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# Velux Binding

This binding integrates the Velux devices with help of a gateway, the Velux Bridge KLF200, which is able to control 200 actuators. The Velux Binding interacts via the Velux Bridge with any io-homecontrol (opens new window)-based devices like window openers, shutters and others.

Velux

Based on the VELUX API this binding integrates Velux and other io-homecontrol devices directly into the openHAB, avoiding the necessity of any cloud-based mediation infrastructures. The complete home-automation will work even without any Internet connectivity.

For details about the features, see the following websites:

# Supported Things

The binding supports the following types of Thing.

Thing Type Description Note
bridge A Velux KLF200 which acts as a gateway to all Velux / IO-home controlled devices.
window A Velux / IO-home control window. 1.
rollershutter A Velux / IO-home control roller shutter. 1.
actuator Generic Velux / IO-home device. 1.
scene A Velux Scene which commands Velux / IO-home devices to specific positions.
vshutter A Velux virtual shutter. 2.
information A Thing that provides overall information about the binding itself.
  1. Only supported in hubs with firmware v0.2.x.x or above
  2. Only needed in hubs with firmware v0.1.x.x (due to note 1. above)

# Discovery

To simplify the initial provisioning, the binding provides one thing which can be found by autodiscovery. The binding will automatically discover Velux Bridges within the local network, and place them in the Inbox. Once a Velux Bridge has been discovered, you will need to enter the password Configuration Parameter (see below) before the binding can communicate with it. And once the Velux Bridge is fully configured, the binding will automatically discover all its respective scenes and actuators (like windows and rollershutters), and place them in the Inbox.

# Thing Configuration

# Thing Configuration for "bridge"

The bridge Thing connects to the KLF-200 hub (bridge) to communicate with any respective connected Velux or IO-home device Things. It signs on to the hub using the supplied connection parameters, and it polls the hub at regular intervals to read and write the data for each connected device. The KLF-200 supports two Application Programming Interfaces "API" (a SLIP based one, and a JSON based one), and this binding can use either of them to communicate with it. Before the binding can communicate with the hub, the Configuration Parameters ipAddress and password must be entered. In addition there are some optional Configuration Parameters.

Configuration Parameter Default Required Description
ipAddress Yes Hostname or address for accessing the Velux Bridge.
password velux123 Yes Password for authentication against the Velux Bridge.(**)
timeoutMsecs 3000 No Communication timeout in milliseconds.
protocol slip No Underlying communication protocol (http/https/slip).
tcpPort 51200 No TCP port (80 or 51200) for accessing the Velux Bridge.
retries 5 No Number of retries during I/O.
refreshMsecs 10000 No Refresh interval in milliseconds.
isBulkRetrievalEnabled yes No Load all scenes and actuators in one step.
isSequentialEnforced no No Enforce Sequential Actuator Control even for long operations.
isProtocolTraceEnabled no No Show any protocol interaction (loglevel INFO).

(**) Note: This password is the API password that is printed on the back of the unit. Normally it differs from the password of the web frontend.

Advice: if you see a significant number of messages per day as follows, you should increase the parameters retries or/and timeoutMsecs...

 communicate(): socket I/O failed continuously (x times).

For your convenience you'll see a log entry for the recognized configuration within the log file i.e.

2018-07-23 20:40:24.746 [INFO ] [.b.velux.internal.VeluxBinding] - veluxConfig[ipAddress=192.168.42.1,tcpPort=80,password=********,timeoutMsecs=2000,retries=10]

# Thing Configuration for "actuator", "window", "rollershutter"

These types of Thing only supported in the Velux Bridge in API version two or higher (firmware version > 0.2..). These types of Thing are configured by means of their serial number in the hub. In addition there are some optional Configuration Parameters.

Configuration Parameter Default Type Required Description
serial custom Yes Serial number of the device in the hub (custom format 00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00)
name text No Name of the device in the hub.
inverted false boolean No The position and state (if available) are inverted (i.e. 0% <-> 100%, OFF <-> ON).

