Using ISY devices as triggers with Alexa routines

[bmercier]

40 minutes ago, dbwarner5 said:

1) why would i have 3 differently named versions of the same Z-wave lock in the device listings on Alexa

Either this lock has been added in the past in ISY Portal and then removed, or it may be that you had alternate spokens on the device which are no longer there.

Benoit

[dbwarner5]

Benoit that is correct now that you describe it: I have multiple spokens  for that door 

 

 

[ArunGupta2014]

Hi,

I am having the same problem as zerop has described on first page, I think the 6th post. I have created a state variable and defined it as a contact sensor in Alexa. The state variable is controlled by mini remote key. When I press the key, the state variable changes and so does the status of contact sensor in Alexa. I have a routine controlled by the contact sensor, but that routine never runs. The poster zerop said that by turning on Live Update in portal, the issue was resolved. I do not see Live Update in the portal. Please help.

Thanks,

Arun

[larryllix]

1 hour ago, ArunGupta2014 said:

Hi,

I am having the same problem as zerop has described on first page, I think the 6th post. I have created a state variable and defined it as a contact sensor in Alexa. The state variable is controlled by mini remote key. When I press the key, the state variable changes and so does the status of contact sensor in Alexa. I have a routine controlled by the contact sensor, but that routine never runs. The poster zerop said that by turning on Live Update in portal, the issue was resolved. I do not see Live Update in the portal. Please help.

Thanks,

Arun

@bmercier

 isn't were is was previously at the top right of the ISY Portal ISY tab  page.. I had enabled it at one time and then disabled it later, as I was not using it. Can't find it either.

I added a ping for Benoit.

Edited December 22, 2018 by larryllix

[rccoleman]

He said in another thread that it’s automatically enabled now. 

[larryllix]

6 minutes ago, rccoleman said:

He said in another thread that it’s automatically enabled now. 

Thanks!

@ArunGupta2014  may have a further problem then. IIRC Google can take a long time to update it's database though. Things may show up and just start to work later.

[memphis2k]

I too have had troubles with Routines.  Never have gotten a single one working with ISY Portal.  Followed everyones guides, posts, threads, wiki's and tried state variables, devices with both motion & contact sensors.  The Alexa app sees the changes, but the routines never fire.  Disabled and re-enabled the V3 Alexa Skill numerous times.  I have tried other routines with Alexa, basic ones and they seem to work just fine.  I don't think its an ISY / Portal issue because the Alexa shows the change.  But I'm not to sure.  Some people have luck and others don't.  That does not make sense.

Live Updating is now baked in to Portal.  No need to toggle the option anymore.

Edited December 24, 2018 by memphis2k

[ArunGupta2014]

This is an ISY issue. I just tested with Z-Wave motion sensors connected via SmartThings hub and the routine worked in the first attempt without any issues. Not sure if anyone from UDI is going to fix this.

[Michel Kohanim]

@ArunGupta2014,

We'll look into it. But, if Alexa app sees it, the only possible causes are:

1. The device is not configured as a sensor
2. Too many changes within 30 seconds

With kind regards,
Michel

[ArunGupta2014]

So, it turns out that ISY uses outgoing ports 443 and 8000 to make connection to the portal. This was causing error log to fill up with -5010 errors. Michel helped me troubleshoot the 5010 error issue in another thread. It is strange how seemingly disparate issues are like cause and effect...!!

In my case, the firewall was blocking outgoing traffic on port 8000. After opening it up, the errors disappeared and routine started to work. However, as Michel mentioned, there is a 30 second limit. So, if I press the remote key once, contact changes, say from open to close, Alexa routine fires. However, if I press the key again within less than 30 seconds, the contact sensor does change state in the Amazon app, but Alexa routine will NOT run. Maybe Michel can let us know the mystery behind the 30 second limit. Could be some kind of polling interval within ISY?

Thanks,

Arun

[larryllix]

If the Amazon app shows it then ISY and it's support portal must have done their jobs.

 

It must be an Amazon DoS style attack (or program flooding) prevention.

 

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[Michel Kohanim]

@ArunGupta2014,

Thanks so very much for the update. The 30 second limit is Amazon limitation for triggers.

