is where the HA platform is running on a virtual machine. As long as you are not going to have a situation where the VM client is moved from one VM server to another, you can pass through a usb port from the server to the client, you will have to check your own vm server documentation on how this is done for your platform, (i.e. it's the same idea, but process changes between esx, VirtualBox, KVM, Qemu, etc.) If you will be moving the platform from one instance to another, you may be in a situation whee digging out an old Pi2, (or possibly Pi1B that's been collecting dust) and then use that as the host to plug the zigbee dongle into, and extend the usb port you used to the HA platform using USB/IP (USB over IP.)
There is a serious security concern with this as USB/IP does not have any security mechanism built in, so it's best to not have either device open to the outside, even with IPV6, or at the very least block tcp and udp port 3240 from the internet at your firewall. There are other concerns, but if you need remote access then make sure you can tunnel in over a secure tunnel.
Of the two, I plan on using the former method. The servers are in a reasonably central location, and if there is a really good reason for me to move the HA instance from one server to another, it's probably a good enough reason for me to make that treck to the servers and move the zigbee dongle, Or have a second one already plugged in. In that latter case, following the instructions regarding being able to switch routers as needed, would definitely be useful. Granted I'd much prefer to have a High Availability Home Assistance setup with two (or more) HA docker images operating in separate kuberneties managed vms, but I'm sure someone would think it's a funny setup.
I wouldn't mind seeing a video where two different Home Assistant servers are set up, that load balance, and interoperate for event management on a day to day basis, while also being located on different circuits in the house so that if someone overloads a circuit that your HA instance is on, it doesn't take down the Home Management. Perhaps that's just me. One option would be to have 2 or 3 Pi4's about the house, each able to handle the load (or a good chunk of it) with a central server that each of the pi's watchdog, and have a policy for who takes over if the primary drops. (It's also a good idea to have systems in place to handle hardware replacement or upgrades, in as non-disruptive a method as possible. I mean most of us really don't want to be getting up at 2 am to go do an upgrade without bothering an SO or family. Perhaps the video exists, I haven't found a lot of useful information on the concept though (and yes I've searched. Results haven't been very useful, which probably means my search terms went awry.)
Thanks Lewis,
Just couldn't make work any ssh code as I have no docker and I have no idea on how to use it then.
Do you...?
How about security? If the backup software can move all devices to a new router, then some hacking tool can do it also, right?
I have the same issue with some of my battery zigbee devices dropping off occasionally but I am using the conbee 2. Do you think the new sonoff zigbee usb will fix this? Also can you change the channel on the sonoff. I read the WiFi can interfere and changing to a different channel can prevent this?
great video as always. I use my old pc with VM to run HA. plugget to my pc a deconz and use zha. now I will change my old pc to a newer pc use the latest backup from the old one to the new one, and use the IP from the old to the new (change the IP for old one ;) ) so everything is as it was just that I have a new faster pc. that is the planned setup. now my question, how to I imigrate my old ZigBee (zha) to new pc? same as your video but not the ZigBee Hardware changes but the pc in my case without paaring my 70 ZigBee entities. thx in advance, Per
Please say coordinator when you mean coordinator and router when you mean router. It got really confusing at times. Coordinator is the "main" one plugged into your server, while the router is anything from mains voltage devices to CC2531, CC2652, and so on devices flashed with a router firmware (not a coordinator firmware).
You are obviously well versed in ZigBee, so I don't think it would be confusing for you - other than to point out I was using the wrong technical terminology (which was done intentionally for beginners who don't know what a co-ordinator is)
Fair point. But luckily we don’t have to worry about anyone who watched this video getting confused by this. Backing up your Zigbee coordinator comes at least a few levels after learning the terminology.
Zigbee is ok, the only problem that I have with this type of network is forced mesh structure. I would like to have possibly to exclude some devices from being repeaters.
Question - is there a way to repurpose the wifi bridge to serve as a router or repeater? It's just laying there in the house!
Thanks for the video. Does this only work on Home Assistant OS and not
Home Assistant Core?
It will work on Core too, you just need to make sure to revert the version of Bellows to the correct version after you've finished
@@EverythingSmartHome Alright thank you!
@@EverythingSmartHome How to you revert the version of Bellows to the correct one?
Thanks a lot.
Would it be possible to have a fresh install.
The sonoff stick seems very nice.
