bOS + IFTTT integration | Tutorial

hi there, any idea how this is handled with the new basic auth?

Cheers

Hey there,

Not yet. I've only noticed the update yesterday, but I didn't had time yet to try out and adapt to the new auth.

As soon as I can handle it, I'll post a new update.

Best regards

cheers

Hello!

Here we have a short updated tutorial on how to integrate bOS and IFTTT using the new bOS’ RPC service based on the tutorial so kindly done previously by Ricardo Pinto.

bOS offers a JSON RPC Service for integration with IFTTT, Tasker and other services.

This tutorial will show bOS RPC service interacting with IFTTT in a simple task, but the important thing here is to understand how to set-up the RPC service so you can do more complex integrations.

RPC service offers HTTP basic authentication with username and password.

In this example, we'll be using IFTTT to turn a KNX light ON based on your location, so a geofencing scenario that could be changed and used to open a door, turn the music on, etc.

The possibilities are endless.

Step 1: Port forwarding

• A) Since the command will be coming from IFTTT cloud, your server must be set to receive commands from external networks by having port forwarding enabled on your router.

You can check your port forwarding on this site: https://portchecker.co/. If you have port forwarding already enabled, you can skip to Step 2

• B) A static WAN IP address is needed to access your network and should be obtained
1. from your internet provider. If you don’t have a static WAN IP address, use a dynamic DNS
2. service. On your router setup page enable port forwarding (NAT) to the local IP address of your controller. It is recommended to only forward the port 443 for secure https connection.

• C) Now open bOS Configurator, under Building, open the menu from the License section:

Click “Edit” and on the next page set the public address and click “Update”:

Step 2: Configure your RPC service

• In bOS Configurator, under API, enable RPC and define your Username and Password:

Step 3: Find your Device Path

• In this example, the Info tab from the KNX light will show us the path: Devices\KNX\Razsvetljava\On/Off\Pisarna 1

Now we need to form the JSON body to POST on IFTTT.

The Path we have is: Devices\KNX\Razsvetljava\On/Off\Pisarna 1

We need to double the backslashes on the Path to form the JSON body to POST on IFTTT service, so now we have: Devices\\KNX\\Razsvetljava\\On/Off\\Pisarna 1

The simple SetValue body post looks something like this:

{"objectName":"INSERT PATH HERE","valueName":"Value","value":"true"} where "value":"true" is to turn the value to true or 1. You can change to false or 0 or look for other RPC examples at the end of this tutorial.

For our valueName, we have “Value”:

To turn the Light ON, our body post is:

{"objectName":"Devices\\KNX\\Razsvetljava\\On/Off\\Pisarna 1","valueName":"Value","value":"true"}

*the value, in this case “true”, must be written in lowercase.

Step 4: IFTTT

• Create a new Applet from scratch, click on “This”, select the “location” trigger and set your address area.

• 
  Click on “That”, select the “Webhooks” trigger and click on “Make a web request”:
  

• Web request form:
  URL
  https://RPCUserName:RPCPassword@your_ip_address_or_dynamic_dns_address/API/RPC/SetValue
  
  in our example:
  https://RPC:RPCCOLIBRI@ip_address_or_dynamic_dns_address/API/RPC/SetValue
  
  Method
  POST
  
  Content Type
  application/json
  
  Body
  {"objectName":"Devices\\KNX\\Razsvetljava\\On/Off\\Pisarna 1","valueName":"Value","value":"true"}
  
  

Save and finish your Applet.

Done! Now every time we enter the specified area the KNX light will turn on.

This is a simple example for demo purposes, but with more complex commands you can do whatever you want... call scenes, set other values, etc.

To call an RPC Service an HTTP POST call must be performed with data content-type = "application/json";

Service offers the following commands:

SetValue

POST data example (Turn ON a light): {"objectName":"Devices\\KNX\\Light 1","valueName":"Value","value":"true"}

GetValue

POST data example (Get light status): {"objectName":"Devices\\KNX\\Light 1","valueName":"Value"}

CallFunction

POST data example (Send alert to user):

{"objectName":"Building\\General\\Users\\User","functionName":"SendAlert","value":["'Hello'"]}

I hope you’ve enjoyed the tutorial and please post here the examples and ideas you have using the new bOS’ RPC API.

Hello,

It's possible to get a string value ?

I try to get a IFTTT string value, but in bOS the string are always empty.

See below the setvalue Body:

{"objectName":"Devices\\IFTTT Husqvarana\\Etat Husqvarana","valueName":"Value","value":" {{Message}}"}

The field "Message" are an ingredient avaible in the Husqvarana Automower

Hi,

I'm not quite sure about what you pretend:

Do you want something from IFTTT to bOS, or from bOS to IFTTT?

Best regards

Hello again,

I think I got your request...

You're using Huskuvarna on IFTTT, and then on POST command your adding an ingredient and want to send that as a text to bOS, right?

I never used that, and I don't have access to Huskuvarna device, so I'll try to find another service and test it out.

I think that problem might be the {{ }} symbols, but I'll see what I can do.

Best regards

Hey,

I think I got it:

{"objectName":"Tasks\\String","valueName":"Value","value":"'{{OccurredAt}}'"}

You need to add " and ' before the ingredient, and ' and " after the ingredient.

Tried with a simple Button on IFTTT, with an ingredient called OccurredAt, and it works, my String value on bOS changed to April 18, 2020 at 04:08PM

So in your case it's probably:

{"objectName":"Devices\\IFTTT Husqvarana\\Etat Husqvarana","valueName":"Value","value":"'{{Message}}'"}

Try it.

Best regards

Hello Ricardo,

Thanks for you help it work with ' before and after.