With kind regards,
Michel

[memphis2k]

On 12/25/2018 at 12:44 PM, ArunGupta2014 said:

So, it turns out that ISY uses outgoing ports 443 and 8000 to make connection to the portal. This was causing error log to fill up with -5010 errors. Michel helped me troubleshoot the 5010 error issue in another thread. It is strange how seemingly disparate issues are like cause and effect...!!

Thanks,

Arun

 

Port 443 & 8000.  That could explain why it is not working.  So you opened this port going to your ISY, correct?  I run a sophisticated firewall that blocks everything and never thought to check the logs.

[rccoleman]

1 minute ago, memphis2k said:

 

Port 443 & 8000.  That could explain why it is not working.  So you opened this port going to your ISY, correct?  I run a sophisticated firewall that blocks everything and never thought to check the logs.

He said ‘outgoing’, which implies from the ISY to the Internet. You shouldn’t need to open any *incoming* ports. 

[memphis2k]

8 minutes ago, rccoleman said:

He said ‘outgoing’, which implies from the ISY to the Internet. You shouldn’t need to open any *incoming* ports. 

Thank you.  If this solution works, please add this to the wiki, other threads.  But yeah, I should have check the ISY logs and possibility my firewalls.  I have been waiting for this idea for years to finally be a reality.

[rccoleman]

3 hours ago, memphis2k said:

Thank you.  If this solution works, please add this to the wiki, other threads.  But yeah, I should have check the ISY logs and possibility my firewalls.  I have been waiting for this idea for years to finally be a reality.

Most folks only block incoming ports and just let anything go out, so it probably won't affect the majority of the ISY users.  I do agree that it should be called out for more advanced folks.

[memphis2k]

Finally got it working.  Turns out I just needed to check my UTM firewall logs.  I opened up some outgoing ports so the ISY could connect to AWS.  It was around the 33,000 range.  So it was 8000 and a range of 33,000+, your results may vary.  I was watching my UTM's logs and the ISY kept incrementing the outgoing port by +1.

[MWareman]

Normally, you must allow out connections sourced from ports 1025-65535 (the ephemeral ports) as outgoing connections could use any one of them at any time.

In Kernel land, only privileged daemons can source connections from ports lower than that. Ports above are reserved for unprivileged processes.

When restricting outbound ports - you need to allow the destination IP (or hostnames if your firewall allows) and destination port from the internal IP and any origin port >1024. Otherwise, odd things get blocked. It’s not a good idea to restrict what origin ports are allowed.

Also be aware, many firewalls use dns when allowing by hostnames. This too is a security risk. You may need to restrict by IP range, and when dealing with AWS as a destination this may not be feasible. A firewall that works at layer 7 can do this securely.

[rogerwise]

For what it's worth, I have it working on my completely plain jane router/system.

I used a test variable.  The only hitch I had was from reading the wiki which said to set it as a switch in the portal.  As a switch it can be discovered (shows up in devices of the main section) but doesn't show up in the devices in the routines section.  Once it's set to being a sensor it works fine.

For testing purposes, first disable and then enable/link V3:

1 Create a state variable in ISY

2 Add it in the portal (Alexa Category: contact sensor)

3 Discover it in Alexa app.  The phone and PC versions are different.  Use the phone version for this and most things.  For instance you can't set up groups/rooms on the PC but you can't edit their names on the phone.  Better to forget items that have been discovered before changing their Alexa Cat in Portal.  They can do funky things like working but not showing up like they would.  I haven't had problems that forced me to delete and re-add items in portal that I know of, so far it's the Alexa end that loses sync.

4 Create two routines, "when this happens", devices, (choose it).  One routine for closed and one open

5 In ISY change the value to and from the closed value that you set in Portal, hit enter each time no need to save.  Wait a while it doesn't like being rushed.  Maybe 1-5 seconds.

 

I guess you could control anything that Alexa can control with ISY/Insteon now.  I can change the variable with a light switch + program, then an Alexa routine can switch my TP-Link switches, Harmony Hub activities, maybe even devices attached to a Smart Things hub (ZigBee etc).

The weather module can tell me "Bad weather predicted" and read the details only on those days.  Too fun!

Edited February 14, 2019 by rogerwise