"Z-Wave JS UI" problems to connect to an tcp URL as serial port. Nearby discussion #3972

[Technikfan]

Hi, it seems I have the same problem as in discussion #3972, but I in little different szeanrio.

In the Z-Wave JS UI Add-On I implemented a HUB over USB IP, that works.
There are the the keys defined .

Now I'm trying to add a second HUB over a streaming server on ESP32-S.
I also get the information that the port is open in the ZWave JS UI Docker container with nc -vz 6638.
When I enter the URL in the dialog to add the hub, it seems that a TCP URL is not accepted.
I get the message "Invalid websockte URL"
So i have no chance to define any Keys for an Hub not existing.
Is that basicly possible or i'm on the wrong way?
I try include an second Z-Wave Controller with his own Mesh-Network.

[kpine]

I also get the information that the port is open in the ZWave JS UI Docker container with nc -vz 6638.

Why are you checking this port? Z-Wave JS UI does not implement a serial port, this port number has nothing behind it.

When I enter the URL in the dialog to add the hub, it seems that a TCP URL is not accepted.
I get the message "Invalid websockte URL"

What dialog are you talking about? Only Z-Wave JS UI will accept a TCP URL of a remote serial port. If you are attempting to put a TCP URL into something that expect a websocket address, it will never work.

Is that basicly possible or i'm on the wrong way?
I try include an second Z-Wave Controller with his own Mesh-Network.

Many people run multiple networks successfully. You will need a separate instance of Z-Wave JS UI for every controller. You can't do this with add-ons, unless you know how to create your own add-on from your own repository. You will need a 2nd PC to do it otherwise.

[Technikfan]

Hi kpine,

Why are you checking this port? Z-Wave JS UI does not implement a serial port, there is nothing hidden behind this port number._

The full command was nc -vz (remoteipaddr) 6638 to check the remote TCP port of esp32's streaming server. The brackets for the IP address were lost when copying and pasting.

What dialog are you talking about? Only Z-Wave JS UI accepts a TCP URL of a remote serial port. If you try to enter a TCP URL into something that expects a WebSocket address, it will never work._

The dialog is accessible in the frontend under Settings -> Devices & Services -> Z-Wave -> Add Hub.

But I understand now that this is only for hubs and not for the second controller.
Although it is repeatedly said that Z-Wave JS UI accepts a TCP URL of a remote serial port, I cannot find a way to do this.
I think the concept of the add-on is not designed to support multiple controllers, let alone own networks.
I found a guide and in the discussion I referred to, I initially understood it differently and started trying it out. To no avail.

Many people successfully run multiple networks. You need a separate instance of Z-Wave JS UI for each controller. You can't do this with add-ons unless you know how to create your own add-on from your own repository. Otherwise you need a second PC for this._

Since I also did not find a way to open a second "instance" with own keys, I think this is better implemented in iobroker.
Setting up a second PC just to run a Z-Wave controller is not useful in my opinion. Both in terms of energy and management.

Without a new idea to solve my scenario (i think it's not that rare) it seems to become a showstopper for me and I have to return to my iobroker.

Regards

[kpine]

The dialog is accessible in the frontend under Settings -> Devices & Services -> Z-Wave -> Add Hub.

This dialog is in Home Assistant, not Z-Wave JS. It is the websocket url provided by Z-Wave JS UI or the core add-on to connect to the websocket server. It has no relation to TCP serial ports. https://zwave-js.github.io/zwave-js-ui/#/homeassistant/homeassistant-official

Although it is repeatedly said that Z-Wave JS UI accepts a TCP URL of a remote serial port, I cannot find a way to do this.

It's in the Z-Wave settings of Z-Wave JS UI, not Home Assistant.

Since I also did not find a way to open a second "instance" with own keys, I think this is better implemented in iobroker.
Setting up a second PC just to run a Z-Wave controller is not useful in my opinion. Both in terms of energy and management.

When you use HAOS it's a tradeoff between functionality and flexibility. The use case of using multiple instances of the same add-on is just not supported and not commonly needed. If you want to use HA and not be limited in this way, you should not use HAOS (you lose add-ons, but you can run containers), just use HA Container and install multiple instances of Z-Wave JS UI. This would be similar to using IOBroker, AFAIK.

Note you can run multiple add-on instances if you setup your own personal add-on repository, which refers to the upstream Z-Wave JS UI add-on, however this isn't a simple process especially for a beginner.

How did you connect your USB-over-IP to HAOS? I don't think that's supported natively either.

[Technikfan]

How did you connect your USB-over-IP to HAOS? I don't think that's supported natively either.

In my first time i did that based native in OS with USBIP for iobroker and build System-Services for it.
Now for Home Assistant i use the "HA USBIP Client" from the Repo https://github.com/cryptedx/ha-usbip-client.