Possible to use it with zha without needing to edit config files?
Yes the Sonoff stick works out of the box with zha!
@@EverythingSmartHome thanks a lot for your answers and all your hard work
Awesome thanks 😊
Thanks for watching!
What about Zwave? I’m considering truenas with a Hass os VM but hear the only way to get a usb dongle to work is to give sole access to the VM. It’s not a device by device option which is a problem for my situation.
My current stick died yesterday evening w/o having a backup - is there any chance to get the backup without old stick available (maybe some infor stored somewhere in HA)?
Unfortunately not
I would like to upgrade my Raspberry to switch to an SSD instead of my SD card, I use zigbee2mqtt with a Raspbee II hat and want to keep them, will my zigbee devices still be there after new install, please?
Doesnt z2mqtt make an automatic backup of the coordinator? in the z2mqtt folder on my home assistant i have a file called coordinator_backup.json
Sadly this does not work anymore, packages are deprecated...
Would you recommend these Sonoff hubs over Conbee II ?
I definitely think they are great, especially considering the price
Please help, I have done everything in the video, All my devices show but they all say "The device is disabled by Config entry."
Thanks
What is your config? Join the discord for easier help
@@EverythingSmartHome I have joined the discord. I don't understand by. "What is your config"
@@dave412r This happened to me as well. If you go into integrations and select "## device" under the ZHA integration (where you disabled and enabled ZHA) it will list all the devices with a circle that's crossed out on the right. click one of the devices and click the pencil to the right of the name of the device. in the new popup you have to hit the enable switch and save.
Does this work with zigbee2mqtt?
Yes as mentjoned in the video it should with some of the steps changed
@@EverythingSmartHome sorry Sir but Could you give us instructions on how to do that with zigbee2mqtt?
Great stuff but unfortunatelly I failed on first hurdle. For some reason open coordinator backup instalation is not going throgh. Tried several times and it is always end wwith error. Anyone else had this issue?
Eu gostaria de saber se posso utilizar esse dispositivo como o sonoff bridge?
Nice guide but warning that you will now really confuse many users when the wrong termilogy is used as keep refering to ”Zigbee router” over and over again you really mean a ”Zigbee coordinator”. Know that a ”Zigbee router” is a other type of device on a Zigbee network mesh (usually most mains-powered Zigbee devices that will route messages in the Zigbee network mesh, those will kind of work like a ”repeater” or ”mesh access-point” if want to stick with WiFi termilogy, but suggest not use WiFi termilogy when talking about Zigbee as it will just confuse things more).
Yep, I just went for the terminology that most people will know what I'm talking about. Co-ordinator isn't something that people who know nothing about ZigBee will understand
@@EverythingSmartHome Well, I think Andreas had a point and using the wrong term won't help those user ever learn the right terminology.
Where was this tutorial over the weekend? At least now I know for next time there is a simpler way :)
Haha next time!
Hello, Sonoff USB Zigbee 3.0 Dongle is better than conbee II?
I have not used the Conbee 2 sorry!
Could this be used to employ redundancy, writing the same backup to two routers so one could kick-in as soon as the other is lost?
Quite possibly yes!
Will the docker exec command work with Home Assistant OS? Terminal freezes when I enter that command and I never make it to bash.
Yes it works fine
Restarting a Docker container will not modify the packages you modified. You need to completely remove the container and create a brand new one :)
Huh, I didn't have to on my install!
@@EverythingSmartHome That's how containerization works. The container's state stays the same, until something modifies it. Unless something tells your container to install a specific version on boot, your packages will stay the same. I can modify files inside a container, but the second the container gets updated (like a new version is available from Docker Hub) or I remove and install it, the files gets reverted back to whatever was in the image.
Yeah, I'm pretty familiar with docker and it's containers, and I'm saying that the packages in my install were reverted on restart of the container.
@@EverythingSmartHome Huh, that's odd. Something is probably "self repairing" on startup, which is kind of a good thing.
I came here to point the same thing out.
Restarting a container leaves the containers file system as is....the standard approach would be to remove and redeploy the container. E.g. docker-compose down && docker-compose up -d
Now that's not to say that the entrypoint script for HomeAssistant may perform some cleanup/resetting of the environment when it starts up. But if this is the case that's something that HomeAssistant is specifically doing.
Out of interest how have you found the performance of the Sonoff dongle?
Really good so far!