Notes:

  1. To enable a complete inversion of all parameter values (i.e. for Velux windows), use the property inverted or add a trailing star to the eight-byte serial number. For an example, see the Thing definition for 'Bathroom_Roof_Window' below.

  2. Somfy devices do not provide a valid serial number to the Velux KLF200 Bridge. For such devices you have to enter the special all-zero serial number 00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 in the serial parameter. This special serial number complies with the serial number validation checks, but also makes the binding use the name parameter value instead of the serial parameter value when it communicates with the KLF Bridge. The name parameter must therefore contain the name that you gave to the actuator when you first registered it in the KLF200 Bridge. For an example, see the Thing definition for 'Living_Room_Awning' below.

# Thing Configuration for "scene"

The Velux Bridge in API version one (firmware version 0.1.1.*) allows activating a set of predefined actions, so called scenes. So besides the bridge, only one real Thing type exists, namely "scene". This type of Thing is configured by means of its scene name in the hub.

Configuration Parameter Default Type Required Description
sceneName text Yes Name of the scene in the hub.
velocity 'default' text No The speed at which the scene will be executed ('default', 'silent', 'fast')

# Thing Configuration for "vshutter"

The Velux Bridge in API version one (firmware version 0.1.1.*) does not support a real rollershutter interaction. So besides the bridge, this binding provides a virtual rollershutter Thing consisting of different scenes which set a specific shutter level. Therefore the respective Item definition contains multiple pairs of rollershutter levels each followed by a scene name. The virtual shutter Thing must be configured with pairs of level (0..10%) combined with the appropriate scene names (text) as follows.

Configuration Parameter Default Type Required Description
sceneLevels text Yes {Level1},{Scene1},{Level2},{Scene2},..
currentLevel 0 integer No Inverts any device values (0..100).

# Supported Channels for Thing Types

# Channels for "bridge" Things

The supported Channels and their associated channel types are shown below.

Channel Data Type Description
status String Description of current Bridge State.
reload Switch Command to force reload of the bridge information.
downtime Number Time interval (sec) between last successful and most recent device interaction.
doDetection Switch Command to activate bridge detection mode.

# Channels for "window" / "rollershutter" Things

The supported Channels and their associated channel types are shown below.

Channel Data Type Description
position Rollershutter Actual position of the window or device.
limitMinimum Rollershutter Minimum limit position of the window or device.
limitMaximum Rollershutter Maximum limit position of the window or device.

The position Channel indicates the open/close state of the window (resp. roller shutter) in percent (0% .. 100%) as follows..

  • As a general rule the display is the actual physical position.
  • If it is moving towards a new target position, the display is the target position.
  • After the movement has completed, the display is the final physical position.
  • If a window is opened manually, the display is UNDEF.
  • In case of errors (e.g. window jammed) the display is UNDEF.
  • If a Somfy actuator is commanded to its 'favorite' position via a Somfy remote control, under some circumstances the display is UNDEF. See also Rules below.

# Channels for "actuator" Things

The supported Channels and their associated channel types are shown below.

Channel Data Type Description
position Rollershutter Actual position of the window or device.
state Switch Device control (ON, OFF).
limitMinimum Rollershutter Minimum limit position of the window or device.
limitMaximum Rollershutter Maximum limit position of the window or device.

See the section above for "window" / "rollershutter" Things for further information concerning the position Channel.

# Channels for "scene" Things

The supported Channels and their associated channel types are shown below.

Channel Data Type Description
action Switch Activates the scene (moves devices to their preset positions).
silentMode Switch Enables silent mode.

# Channels for "vshutter" Things

The supported Channel and its associated channel type is shown below.

Channel Data Type Description
position Rollershutter Position of the virtual roller shutter.

