Table of Contents

Configuration

Configuration file

Scripts directory
Splitting configuration on multiple files

Working directory
Database
Device ID
systemd service
Redis
nginx

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Configuration

Configuration file

You can use the default config.yaml as a template/reference.

The location of the config.yaml to be used by the application is determined in the following way:

It can be passed through the command-line -c/--config argument.
If not specified via -c, it will be read from the PLATYPUSH_CONFIG environment variable.
If not specified, use ./config.yaml if available.
If not available, and you are running Platypush within a Docker container, or as a privileged user (and usually you shouldn't), or as a systemd service created by a supported package manager, then /etc/platypush/config.yaml will be used if available.
Otherwise, if you are running Platypush as a non-privileged user or in a virtual environment, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/platypush/config.yaml will be used (defaults to ~/.config/platypush/config.yaml).

Scripts directory

By default, any custom Python scripts will be searched under <CONFDIR>/scripts, where <CONFDIR> is the path to your config.yaml.

You can override it in your config.yaml:

scripts_dir: /path/to/custom/scripts

Since everything under the scripts directory will be imported as a submodule, you can create your own libraries of scripts that can import other scripts:

# Content of scripts/music.py

from platypush import run

def music_play(plugin='music.mopidy', resource=None):
  run(f'{plugin}.play', resource)

# Content of scripts/lights.py

from platypush import run

def lights_toggle(plugin='light.hue', groups=('Living Room',)):
  run(f'{plugin}.toggle', groups=groups)

# Content of scripts/home.py

from platypush import procedure

from scripts.music import music_play
from scripts.lights import lights_toggle

@procedure
def at_home():
  music_play()
  lights_toggle()

Splitting configuration on multiple files

The config.yaml file can become very complex, especially if you embed many hooks and procedures in it in YAML format.

To make the configuration more maintainable, and also to isolate modules that you can reuse across multiple instances, you can leverage the include directive:

# All paths are relative to config.yaml, or to the location of the current file
include:
  - assistant.yaml
  - db.yaml
  - media.yaml
  - mqtt.yaml
  - sensors.yaml
  # ...

Working directory

This is where the application will store its data and integration plugins will store their data. The order of precedence is:

-w/--workdir command line argument.
The PLATYPUSH_WORKDIR environment variable.
The workdir field in the configuration file.
$XDG_DATA_HOME/platypush (default: ~/.local/share/platypush) if launched with a non-privileged user, /var/lib/platypush if launched as root or with a system user.

Database

The application stores entities, variables, users, integrations state and more on a database. The engine configuration supports the SQLAlchemy engine syntax.

Note: The application uses a local SQLite database by default, which is natively supported by SQLAlchemy. The application has also been tested against MySQL/MariaDB and Postgres, and should work fine with any modern relational database supported by SQLAlchemy. However, any backend other than SQLite may require an additional Python dependency for the SQLAlchemy driver (for example pg8000 for PostgreSQL).

Order of precedence for the engine:

--main-db/--db command line argument.
The PLATYPUSH_DB environment variable.
The main.db field in the configuration file.
sqlite:///<WORKDIR>/main.db

Device ID

The device ID is a unique identifier for a Platypush instance on a network and is used to reliably dispatch messages when multiple instances use a shared backend.

The order of precedence is:

--device-id command line argument.
The PLATYPUSH_DEVICE_ID environment variable.
The device_id field in the configuration file.
The hostname of the machine.

systemd service

If you installed Platypush from a system package manager then you'll also have a systemd service installed for it.

You can start/enable Platypush like any other systemd service:

# systemctl start platypush
# systemctl enable platypush

Or, if you want to run the Platypush service as a generic user:

❯ systemctl --user start platypush
❯ systemctl --user enable platypush

Otherwise, you can create your own systemd service copying the provided .service file to e.g. ~/.config/systemd/user or /etc/systemd/system.

Redis

Platypush uses Redis as a in-memory queue to deliver messages and as a pub/sub bus for inter-process communication.

If you installed Platypush through a package manager, then the Redis service will automatically be installed and started if you launch the Platypush service as a privileged user.

If you run Platypush in a container then by default it'll start its own Redis instance through the --start-redis command-line option.

You can customize the Redis configuration through the:

--redis-host, --redis-port and --redis-queue command-line options.
PLATYPUSH_REDIS_HOST, PLATYPUSH_REDIS_PORT and PLATYPUSH_REDIS_QUEUE environment variables.
Through your config.yaml:

# See https://redis-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/connections.html#redis.Redis
# for the full list of supported parameters
redis:
  host: redis-host
  port: 6379
  username: redis-user
  password: redis-pass

nginx

If you want to access your Platypush web panel outside your home network, it may be a good idea to use an nginx/Apache reverse proxy with a valid SSL certificate (e.g. managed by certbot). A sample an nginx configuration is provided in the repository.