A node.js implementation of a Fing wrapper that can notify via HTTP (more methods such as Amazon SNS to be added in the future) when a device on your network changes. Designed to be used as a dedicated and persistent network monitor that can notify home automation servers when specific devices come on and offline. Additionally, there is the start to a implementation of a whitelist, where non-whitelisted devices will be notified to you via email.
deviceWatch.js can be extremely useful for Perceptive Automation's Indigo Home Automation Server as a proximity sensor when your cellphone arrives on a network. Once configured, your home automation system can react to changes of your arrival, or alter behavior based on your known presence. devicewatch.js does not need to be on the same machine as your Indigo server, as long as it's on the same network.
deviceWatch.js works great on a Raspberry Pi as a dedicated netowrk monitor. You can get your Raspberry Pi set up with Node.js using these instructions: http://blog.rueedlinger.ch/2013/03/raspberry-pi-and-nodejs-basic-setup/
1. Install Fing (http://www.overlooksoft.com/fing)
2. Install Node.js (http://nodejs.org)
3. Install the following NPM Packages that deviceWatch.js is dependent on:
npm install csv
npm install --save moment
npm install needle
npm install node-schedule
npm install aws-sdk
npm install nodemailer --save
4. If using this with Perceptive Automation's Indigo, create Indigo variables for each of the devices you would like to track.
The variables can be named however you wish, keep the naming memorable, and keep track of them as you will need the information in the next few steps.
5. Capture and write down the mac addresses for each of the devices you have created variables for, you will need this as you configure deviceWatch.js in the next step.
Many people use mobile phones as alert devices. The mac address for your mobile phone can be found in your settings.
For iOS, there is a tutorial here: http://oit2.utk.edu/helpdesk/kb/entry/2099/
6. Create a copy of configuration.sample and name it configuration.json. Keep it in the same directory as deviceWatch.js.
7. Modify the new configuration file based on the configuration documentation below.
8. Run manually via: sudo node deviceWatch.js
Alternatively: Set the script to load on bootup. This can be done with a simple init.d script for Linux. I have not done this yet for Mac OS X.
OS X Users: in order to automate the entering of your admin password (required for Fing), use the following way of launching the deviceWatch.js script:
echo [Admin Password] | sudo -S node deviceWatch.js
9. Be sure to rotate the logs, or send the output to /dev/null. The program is rather verbose, especially if you enable debugging via the configuration file.
AWS: Contains your default region, access key, and secret access key for Amazon SNS
FakePublish: The Fakepublish flag is a good way to test the app without pushing to Amazon SNS. The app isn’t very chatty anyway, so it’s unlikely to publish too many messages. Devicewatch will also not publish any kind of alert method when fakepublish is on.
FingConfiguration: The netmask to run fing. Test it by running the fing wizard manually, you should see notifications of your network devices.
IndigoConfiguration: scanInterval (in minutes), password protection information for Indigo. Note, your Indigo server IP will be configured on the alert devices later. The scanInterval determines how frequently DeviceWatch will check Indigo to ensure the device state is sync'd if you have alert devices that use the indigo alert method. You can skip IndigoConfiguration if you don’t have Indigo.
EmailConfiguration: Configuration for email notfication of non-white listed devices
Debug: is more verbose when set to true. Note: Devicewatch.js is very verbose to console, so recommend pushing to null or log file to audit ocassionally.
UnknownDeviceNotification: mehtods to notify of unknown devices on your network. Supported method is email.
AlertDevices: List of devices that Devicewatch.js will alert when network status change. Alert devices are automatically white listed, no need to add them twice. Devices are not reported "off" until the ttl (in minutes) of the AlertDevice has expired. This gives a bit of time for the device to come back online if it lost it's IP address.
AlertDevices / AlertMethod:
1. "method": "indigo" - this will reach out to a Indigo server and sync (two way) the state with a variable on the server. Requires IndigoConfiguration to be set. When Fing sees a device state change, it will tell indigo after a set amount of time. You must set the "indigoEndpoint" property for this method in the config. Devices are not reported "off" until the ttl of the AlertDevice has expired.
2. "method": "sns" - A more generic notification method, allowing you to distribute the message of the device state change to a HTTP endpoint, email or other. See Amazon's SNS FAQ for more information (http://aws.amazon.com/sns/faqs/). You must set the "AWSTopicARN" property for this method in the config. Devices are not reported "off" until the ttl of the AlertDevice has expired.
AlertDevices / WakeMethods: Pushover is supported to wake the device. Optional and can be removed. This is still in beta if it actually improves accuracy.
WhiteListDevices: List of known devices on your network. No need to double add any AlertDevice, they are automatically whitelisted.
2014-3-16: Introduced wakeMethods. Pushover is supported. This allows the script to attempt to wake the device if it has appeared offline. If the wake is sucessful, it will be picked up by the deviceWatch.js script and a "offline" alert will be cancelled. This improves the alert reliability and accuracy.
2014-1-13: Major code refactoring. Now object oriented (make sure you do a full git clone to obtain the new .js files). Added node-schedule support to improve event based and scheduled items, relyng less on polling. Should significantly improve performance and speed up notifications when devices come off the network and the TTL expires. The Device_Scan_Interval configuration option has now been depreciated.
2014-1-12: Fixed some async annoyances that would update Indigo more frequently than needed.
2013-12-29: Added support for configuration file changes while deviceWatch.js is running. This could potentially allow for integration from outside scripts where you may add Whitelist or Alert devices and deviceWatch.js will react in real time. The configuration will be reloaded once changes are observed. Added support for notification method (email) for non-whitelisted devices.
2013-12-21: Added a configuration file support, no need to edit the code to set your alert devices any longer. Added support for password protected Indigo servers, set your password in the configuration file. No longer uses "curl" to send updates to Indigo Added support to check indigo's current state and only sends updates when Fing reports a difference than Indigo's saved value