How to install HomeBridge on a QNAP NAS using Container station

I am a massive user of smart home products and I link most of my home up in some shape or form with smart home accessories. I am also a user of Apple’s HomeKit to control my smart home accessories, but the challenge I face is that some devices do not support HomeKit. However, searching the internet I found a solution in HomeBridge and I will show you to install it on a QNAP NAS.

Whilst you can install HomeBridge on a Mac, PC or a Raspberry PI device, I run a QNAP NAS at home to manage my home entertainment and CCTV cameras and wanted to install HomeBridge on my QNAP. So after some searching the internet, I figured how to install HomeBridge on a QNAP NAS and I wanted to share this knowledge with those of you that want to do the same.

What is HomeBridge

Homebridge is a lightweight NodeJS server you can run on your home network that emulates the iOS HomeKit API. It supports Plugins, which are community-contributed modules that provide a basic bridge from HomeKit to various 3rd-party APIs provided by manufacturers of “smart home” devices. So if you wanted to use non HomeKit devices like me then HomeBridge could a solution for you.

What do you need to run HomeBridge on a QNAP NAS

• A compatible QNAP NAS (intel chip only)
• Container station installed
• Connected to a network with internet access
• iPhone, iPad or iPod running iOS 10 or later

Quick disclaimer – I am not held responsible for anything that goes wrong. I have got this working and use it with Hive Home, Neato and other products in my home with no issues.

How to install HomeBridge on a QNAP NAS – Step by step instructions

Install container station

Make sure that Container Station is installed which can be found on the QNAP app Store

Open container station

Open container station from the main QNAP app screen

Create

Click on create

Find HomeBridge container

Search for HomeBridge. This will bring up lots of versions, but choose the one named marcoraddatz/homebridge this is the most stable and easier to manage, I have found so far.

Install into container station

Click install and choose the “Latest Build” this will take you to a create screen

Name and resources

Create a friendly name that you can identify later, make sure auto start is selected and set the resources to what you think you can allow.

Advance settings setup

Click Advanced Settings > Network and change the Network Mode to Bridge.

Create a container folder in “file station”

Open up QNAP’s File Station and create a set of folders called Container/HomeBridge in the volume’s root. This will allow you to change the HomeBridge files via QNAP’s File Station.

Go back to contain station

Click Advanced Settings > Shared Folders and select the folder HomeBridge you created in step 8. Then in the Mount Point map, a QNAP folder too/root/.homebridge.

Now create HomeBridge

Once you have done all of that and checked the settings above, press create. This could take some time as the download is 1.1GB. So sit tight and wait for HomeBridge to install.

Download require files

Whilst you are waiting, click on the links to download the files. You need not modify unless you want to. Save them to your desktop for later in step 13.
install.sh
config.json

Stop HomeBridge

Once the HomeBridge installed and up and running, you now need to stop the HomeBridge instance.

Upload to File station

Upload the files from step 11 using QNAP’s File Station into your homebridge folder you created in Step 8. Now restart the HomeBridge in container station.

Restart the HomeBridge instance

Now restart the HomeBridge instance in container station.

Create a “Home” in HomeKit

Open the HomeKit app on your iOS device. In the left and corner press the arrow symbol, then Home settings. Then press add Home,
Name whatever you like and then save.

Add HomeBridge to HomeKit

Go back to the HomeKit app screen and then click Add Accessory. Scan the QR code in the container station console and everything should link up. If you are having trouble scanning the QR code then use the code in the console.

That’s it, you have now setup HomeBridge on a QNAP NAS using a container station. You can now add smart home accessories onto HomeBridge. Don’t forget to subscribe to be first to for HomeKit how to guides. If you have a question or a comment, then leave it below. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Credits to Marco for some images, originally posted on activejr.com