See the section above for "window" / "rollershutter" Things for further information concerning the position Channel.

# Channels for "information" Thing

The supported Channel and its associated channel type is shown below.

Channel Data Type Description
information String Information about the binding.

# Rain Sensor

Unfortunately Velux has decided to closely integrate the rain sensor into the window device. The rain sensor is therefore not displayed in the device list. On the other hand, the 'limitMinimum' channel of a roof window provides information about rainy weather: If it is set internally by the Velux control unit to a value other than zero, it rains. (Joke!!)

# Properties of the "bridge" Thing

The bridge Thing provides the following properties.

Property Description
address IP address of the Bridge
check Result of the check of current item configuration
connectionAttempt Date-Time of last connection attampt
connectionSuccess Date-Time of last successful connection attampt
defaultGW IP address of the Default Gateway of the Bridge
DHCP Flag whether automatic IP configuration is enabled
firmware Software version of the Bridge
products List of all recognized products
scenes List of all defined scenes
subnetMask IP subnetmask of the Bridge
vendor Vendor name
WLANSSID Name of the wireless network (not suported any more)
WLANPassword WLAN Authentication Password (not suported any more)

# Full Example

# Things

Bridge velux:klf200:g24 "Velux KLF200 Hub" @ "Under Stairs" [ipAddress="192.168.1.xxx", password="secret"] {
	// Velux (standard) window (with serial number)
    Thing window Bathroom_Roof_Window "Bathroom Roof Window" @ "Bathroom" [serial="56:36:13:5A:11:2A:05:70", inverted=true]

	// Somfy (non-standard) rollershutter (without serial number)
    Thing rollershutter Living_Room_Awning "Living Room Awning" @ "Living Room" [serial="00:00:00:00:00:00:00:00", name="Living Room Awning"]
}

See velux.things for more examples.

# Items

Rollershutter Bathroom_Roof_Window_Position "Bathroom Roof Window Position [%.0f %%]" {channel="velux:window:g24:w56-36-13-5A-11-2A-05-70:position"}

See velux.items for more examples.

# Sitemap

Frame label="Velux Windows" {
	Slider item=Bathroom_Roof_Window_Position
}

See velux.sitemap for more examples.

# Rule for closing windows after a period of time

Especially in the colder months, it is advisable to close the window after adequate ventilation. Therefore, automatic closing after one minute is good to save on heating costs. However, to allow the case of intentional prolonged opening, an automatic closure is made only with the window fully open.

Example:

rule "V_WINDOW_changed"
when
	Item V_WINDOW changed
then
	logInfo("rules.V_WINDOW",	"V_WINDOW_changes() called.")
	// Get the sensor value
	val Number windowState = V_WINDOW.state as DecimalType
	logWarn("rules.V_WINDOW", "Window state is " + windowState + ".")
	if (windowState < 80) {
		if (windowState == 0) {
			logWarn("rules.V_WINDOW", "V-WINDOW changed to fully open.")
			var int interval = 1
			createTimer(now.plusMinutes(interval)) [ |
					logWarn("rules.V_WINDOW:event", "event-V_WINDOW(): setting V-WINDOW to 100.")
					sendCommand(V_WINDOW, 100)
					V_WINDOW.postUpdate(100)
    				logWarn("rules.V_WINDOW:event", "event-V_WINDOW done.")
        		]
    		} else {
			logWarn("rules.V_WINDOW", "V-WINDOW changed to partially open.")
		}
    	}
	// Check type of item
	logDebug("rules.V_WINDOW",	"V_WINDOW_changes finished.")
end

See velux.rules for more examples.

# Rule for rebooting the Bridge

This binding includes a rule action to reboot the Velux Bridge by remote command:

  • boolean isRebooting = rebootBridge()

Warning: use this command carefully...

