Swapping/Cloning ISYs: How to Migrate Configuration for Alexa?

[waffles]

I am in the process of setting up a second ISY 994 as a 'hot spare' / clone.  I was wondering about the best way to copy/migrate the configuration for the Alexa set up. The screenshots shows what I currently have on the existing one. How do I get this copied over to the new one? There is an export function, but I could not find a way to import. I am hoping I won't have to retype everything again.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MrBill]

Top Right hand corner of the screen there is a "Profile" tab.  Select that and choose which ISY you want to use for Alexa and google, or "all on account".   If you are restoring a backup on the new ISY the addresses shouldn't change, so you would just add pointing Alexa to the correct ISY to your list of things to do during changeover to the clone.

[waffles]

4 minutes ago, MrBill said:

Top Right hand corner of the screen there is a "Profile" tab.  Select that and choose which ISY you want to use for Alexa and google, or "all on account".   If you are restoring a backup on the new ISY the addresses shouldn't change, so you would just add pointing Alexa to the correct ISY to your list of things to do during changeover to the clone.

Thanks Mr. Bill.  I had not noticed this before.  I have to check this out further. However, this does not seem to copy over/clone the Alexa settings (right part of my initial screenshot) I have on my old ISY and want to also use on my new one. How can I do this?

[MrBill]

4 minutes ago, waffles said:

Thanks Mr. Bill.  I had not noticed this before.  I have to check this out further. However, this does not seem to copy over/clone the Alexa settings (right part of my initial screenshot) I have on my old ISY and want to also use on my new one. How can I do this?

Are you setting the new up from scratch? or are you restoring a backup?  If restoring a backup the "address" column should not be changing, meaning that to swap from old to new you would simply change which ISY the portal is pointing to.

[waffles]

1 minute ago, MrBill said:

Are you setting the new up from scratch? or are you restoring a backup?  If restoring a backup the "address" column should not be changing, meaning that to swap from old to new you would simply change which ISY the portal is pointing to.

I am restoring a backup. So the (only) thing that had changed is the UUID (which associated with the ISY's H/W AFAIK). This results in (2) entries in the Portal (old and new ISY). In my initial post I included a screenshot of what it looks like if I pull up Tools/Connectivity/Amazon Echo....=> fully populated.

If I do the same for the new one I get below.... i.e. the table is empty. So how to get this table populated, short of retyping everything?

[MrBill]

You're correct... setting "preferred ISY" doesn't work the way I thought it did, i just tried to do what your asking with a test ISY that I have.    With the upcoming migration tool for Polisy I would think there would be a simpler method.

[asbril]

57 minutes ago, waffles said:

I am restoring a backup. So the (only) thing that had changed is the UUID (which associated with the ISY's H/W AFAIK). This results in (2) entries in the Portal (old and new ISY). In my initial post I included a screenshot of what it looks like if I pull up Tools/Connectivity/Amazon Echo....=> fully populated.

If I do the same for the new one I get below.... i.e. the table is empty. So how to get this table populated, short of retyping everything?

This has suddenly become a topic of interest for me...... My ISY is off-line and UD is helping me to resolve the issue, but it may be that I will have to replace the ISY.

Right now, because the ISY if offline, I can not access my Alexa or Google settings in ISY Portal. Reading what @MrBill just wrote, I may have to re-enter all my Alexa and Google Home settings from scratch if I can not get my ISY to raise from its current demise   . That would be a real pain.....

[Michel Kohanim]

On 12/27/2021 at 9:10 AM, asbril said:

ise   . That would be a real pain.....

Unfortunately, that's the case and I went through it myself last night.

With kind regards,
Michel

[asbril]

5 minutes ago, Michel Kohanim said:

Unfortunately, that's the case and I went through it myself last night.

With kind regards,
Michel

well, this will keep me busy (and out of trouble)  for a day ?

[waffles]

Thanks @Michel Kohanim while not what I had hoped for, I still appreciate getting a definitive answer.

 

Now, the next hurdle is how to get Alexa to recognize the second ISY. Last night I started duplicating the commands for the new ISY. I also pointed per @MrBill in my Profile to the new ISY . However, Alexa did no longer recognize the commands, named exactly the same, only now associated with the new ISY. Is there anything else one has to do? My line of  thought is/was that as long as the name(s) are kept the same, there would not be any addl. steps on the Alexa sided needed.

[Michel Kohanim]

@waffles,

Your hope is our command. @bmercier developed migration for all of those yesterday. Should be available later today.

With kind regards,
Michel

[waffles]

Thank you @Michel Kohanim and @bmercier!

 

Not to sound ungrateful, any thoughts on this one?

