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Dedicated hardware?

Since the server needs to be running all the time, you need some dedicated hardware to run it on. If you have an old computer laying around, that is an perfect candicate for just that, however if you find it hard to set something like that up or don't have any hardware we recommend to pick up a small SBC (Single Board Computer). Examples of these are:

  • Raspberry Pi
  • Rock Pi
  • Orange Pi

For the initial release, buy hardware that is at least 64-bit, for using raspberry pi for reference this is from Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and newer (or some revisions of older ones). If you are unsure about what to get or if what you have found will work - ask us! Also, we are working on removing this limitation, just something now for the initial release! Now these are just a couple of examples, and if you have an hard time finding or knowing what to buy, send us a message here on github or in the discord and we will happily help you! If you include your region we can even send you links to what you could buy.

The second hand market has a lot of these SBCs for cheap, and if you have any questions or issues, feel free to ask!

Install docker

Not had time to finish this yet, will update later but until this here is a link to what I think is a more easy to follow guide then the docker official one https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-and-use-docker-on-debian-10

Checking connection to internet??

Currently all robots require internet to reach pool.ntp.org to set the time correctly. With the next update we plan to include an small ntp compatible time-endpoint so that a connection to pool.ntp.org is not needed.

  • Gen4 (D800-D10) only have the pool.ntp.org dependency, we plan on fixing with next update.
  • Gen3 (D3-D7) robots also need internet for the ip lookup and an firmware made internet check. To understand how these work, please read below.

Note

Gen3 robots fetch the ip of your server correctly via nip.io. Because of the way the robot works, if you enter an private ip it behaves as if it were in development, because of this nip.io is used to make an hostname into an ip (vacuula-local-192-168-1-123 --> 192.168.1.123). This requirement can be eliminated by hosting your own nip.io instance, and we plan on including this with a future release of Vacuula, however that also requires us to figure out the DNS. nip.io is open source and the only data sent to their servers is the DNS request, all other data from the robot goes directly to your server.

Note

Gen3 robots have an firmware bound internet check to 8.8.8.8 (Google DNS). Sadly, this is not easy to disable in the firmware (we are looking into what we can do that way), however you can bypass it by rewriting 8.8.8.8 requests to your own DNS for the ip of the robot (advanced users)

Install as an App in Home Assistant

Home Assistant guide on "Installning a third-party app repository"

Open home assistant app store with link to vacuula repo

If you used this button, click "Add" and then you can skip to step 11!

  1. Open Home Assistant page (usually homeassistant.local:8123).
  2. Go to Settings --> Apps (older versions it was called Add-ons).
  3. Click on the blue Install app button in right bottom corner.
  4. Click on the 3-dot menu in right top corner.
  5. Select Repositories (middle option).
  6. Click on the blue Add button in right bottom corner.
  7. Enter https://github.com/vacuula/vacuula as the URL.
  8. Click blue Add button in the popup - make sure it was added in the list!
  9. Click on the back arrow in the top left corner and you should be back on the App store page.
  10. Click on the 3-dot menu in right top corner and select Check for updates (first option).
  11. Scroll until you find Vacuula or use the searchbar and search Vacuula.
  12. Click on Vacuula and then select Install app
  13. Once installed, click Start.
  14. Once started, you can always come to this page to Stop or Restart

In the top-bar you can:

  • change configuration by clicking on Configuration
  • View the logs by clicking on Log

Install as an App in TrueNAS SCALE

TrueNAS guide on "Installing Custom Apps" If you are installing Vacuula Server as an Application on TrueNAS there are a couple of points to be aware of, this guide will walk you through both of them.

  1. TrueNAS already uses port 80 for its own web UI. You will need to choose a custom port for VACUULA_PORT, such as 8080.
  2. TrueNAS already has an Avahi mDNS Server setup which blocks Vacuula from starting its own one successfully. This can be worked around by using a custom script.

Install the app

  1. Navigate to your TrueNAS UI
  2. Click Apps in the side Navigation
  3. Click Discover Apps
  4. Click Custom App
  5. Fill out the fields as follows:
    1. Application Name: vacuula
    2. Version: Leave as the default (this is the version of the 'Custom App' template TrueNAS use, not the version of Vacuula)
    3. Image Repository: ghcr.io/vacuula/vacuula
    4. Tag: latest, if 1.1.0 has been formally released. If not use the latest beta version e.g. 1.1.0-b1
    5. Pull Policy: If you are using latest then Always pull an image, even if already present on the host. Otherwise you could also pick Pull the image if not already present on the host
    6. Hostname: vacuula
    7. Environment Variables - add the following environment variables
      1. GEN3_PORT: 335, or any port that is free on your NAS
      2. GEN4_PORT: 3443, or any port that is free on your NAS
      3. VACUULA_PORT: 8080, or any port that is free on your NAS. This must not be 80 - the default.
      4. GEN3_ENABLED: True
      5. GEN4_ENABLED: True
      6. MDNS_ENABLED: True
    8. Host Network: checked, this is necessary to enable the web UI, and the other ports, to be accessible from your network
    9. Portal Configuration (This is optional, but allows click through access to the Vacuula Web UI from the TrueNAS UI)
      1. Name: Web UI
      2. Protocol: HTTP
      3. Use Node IP: Checked
      4. Port: 8080, or the value you set for VACUULA_PORT earlier
      5. Path: /
    10. Add a single storage configuration, with a mount path of /server/data. The exact setup you want will depend on your personal preference. Do not set the type to Tmpfs. An example setup is as follows:
    11. Type: Host Path
    12. Mount Path: /server/data
    13. Host Path: /mnt/myPool/dataset/vacuula
    14. Save the application.
  6. The app will likely be crashing at this point, with an error about how port 5353 is already in use. The next section will fix that error.

Allow Vacuula to start an mDNS server

These instructions involve using Advanced TrueNAS configurations that can result in a broken TrueNAS installation. Proceed at your own risk.

We will be telling TrueNAS to modify the Avahi Service configuration to allow multiple Avahi stacks, so that Vacuula can start its own mDNS server to enable the auto discovery to work.

  1. Navigate to your TrueNAS UI
  2. Click on System > Advanced Settings on the side navigation
  3. Scroll to the Init/Shutdown Scripts section
  4. Click Add
  5. Close the warning dialog.
  6. Fill out the fields as follows
    1. Description: Allow other Avahi Stacks
    2. Type: Command
    3. Command: sed -i "/disallow-other-stacks=yes/c\disallow-other-stacks=no" /etc/avahi/avahi-daemon.conf && systemctl restart avahi-daemon.service
    4. When: Post-Init
    5. Enabled: Checked
    6. Timeout: 10
  7. Save the configuration
  8. Restart your NAS (or manually run the Command in a Shell and Restart the Vacuula application)
  9. At this point you should be able to access the Vacuula Web UI from your network and it should be ready for you to use the installer