Update: I was able to get this working on my Docker server. Check out the details here.
Before you read through all of this: No, I have not been able to get the Polyglot v2 server working in Docker on my docker host (Ubuntu 18.04). I ended up following the instructions for installing on a Raspberry Pi using Raspbian.
Goal
My goal was to get a Polyglot v2 server up and running so that I could run the MyQ node server and connect my ISY Home Automation controller to my garage door. And since the ISY is connected through the ISY Portal, I could then configure my Amazon Echo to open and close the garage door.
Approach #1 – Docker
Since I already have an Ubuntu server running several docker containers, the most logical solution was to run the Polyglot server as a docker container. And, according to this forum post, the author had already created a docker compose file for the Polyglot server and a MongoDB instance. It would seem I should be running about as quickly as I could download the file and run the docker-compose command. But it wasn’t that easy.
The MongoDB server started, and as best I can tell, the Polyglot server started and got stuck looking for the ISY. The compose file had the appropriate credentials and address for the ISY, so I am not sure why it was getting stuck there. Additionally, I could not locate any logs with more detail than what I was getting from the application output, so it seemed as though I was stuck. I tried a few things around modifying port numbers and the like, but to no avail. In the interest of just wanting to get this to work, I attempted something else.
Approach #2 – Small VM
I wanted to see if I could get Polyglot running on a VM. No, it would not be as flashy as Docker, but it should get the job done. And it would still let me virtualize the machine on my server so I didn’t need to have a Raspberry Pi just hanging around to open and close the garage door.
I ran into even more trouble here: I had libcurl4 installed on the Ubuntu Server, but MongoDB wanted libcurl3. Apparently this is something of a known issue, and there were some workarounds that I found. But, quite frankly, I did not feel the need to dive into it. I had a Raspberry Pi so I did the logical thing…
Giving up…
I gave up, so to speak. The Polyglot v2 instructions are written for installation on a Raspberry Pi. I have two at home, neither in much use, so I followed the installation instructions from the repository on one of my Raspberry Pi’s and a fresh SD card. It took about 30 minutes to get everything running, MyQ installed and configured, and the ISY Portal updated to let me open the garage door with my Echo. No special steps, just read the instructions and you are good.
What’s next?
Well, I would really like to get that server running in Docker. It would make it a lot easier to manage and free up that Raspberry Pi for more hardware related things (like my home bar project!). I posted a question to the ISY forums in the hopes that someone has seen a similar problem and might have some solutions for me. But for now, I have a Raspberry Pi running that lets me open my garage door with the Amazon Echo.
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