Now, the next hurdle is how to get Alexa to recognize the second ISY. Last night I started duplicating the commands for the new ISY. I also pointed per @MrBill in my Profile to the new ISY . However, Alexa did no longer recognize the commands, named exactly the same, only now associated with the new ISY. Is there anything else one has to do? My line of  thought is/was that as long as the name(s) are kept the same, there would not be any addl. steps on the Alexa sided needed.

Thus far, the only way I got it somewhat working again is by purging/re-finding ally UDI devices in the Alexa app. Downside is that this killed my Rooms and Routines in the Alexa app, which I now have to recreate. I hope (here it is again :-)) there is a less destructive solution available

 

[asbril]

18 minutes ago, Michel Kohanim said:

@waffles,

Your hope is our command. @bmercier developed migration for all of those yesterday. Should be available later today.

With kind regards,
Michel

As always support from UD is spectacular.

My new ISY is arriving later today. I wonder if the new migration will work when my old ISY is somewhat dead, as my old ISy shows as not online in ISY Portal and shows therefore nothing in Connectivity-Alexa / Google Home.

[MrBill]

10 minutes ago, waffles said:

Thus far, the only way I got it somewhat working again is by purging/re-finding ally UDI devices in the Alexa app. Downside is that this killed my Rooms and Routines in the Alexa app, which I now have to recreate. I hope (here it is again :-)) there is a less destructive solution available

Sadly if you're at that point likely the most logical thing to do is log into (via computer browser) https://alexa.amazon.com (its easier/faster this way than the app) and delete all the devices and scenes.... good and bad, then once all are gone say "Alexa, Discover devices" which is very destructive.  

[Michel Kohanim]

@waffles, with Alexa, you need to rediscover everything.

@asbril, migration does not care about online status.

With kind regards,

Michel

[waffles]

1 minute ago, Michel Kohanim said:

@waffles, with Alexa, you need to rediscover everything.

@asbril, migration does not care about online status.

With kind regards,

Michel

....and to rebuild all Rooms and Routines in Alexa  

Thanks for confirming my suspicion, though.

[bmercier]

@waffles, with Alexa, you need to rediscover everything.
@asbril, migration does not care about online status.
With kind regards,
Michel

Actually, no. With Alexa, it is not necessary to rediscover. The spokens are migrated, not copied over. They retain their unique id used by Alexa.

So as long as the ISY nodes are also « migrated » to the new ISY and has the same address, it should work.

Please note that it may be different for GH. It may need a rediscover, I need to test it.

Benoit


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[waffles]

Hello @bmercier; could you please elaborate a bit more on the <<migrated>> part?

My experience thus far is that Alexa does not recognize devices/scenes/etc. even if have the same addresses, Alexa Cat. and Spoken, i.e. the only difference being that they are associated with different ISYs/UUID. So even the code on the ISYs is the same by backing up on one ISY and restoring on the other one.

[asbril]

Bravo Benoit & Michel, migration of both Alexa and GH went perfectly.

[waffles]

@asbril; could you please share exactly which steps you took to migrate? I must be missing something.

[asbril]

1 minute ago, waffles said:

@asbril; could you please share exactly which steps you took to migrate? I must be missing something.

In ISY Portal, click on ISY, then Maintenance, then Migrate

[bmercier]

40 minutes ago, waffles said:

Hello @bmercier; could you please elaborate a bit more on the <<migrated>> part?

My experience thus far is that Alexa does not recognize devices/scenes/etc. even if have the same addresses, Alexa Cat. and Spoken, i.e. the only difference being that they are associated with different ISYs/UUID. So even the code on the ISYs is the same by backing up on one ISY and restoring on the other one.

When you create spokens, an internal id is created to uniquely identify the spoken. Alexa refers to a device by this ID.

Therefore, When you create spokens, although everything may look identical (same uuid, same node), it is using a different id. 

When migrating, the spoken keeps the same id. From Alexa's perspective, there are no changes at all. This is why a discovery is not necessary.

Benoit

[waffles]

12 minutes ago, asbril said:

In ISY Portal, click on ISY, then Maintenance, then Migrate

Found it!. Thanks, @asbril

Can you confirm that after the migration Alexa continues to recognize your former configuration or was a purge and 'find new devices' necessary?

[waffles]

3 minutes ago, bmercier said:

When you create spokens, an internal id is created to uniquely identify the spoken. Alexa refers to a device by this ID.

Therefore, When you create spokens, although everything may look identical (same uuid, same node), it is using a different id. 

When migrating, the spoken keeps the same id. From Alexa's perspective, there are no changes at all. This is why a discovery is not necessary.

Benoit

Ahh, got it now. Thanks much @bmercier for the explanation and the migration tool!

[bmercier]

FYI, migration instructions here:  https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY_Portal_Migrate_configurations_to_a_new_ISY