Installing HS4 on Linux

Information on installing HS4 onto a Linux computer

HS4 for Linux is a modified version of HS4 that runs under Linux. It is full HS4 with the following exceptions:

• No VBScript support (.txt scripts). VB.Net scripting and C# scripting is supported

HS4 for Linux does not require a distinct license. Your HS4 standard, HS4 SEL/Plus, or PRO license will work, though note that you can only use one license per installation. Linux can be a challenge for non-technical users, the Linux version of HS4 is targeted to the more technical user.

Setup

These instructions have been tested under Debian and Ubuntu.

1. Install Debian or Ubuntu per its instructions. Ubuntu on Windows 10 will also work.

2. Install the following packages that are required by HS4:
   Note that MONO is required and it is best to install the latest version which is 6.12. Follow the instructions on this page to get the latest version for your Linux:
   https://www.mono-project.com/download/stable/#download-lin
   After following the instructions, install MONO with:
   apt-get install mono-complete
   apt-get install mono-vbnc
   NOTE: On some systems mono-vbnc will not be available through "apt-get". On these systems you can build mono-basic from source using the instructions here:
   GitHub - mono/mono-basic: Visual Basic Compiler and Runtime
   apt-get install flite (optional, this is for text-to-speech)
   apt-get install chromium (optional, only needed if your system includes a graphical desktop. If it's headless, you can ignore)
   apt-get install aha (optional, this formats the output for Linux commands from the HS4 Tools menu)
   apt-get install ffmpeg (optional, this allows for recording video from IP cameras)
   apt-get install aplay (optional, used by the play_audio.sh script to play media files. If aplay is not available, pick an alternate player and modify the play_audio.sh script)

3. If brltty is installed, this must be removed in order for a Z-Stick to work:
   apt-get remove brltty

4. Download the latest HS4 tar file, latest release can be found here: https://docs.homeseer.com/products/hs4-release-notes-downloads

5. Download the latest "HS4 Linux" tar file.

6. Change the directory to where you want to install it, HomeSeer is the default and should be at /usr/local.
   Create the folder where HS4 will be installed with:
   sudo mkdir /usr/local
   Change to the newly-created folder:
   cd /usr/local
   

7. untar with the command:
   tar xvf tar_filename

8. Run HS4 using the "go" script:
   ./go

Notes

• HS4 needs to run as root or with sudo (script uses sudo). This is because it listens on a port for the web-server and MONO requires root to do this.

• Check the startup log for errors. If all is ok, you can access the web interface on a browser by accessing the IP address of the Linux system with:
  http://IP_ADDRESS

• By default, HS4 starts listening on port 80. If you happen to have the Apache web-server installed port 80 may be in use. You can edit the HS4 config file in Config/settings.ini and change the setting to a different port, then restart HS4. In the settings file the server port can be changed by adding or modifying the following line: gWebSvrPort=80

• You can shut down HS4 from the console by hitting enter to get a prompt and then entering: shutdown