Example:

rule "Reboot KLF 200"
when
	...
then
	val veluxActions = getActions("velux", "velux:klf200:myhubname")
	if (veluxActions !== null) {
		val isRebooting = veluxActions.rebootBridge()
		logWarn("Rules", "Velux KLF 200 rebooting: " + isRebooting)
	} else {
		logWarn("Rules", "Velux KLF 200 actions not found, check thing ID")
	}
end

# Rule for checking if a Window has been manually opened

In the case that a window has been manually opened, and you then try to move it via the binding, its position will become UNDEF. You can exploit this behaviour in a rule to check regularly if a window has been manually opened.

rule "Every 10 minutes, check if window is in manual mode"
when
	Time cron "0 0/10 * * * ?" // every 10 minutes
then
	if (Velux_Window.state != UNDEF) {
		// command the window to its actual position; this will either
		// - succeed: the actual position will not change, or
		// - fail: the position becomes UNDEF (logged next time this rule executes)
		Velux_Window.sendCommand(Velux_Window.state)
	} else {
		logWarn("Rules", "Velux in Manual mode, trying to close again")
		// try to close it
		Velux_Window.sendCommand(0)
	}
end

# Rule for Somfy actuators

If a Somfy actuator is commanded to its 'favorite' position via a Somfy remote control, under some circumstances the display is UNDEF. You can resolve this behaviour in a rule that detects the UNDEF position and (re-)commands it to its favorite position.

rule "Somfy Actuator: resolve undefined position"
when
    Item Somfy_Actuator changed to UNDEF
then
    val favoritePosition = 91
    Somfy_Actuator.sendCommand(favoritePosition)
end

# Debugging

For those who are interested in more detailed insight of the processing of this binding, a deeper look can be achieved by increased loglevel.

With Karaf you can use the following command sequence:

log:set TRACE org.openhab.binding.velux
log:tail

This, of course, is possible on command line with the commands:

% openhab-cli console log:set TRACE org.openhab.binding.velux
% openhab-cli console log:tail org.openhab.binding.velux

On the other hand, if you prefer a textual configuration, you can append the logging definition with:

	<logger name="org.openhab.binding.velux" level="TRACE">
		<appender-ref ref="FILE" />
	</logger>

During startup of normal operations, there should be only some few messages within the logfile, like:

[INFO ] [nal.VeluxValidatedBridgeConfiguration] - veluxConfig[protocol=slip,ipAddress=192.168.45.9,tcpPort=51200,password=********,timeoutMsecs=1000,retries=5,refreshMsecs=15000,isBulkRetrievalEnabled=true]
[INFO ] [ng.velux.bridge.slip.io.SSLconnection] - Starting velux bridge connection.
[INFO ] [hab.binding.velux.bridge.slip.SClogin] - velux bridge connection successfully established (login succeeded).
[INFO ] [ding.velux.handler.VeluxBridgeHandler] - Found velux scenes:
        Scene "V_Shutter_West_100" (index 5) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Shutter_West_000" (index 4) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Shutter_Ost_090" (index 10) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Window_Mitte_005" (index 3) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Window_Mitte_000" (index 1) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Window_Mitte_100" (index 2) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Shutter_West_090" (index 7) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Window_Mitte_010" (index 0) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Shutter_Ost_000" (index 8) with non-silent mode and 0 actions
        Scene "V_Shutter_Ost_100" (index 9) with non-silent mode and 0 actions       .
[INFO ] [ding.velux.handler.VeluxBridgeHandler] - Found velux actuators:
        Product "M_Rollershutter" / ROLLER_SHUTTER (bridgeIndex=4,serial=43:12:14:5A:12:1C:05:5F,position=0010)
        Product "O_Rollershutter" / ROLLER_SHUTTER (bridgeIndex=3,serial=43:12:40:5A:0C:23:0A:6E,position=0000)
        Product "M_Window" / WINDOW_OPENER (bridgeIndex=0,serial=43:12:3E:26:0C:1B:00:10,position=C800)
        Product "W-Rollershutter" / ROLLER_SHUTTER (bridgeIndex=1,serial=43:12:40:5A:0C:2A:05:64,position=0000)      .
[INFO ] [ding.velux.handler.VeluxBridgeHandler] - velux Bridge is online with 10 scenes and 4 actuators, now.

