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    How to install Mycontroller on the RaspberryPI (or any other linux/UNIX system)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Getting Started
    raspberry piinstallationjavalinuxstartup
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    • T Offline
      Tag MOD
      last edited by jkandasa

      This article is work in progress, all feedback is appreciated!!

      Please follow the steps below to install mycontroller on the RPI.

      The manual below is divided in 4 parts:

      1. Setting up the RPI with a good JAVA version
      2. Installing Mycontroller
      3. Connecting to the gateway
      4. Starting Mycontroller at boot time

      (If there are any questions, try the search function first on the forum)

      1. Setting up the RPI with a good JAVA version

      In this example i downloaded the 32bit version.... (jdk-8u101-linux-arm32-vfp-hflt.tar.gz)
      Today (November 3 2017 jdk-8u151-linux-arm32-vfp-hflt.tar.gz is the latest version)

      Step 1:
      goto: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html, click the download button of Java Platform (JDK) 8. Click to Accept License Agreement, download jdk-8-linux-arm-vfp-hflt.tar.gz for Linux ARM v6/v7 Hard Float ABI.

      (If you are running your RPI headless you need to download the software and transfer it using i.e. sftp in binary mode into your RPI, see step 2)

      Step 2
      goto the directory where you downloaded the software.

      sftp user@192.168.178.111 (192.168.178.111 is just an example, use the IP / hostname of the RPI)
      bin
      hash
      put jdk-8u101-linux-arm32-vfp-hflt.tar.gz
      

      press control-D to close the connection.

      Step 3:
      Once the software is located on the RPI:

      Log-in Raspberry Pi, enter the command to extract jdk-8u101-linux-arm32-vfp-hflt.tar.gz to /opt directory.

      $ sudo tar zxvf jdk-8u101-linux-arm32-vfp-hflt.tar.gz -C /opt
      

      Set default java and javac to the new installed jdk8.

      $ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/javac javac /opt/jdk1.8.0_101/bin/javac 1
      $ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /opt/jdk1.8.0_101/bin/java 1
      
      $ sudo update-alternatives --config javac
      $ sudo update-alternatives --config java
      

      After all is completed successful, verify with the commands below.

      $ java -version
      $ javac -version
      

      (Source: http://www.rpiblog.com/2014/03/installing-oracle-jdk-8-on-raspberry-pi.html)
      and this topic

      2. Installing Mycontroller
      The Mycontroller software is available on github: https://github.com/mycontroller-org/mycontroller ,or if you want to download the software directly click here

      IMPORTANT: 1.0.0.Final was the latest one when this blog has written, maybe older when you installing, download the latest version from https://mycontroller.org/#/downloads

      First logon to thr RPI with i.e. ssh, once logged on:

      wget https://github.com/mycontroller-org/mycontroller/releases/download/1.0.0.Final/mycontroller-dist-standalone-1.0.0.Final-bundle.tar.gz
      

      Once the file is downloaded, extract the archive:

      gunzip -c mycontroller-dist-standalone-1.0.0.Final-bundle.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
      

      you should now see a directory called "mycontroller"

      # ls -l
      total 33104
      drwxr-xr-x 7 root root     4096 Nov  3 15:10 mycontroller
      

      Now the mycontroller software is on the system, you might want to move it to a directory of choice... (or not, up to you :))

      sudo mv ./mycontroller /opt
      

      Now it is time to start mycontroller

      go into the mycontroller/bin directory:

      cd /opt/mycontroller/bin
      

      and start mycontroler with the command:

      sudo ./start.sh
      

      You should see the output below

      /usr/bin/java
      java version: 1.8.0_151
      Start issued for Mycontroller
      

      (You might have guessed it but stopping mycontroller is done with the stop.sh command)

      Now point a webbrowser to: https://<IP-OF-YOUR-RPI>:8443
      You should see a login screen

      If all of the above works, it is time to connect mycontroller to the radio, so goto step 3.

      3. Connecting to the gateway

      There are 2 ways of connecting the NRF24L01 radio,

      1. directly to the GPIO header, (See this article) from mysensors.org
      2. connected to an arduino and the arduino to USB of the RPI, (see this article) from mysensors.org

      The example below is based on an arduino connected to USB:
      0_1509720859961_Screenshot 2017-11-03 at 15.53.26.png
      I might be that the device file for your arduino is different compared to the example, some tips to find your device file:

      sudo dmesg | grep tty
      

      or:

      sudo ls -l /dev | grep tty
      

      and look for device files that point you to an USB one.

      Do not forget to add the user account you are using to the dialout group in /etc/group (only aplies to non-root user accounts!)

