Inner Range Inception to MQTT

A docker container to interface Inner Range Inception with MQTT to be used with home automation like Home Assistant

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Setup Steps

1. Create a MQTT server
2. Setup config file configuration.yml in /config directory (example below)
3. Setup docker compose file (example below)
4. Enable Home Assistant MQTT discovery if integrating with Home Assistant (optional): https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/mqtt/discovery/
5. Run the app by running docker-compose up --build

Example Docker Compose File

version: '3'
services:
  inception-mqtt:
    container_name: inception-mqtt
    image: ghcr.io/matthew-larner/inception-mqtt:latest
    volumes:
      - ./config:/usr/src/app/config
      # - ./certs:/usr/src/app/certs  # Optional: mount TLS certificates
    environment:
      - TZ=Australia/Sydney
    restart: unless-stopped

Example Config

Refer to https://github.com/matthew-larner/inception-mqtt/blob/main/configuration.yml.example

MQTT TLS/SSL

To encrypt the MQTT connection with TLS:

1. Set tls: true in your configuration.yml and update the port (standard MQTTS port is 8883)
2. Mount your certificate files into the container by adding a volume to your docker compose:

   volumes:
     - ./config:/usr/src/app/config
     - ./certs:/usr/src/app/certs

3. Add the certificate paths to your config:

   mqtt:
     broker: 192.168.1.102
     port: 8883
     tls: true
     cafile: /usr/src/app/certs/ca.crt

TLS Config Options

Option	Required	Description
tls	Yes	Set to true to enable TLS
cafile	No	Path to CA certificate file
certfile	No	Path to client certificate (for mutual TLS)
keyfile	No	Path to client private key (for mutual TLS)
reject_unauthorized	No	Set to false to allow self-signed certificates (default: true)

Self-Signed Certificates

If your MQTT broker uses a self-signed certificate (common with Mosquitto), set reject_unauthorized: false in your config, or provide the CA certificate via cafile.

How it works

This docker container communicates with the Inception REST API. It will automatically create the following items in Home Assistant if you have MQTT discovery enabled.

You may also find references to the API on your local Inception controller. "http://local_Inception_IP_address/ApiDoc"

You need to have one of the following Home Assistant classes in the input description in Inception in order for the input to be displayed in Home Assistant; motion, garage, door, rex, opening, power, smoke, vibration, window, cold, heat, light or moisture.

Inception	Home Assistant
Area	Alarm
Door	Lock
Input	Binary Sensor
Output	Switch

Inputs

The name of the Inputs in Inception needs to contain one of the following words (case insensitive), otherwise it won't show up in Home Assistant:

• motion
• pir
• louvre
• garage
• door
• gate
• button
• rex
• opening
• power
• smoke
• vibration
• shock
• cold
• heat
• light
• moisture
• break
• glass
• window

Outputs

The name of the Inputs in Inception needs to contain one of the following words (case insensitive), otherwise it won't show up in Home Assistant:

• siren
• screamer
• door
• garage
• gate

Custom MQTT Commands

These are optional MQTT commands which can't be done via Home Assistant entities.

Timed Output

By default, when turning a switch on in Home Assistant, it will publish the MQTT message:

• Topic: inception/switch/0392896c-9d10-4bfe-9602-851eae0fdc3c/set
• Payload: On

You can optionally supply an integer instead and it will trigger the output to turn on for the number of seconds supplied, then off. You can find the topic from the Home Assistant discovery topic on MQTT (e.g. homeassistant/switch/* -> command_topic). To do this, push to MQTT directly:

Turn on the output for 3 seconds:

• Topic: inception/switch/0392896c-9d10-4bfe-9602-851eae0fdc3c/set
• Payload: 3

Unlock a Door

By default, when unlocking a door via Home Assistant, it sends 'Open' to Inception, which unlocks the door for a set number of seconds (as defined via the Inception dashboard), then locks it again. You may want to keep the door unlocked. You can find the topic from the Home Assistant discovery topic on MQTT (e.g. homeassistant/lock/* -> command_topic). To do this, push to MQTT directly:

To Unlock door:

• Topic: inception/lock/98512c65-4d2e-58ec-9d1c-3445dbe65215/set
• Payload: Unlock

To Lock door:

• Topic: inception/lock/98512c65-4d2e-58ec-9d1c-3445dbe65215/set
• Payload: Unlock

To Open door (unlock for x number of seconds as defined in the Inception dashboard):

• Topic: inception/lock/98512c65-4d2e-58ec-9d1c-3445dbe65215/set
• Payload: Open