However if you have set the configuration parameter isProtocolTraceEnabled to true, you'll see the complete sequence of exchanged messages:

[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_PASSWORD_ENTER_REQ.
[INFO ] [nternal.bridge.slip.io.SSLconnection] - Starting velux bridge connection.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_PASSWORD_ENTER_CFM.
[INFO ] [g.velux.internal.bridge.slip.SClogin] - velux bridge connection successfully established (login succeeded).
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_COMMAND_SEND_REQ.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_COMMAND_SEND_CFM.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_GET_LIMITATION_STATUS_REQ.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_NODE_STATE_POSITION_CHANGED_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_COMMAND_RUN_STATUS_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_COMMAND_RUN_STATUS_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_SESSION_FINISHED_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_NODE_STATE_POSITION_CHANGED_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_LIMITATION_STATUS_CFM.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_LIMITATION_STATUS_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_REQ.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_COMMAND_RUN_STATUS_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_SESSION_FINISHED_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_CFM.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_REQ.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_CFM.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_REQ.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_CFM.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_REQ.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_CFM.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Received answer GW_GET_NODE_INFORMATION_NTF.
[INFO ] [internal.bridge.slip.SlipVeluxBridge] - Sending command GW_GET_LIMITATION_STATUS_REQ.

# Supported/Tested Firmware Revisions

The Velux Bridge in API version one (firmware version 0.1.1.*) allows activating a set of predefined actions, so called scenes. Therefore beside the bridge, only one main thing exists, the scene element.

The next-generation firmware version two is not backward compatible, and does not provide a public web frontend, but version two does provide full access to any IO-Home compatible devices not limited to Velux and includes many different features.

Firmware revision Release date Description
0.1.1.0.41.0 2016-06-01 Default factory shipping revision.
0.1.1.0.42.0 2017-07-01 Public Web Frontend w/ JSON-API.
0.1.1.0.44.0 2017-12-14 Public Web Frontend w/ JSON-API.
0.2.0.0.71.0 2018-09-27 Public SLIP-API w/ private-only WLAN-based Web Frontend w/ JSON-API.

Notes:

  • Velux bridges cannot be returned to version one of the firmware after being upgraded to version two.

# Is it possible to run the both communication methods in parallel?

For environments with the firmware version 0.1.* on the gateway, the interaction with the bridge is limited to the HTTP/JSON based communication, of course. On the other hand, after upgrading the gateway firmware to version 2, it is possible to run the binding either using HTTP/JSON if there is a permanent connectivity towards the WLAN interface of the KLF200 or using SLIP towards the LAN interface of the gateway. For example the Raspberry PI can directly be connected via WLAN to the Velux gateway and providing the other services via the LAN interface (but not vice versa).

# Known Limitations

The communication based on HTTP/JSON is limited to one connection: If the binding is operational, you won't get access to the Web Frontend in parallel.

The SLIP communication is limited to two connections in parallel, i.e. two different openHAB bindings - or - one openHAB binding and another platform connection.

Both interfacing methods, HTTP/JSON and SLIP, can be run in parallel. Therefore, on the one hand you can use the Web Frontend for manual control and on the other hand a binding can do all automatic jobs.

# Unknown Velux devices

All known Velux devices can be handled by this binding. However, there might be some new ones which will be reported within the logfiles. Therefore, error messages like the one below should be reported to the maintainers so that the new Velux device type can be incorporated.

[ERROR] [g.velux.things.VeluxProductReference] - PLEASE REPORT THIS TO MAINTAINER: VeluxProductReference(3) has found an unregistered ProductTypeId.
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