      4. How to auto-start mycontroller at boot time

      If Mycontroller needs to be started at boot time, it can be easily done with the script below:
      (make sure you change the path in the script to the directory where mycontroller is installed!! in the example below it is /opt/mycontroller)

      1. copy the contents below into a file called mycontroller in /etc/init.d
      #! /bin/sh
      # /etc/init.d/mycontroller
      
      ### BEGIN INIT INFO
      # Provides:          mycontroller
      # Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog
      # Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog
      # Default-Start:     2 3 4 5
      # Default-Stop:      0 1 6
      # Short-Description: Start daemon at boot time
      # Description:       Enable service provided by daemon.
      ### END INIT INFO
      
      
      # The following part always gets executed.
      #echo "This part always gets executed"
      
      # The following part carries out specific functions depending on arguments.
      case "$1" in
        start)
          echo "Starting Mycontroller"
              /opt/mycontroller/bin/start.sh
          ;;
        stop)
          echo "Stopping Mycontroller"
              /opt/mycontroller/bin/stop.sh
          ;;
        *)
          echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/mycontroller {start|stop}"
          exit 1
          ;;
      esac
      
      exit 0
      

      Once the file is ready, make it executable:

      sudo chmod 755 /etc/init.d/mycontroller
      

      The ls -l output should now be:

      #ls -l /etc/init.d/mycontroller
      -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 790 Oct 22 11:32 /etc/init.d/mycontroller
      

      once this is all fixed execute the command below:

      sudo update-rc.d mycontroller defaults
      

      if the system reboots, mycontroller will be stopped/started automagically!
      check with:

      sudo service mycontroller status
      ā— mycontroller.service - LSB: Start daemon at boot time
         Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/mycontroller)
         Active: active (exited) since Sat 2017-10-28 17:42:10 CEST; 1 weeks 1 days ago
      

      Stopping mycontroller manually:

      sudo service mycontroller stop
      

      Starting mycontroller manually:

      sudo service mycontroller start
      
      S S 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • S Offline
        skdzzz @Tag
        last edited by

        @tag said in How to install Mycontroller on the RaspberryPI (or any other linux/UNIX system):

        1. Installing Mycontroller

        The following commands in part 2 should be run with sudo:

        sudo mv ./mycontroller /opt
        cd /opt/mycontroller/bin
        sudo ./start.sh
        
        T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • T Offline
          Tag MOD @skdzzz
          last edited by

          @skdzzz

          You are right!, Thx! šŸ‘
          Update done

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • T Offline
            TomG
            last edited by

            Thanks much for this tutorial.

            If the mycontroller directory (part 2) is not moved to /opt, then the /etc/init.d/mycontroller script (part 4) needs to be edited appropriately.

            MyController 1.4.0.Final on a Raspberry Pi 3+ running Raspbian Stretch
            MySensors 2.3.0 Serial Gateway

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • B Offline
              benhub
              last edited by

              The links in this getting started guide are quite old and should be updated. Or maybe better: Link to the download page instead: https://mycontroller.org/#/downloads

              I ran 1.0.0.Final for some days now and wasn't aware that this is an old release.

              jkandasaJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • jkandasaJ Offline
                jkandasa @benhub
                last edited by

                @benhub Thank you! I have added the following lines in the original blog.

                IMPORTANT: 1.0.0.Final was the latest one when this blog has written, maybe older when you installing, download the latest version from https://mycontroller.org/#/downloads

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Z Offline
                  zoomx
                  last edited by

                  @Tag said in How to install Mycontroller on the RaspberryPI (or any other linux/UNIX system):

                  1. Connecting to the gateway
                    There are 2 ways of connecting the NRF24L01 radio,

                  What about ESP8266 gateway?

                  jkandasaJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • jkandasaJ Offline
                    jkandasa @zoomx
                    last edited by

                    @zoomx

                    What about ESP8266 gateway?

                    What type of library are you using inside ESP8266? If MySensors it works

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • F Offline
                      francois
                      last edited by

                      any change in the install process with MyController 1.4.0?
                      Is the JAVA version update still necessary with the new raspbian image (2019-04-08)?
                      keep up the good work
                      cheers
                      F

                      skywatchS jkandasaJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • skywatchS Offline
                        skywatch @francois
                        last edited by

                        @francois No changes for installation as far as I am aware.

                        As for Java, it's always best to use the latest version for security and compatibility unless there is a compelling reason to use an older version.

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • jkandasaJ Offline
                          jkandasa @francois
                          last edited by

                          @francois There is no change in the installation process. You can use the latest version of java 1.8.x

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S Offline
                            sherif @Tag
                            last edited by

                            @Tag All installation steps applied very well and mycontroller is running well.
                            except part 4 to start automatically as i ca not find a file under name: mycontroller inside init.d folder. also not able to create new text file inside same folder?

                            T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • T Offline
                              Tag MOD @sherif
                              last edited by Tag

                              @sherif

                              Hi Sherrif!,

                              What error do you see?
                              have you tried to create the file in /etc/init.d with the command:

                              sudo touch /etc/init.d/mycontroller
                              
                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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