[How To] Install LUUP plugins

[Henk]

Heres a short manual on how to install LUUP plugins into your vera.

Official repository for plugins:
http://code.mios.com

Alternative location (for now)
http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Luup_plugins_and_Luup_code

also in various forum threads coders provide their code or complete plugins.

This manual start with the assumption you have downloaded the appropriate .json and .xml files to your harddisk.
Also you have UI4 running.

1. Open you vera UI4
2. Upload the files of the plugin you downloaded to your VERA box: 'MiOS Developers' -> 'Luup files' -> 'Upload files'.
   (see screenshots attached)
3. Check 'Restart Luup after upload' (bottom of the page), click 'Go' and wait for Lua to restart.
4. Create a new Luup device with UpnpDevFilename D_<yourplugin>.xml.  
5. Set the Description to whatever you want to name the device.
   (see schreenshot attached)
6. Restart the Lua engine several times to initialise the UPnP variables (curving arrows top right in your UI.
   In some case a power cycle/reboor of your vera is neccesary.
7. Make the appropriate LUUP variable settings as per directions for the creator of the plugin.

[TimAlls]

Thanks for writing this up.....
Regards
Tim

[Henk]

Thanks for writing this up.....
Regards
Tim

Thanks for the kind words.
Im currently working on here:

http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Category:How_To

To bring all this stuff togehter.
Please keep in mind its WIP, but it will get there in the next couple of weeks!

Henk

[cwca02]

I second that thank you!  I have been getting ready to install a custom plugin and couldn't find any real guidance.  This documentation is badly needed!

[mcvflorin]

1. Open you vera UI4
2. Upload the files of the plugin you downloaded to your VERA box: 'MiOS Developers' -> 'Luup files' -> 'Upload files'.
   (see screenshots attached)
3. Check 'Restart Luup after upload' (bottom of the page), click 'Go' and wait for Lua to restart.
4. Create a new Luup device with UpnpDevFilename D_<yourplugin>.xml.  
5. Set the Description to whatever you want to name the device.
   (see schreenshot attached)
6. Restart the Lua engine several times to initialise the UPnP variables (curving arrows top right in your UI.
   In some case a power cycle/reboor of your vera is neccesary.
7. Make the appropriate LUUP variable settings as per directions for the creator of the plugin.

I'd have several changes to make:

• On step 3, checking Restart Luup after upload isn't necessary. Only one restart is necessary, after creating the device.
• Between step 6 and step 7 there's another important step: reload the web page.

[SuperflyMD]

How do you do it on a Mac?

[fdebuck]

on a Mac, the procedure is the same... It's all just a webpage !

[Henk]

on a Mac, the procedure is the same... It's all just a webpage !

Posted by: SuperflyMD    Posted on: Today at 12:56:20 pm
Insert Quote
How do you do it on a Mac?

Correct, the UI is HTML based and accesible through any webbrowser.
If you have UI4 (which almost any vera owner has by now) or even UI2 with a firmware that isnt ancient, this procedure works.

[Henk]

1. Open you vera UI4
2. Upload the files of the plugin you downloaded to your VERA box: 'MiOS Developers' -> 'Luup files' -> 'Upload files'.
   (see screenshots attached)
3. Check 'Restart Luup after upload' (bottom of the page), click 'Go' and wait for Lua to restart.
4. Create a new Luup device with UpnpDevFilename D_<yourplugin>.xml.  
5. Set the Description to whatever you want to name the device.
   (see schreenshot attached)
6. Restart the Lua engine several times to initialise the UPnP variables (curving arrows top right in your UI.
   In some case a power cycle/reboor of your vera is neccesary.
7. Make the appropriate LUUP variable settings as per directions for the creator of the plugin.

I'd have several ch change to make:

• On step 3, checking Restart Luup after upload isn't necessary. Only one restart is necessary, after creating the device.
• Between step 6 and step 7 there's another important step: reload the web page.

@mcvflorin

Thanks for the remarks, i will change the wiki on this.
Here: http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Category:How_To

It maybe due to the fact that i didnt have the step between 6 and 7 (which i will add), but in my setup a single LUUP restart was not enough in any sitaution. Sometimes i even had to powercycle my Vera.

Ok if i leave that in there as a failsafe?

Henk

[aecchalet]

I went to the Mios Marketplace and selected thermostat plugin #589.  It gave me the option of installing the plugin, which I accepted. Now, under Mios Marketplace on my Dashboard, there is an icon for the thermostat plugin.  Do I still need to follow these steps to actually install this plugin?  If so, where do I find the file that I am supposed to upload, in step 2?
Thanks

[Henk]

I went to the Mios Marketplace and selected thermostat plugin #589.  It gave me the option of installing the plugin, which I accepted. Now, under Mios Marketplace on my Dashboard, there is an icon for the thermostat plugin.  Do I still need to follow these steps to actually install this plugin?  If so, where do I find the file that I am supposed to upload, in step 2?
Thanks

@aecchalet

Thank you for pointing this out.
I made corrections to the wiki about this.

Only a limited amount of plugins is officially available through the Marketplace.
The Marketplace uses a click and install function out of the box, without the need to download / upload anything seperately.

However, user contributions and/or beta plugins such as available on many locations from within the forum DO need to be manualy installed using the provided How To.

You may reference these pages for (in)officially documented functionality:

User Instructions
http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php?title=Category:User_Instructions

How To
http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Category:How_To

You may notice i crosslinked many wiki pages to make it more accessible and easier to find things.

Henk

[oTi@]

Do I still need to follow these steps to actually install this plugin?  If so, where do I find the file that I am supposed to upload, in step 2?

If all is well, your thermostat device should have gained 4 new variables in the Advanced tab, in the Variables section: HeatMax, HeatMin, CoolMax, CoolMin.

[mcvflorin]

I updated the Wiki page. Major modifications are:

• the removal of step 3. Reason: the file uploading script does just that: it uploads files and compresses them to LZO format. Therefore, restarting Luup has no effect. For those curious, the script is /www/cgi-bin/cmh/upload_upnp_file.sh
• on step 6 (now step 5): changed from Restart Luup several times to Restart Luup once. Reason: for most plugins one restart is enough, because all the plugins initializations are done on the first restart. However, if a plugin really does require more than one restart, it should specify in its install instructions.

[Henk]

I updated the Wiki page. Major modifications are:

• the removal of step 3. Reason: the file uploading script does just that: it uploads files and compresses them to LZO format. Therefore, restarting Luup has no effect. For those curious, the script is /www/cgi-bin/cmh/upload_upnp_file.sh
• on step 6 (now step 5): changed from Restart Luup several times to Restart Luup once. Reason: for most plugins one restart is enough, because all the plugins initializations are done on the first restart. However, if a plugin really does require more than one restart, it should specify in its install instructions.

Thx for the review!

[RobertN]

If there was a reason to uninstall a LUUP plugin, how do I go about doing that? BTW, thanks for publishing this. The instructions are great and very helpful.