This project builds and publishes a debian-based package that can be installed using apt
on Ubuntu / Debian / Raspberry Pi OS based Linux systems.
The project aims to deploy Homebridge and the Homebridge UI in a secure and stable way, with no dependencies outside those available in the standard distribution repos. It comes bundled with it's own Node.js runtime and runs Homebridge in an isolated environment as a service user with no sudo / admin priviledges.
Supported architectures:
Add package source:
# make sure the tools needed to add the repo exist
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y curl gpg
# add the homebridge gpg key
curl -sSfL https://repo.homebridge.io/KEY.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/homebridge.gpg > /dev/null
# add the homebridge repo
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/homebridge.gpg] https://repo.homebridge.io stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/homebridge.list > /dev/null
Update and install:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install homebridge
Remove:
sudo apt-get remove homebridge
Purge (this will delete /var/lib/homebridge
):
sudo apt-get purge homebridge
Download the correct file for your system from https://github.com/homebridge/homebridge-apt-pkg/releases/latest
dpkg -i homebridge_x.x.x_xxxx.deb
Remove:
dpkg --remove homebridge
Purge (this will delete /var/lib/homebridge
):
dpkg --purge homebridge
This package contains a self-contained Node.js installation and environment for Homebridge to run in.
The bundled Node.js runtime is isolated and not exposed on the default PATH.
To assist in debugging, a shell command hb-shell
is added to the default PATH to allow the user to enter the Homebridge Shell Environment. When in the Homebridge Shell, users will have access to node
and npm
as they would expect.
# Node.js and package scripts are stored in /opt/homebridge
/opt/homebridge
|-- bin
| |-- node
| |-- npm
| |-- npx
|-- lib
| |-- node_modules
| |-- npm
| |-- homebridge-config-ui-x
|-- bashrc
|-- bashrc-hb-shell
|-- CHANGELOG.md
|-- hb-shell
|-- LICENSE
|-- README.md
|-- source.sh
|-- start.sh
# "hb-shell" command to allow user access to the Homebridge env from the cli
/usr/local/bin
|-- hb-shell -> /opt/homebridge/hb-shell
# homebridge storage directory, plugins are stored in node_modules
/var/lib/homebridge
|-- node_modules
| |-- homebridge
| |-- homebridge-dummy
| |-- homebridge-hue
|-- accessories
|-- persist
|-- config.json
You should not edit the service file included with the package as any changes made here will be overwritten during updates.
You should use a systemd override file to make any changes.
To preview the current unit file run:
cat /lib/systemd/system/homebridge.service
Use systemctl to create an override file at /etc/systemd/system/homebridge.service.d/override.conf
:
sudo systemctl edit homebridge
Add the config items you want to override. You should only add the settings you want to change.
For example, to change the user the service runs as:
[Service]
User=pi # replace with the user you want to run the service as
Or to add additional startup flags to Homebridge:
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/opt/homebridge/start.sh -T
Or to run as root, and allow the UI to shutdown/restart the host:
[Service]
User=root
ExecStart=
ExecStart=/opt/homebridge/start.sh --allow-root
Environment="UIX_CAN_SHUTDOWN_RESTART_HOST=1"
Save the file and restart Homebridge:
sudo systemctl restart homebridge
To revert any changes run:
sudo systemctl revert homebridge
Package scripts workflow (preinst, postinst, postrm etc.):
https://wiki.debian.org/MaintainerScripts
Copyright (C) 2024 homebridge
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.