Upgrade Schneider/Gardy IHC Domotics with OpenHABian

Support from Schneider for their Domotics IHC devices has been quite disappointing. The official app was removed from the App Store and, even when it was available, it never worked reliably. This left many users frustrated and searching for alternatives to manage their IHC systems.

Fortunately, there’s now a way to breathe new life into your old Schneider or Gardy IHC central units using openHAB. This guide will walk you through all the steps needed to set up and control your IHC devices with open-source software, providing a stable and flexible solution to replace the outdated official app.

Requirements

Before starting, make sure you have the following:

• An IHC central unit with Ethernet support

• A Raspberry Pi (any recent model) with power supply

• A microSD card with at least 16GB capacity

• A PC or Mac to prepare and flash the openHAB image onto the microSD card

Important Note: According to the original creator of the IHC binding, the IHC binding has been merged into the openHAB2 repository and will be officially available in openHAB 2.5, which might not yet be released at the time of writing. This tutorial uses a workaround to get it running on earlier versions.

 

Create the openHAB Raspberry Pi SD Card

1. Visit the official openHAB website and download the latest Raspberry Pi image suitable for your Pi model.

2. Use an image flashing tool such as BalenaEtcher (cross-platform) or Win32DiskImager (Windows) to write the openHAB image to your microSD card.

3. Insert the flashed microSD card into your Raspberry Pi.

4. Connect the power supply to boot up the Pi.

5. Follow the on-screen instructions or the openHABian first-boot setup guide to complete the installation.

6. Once set up, open a web browser on a device connected to the same network and navigate to http://<your-raspberry-pi-ip>:8080. You should see the openHAB dashboard indicating your installation was successful.

Install the IHC Binding Add-on

1. By default, openHAB2 includes an IHC binding (binding-ihc1 - 1.13.0), but it may not work correctly on all versions. The recommended “IHC / ELKO Binding” might not be available yet in your openHAB version.

2. To solve this, you can use a modified version of the openHAB1 IHC binding that is compatible with openHAB2.

3. Download the custom org.openhab.binding.ihc_2.3.0.201806062121.jar file from a trusted source.

4. Use SCP (secure copy) to transfer this .jar file to your Raspberry Pi’s openHAB add-ons directory:

   scp /path/to/org.openhab.binding.ihc_2.3.0.201806062121.jar openhabian@<raspberry-pi-ip>:/usr/share/openhab2/addons


5. SSH into your Raspberry Pi:

   ssh openhabian@<raspberry-pi-ip>


6. Set the appropriate permissions for the binding file:

   chmod 777 /usr/share/openhab2/addons/org.openhab.binding.ihc_2.3.0.201806062121.jar


7. Reboot your Raspberry Pi:

   sudo reboot


8. After reboot, openHAB will automatically detect and load the new IHC binding.

Configure Your IHC Central Unit in openHAB

1. Open the openHAB dashboard in your browser and go to PaperUI.

2. Navigate to Configuration > Things, then click the + button to add a new thing.

3. Find and select the IHC / ELKO Binding from the list.

4. Fill in the details for your IHC central: IP address, port, username/password (if applicable), and any other required information.

5. Save the configuration by clicking the checkmark icon.

6. If the connection is successful, your new IHC device will show an “Online” status next to it.

Add Bindings for IHC Outputs (Fixtures)

1. Click on your newly added IHC controller in the Things list.

2. You will see a list of available outputs (lights, sensors, switches) connected to your IHC central.

3. Click the open circle next to each output you want to control. The circle will fill in once linked, indicating it’s ready for use in openHAB.

4. These linked items will be available in HABPanel or other openHAB UIs for creating controls and automations.

5. Repeat this process for all devices you want to integrate with openHAB.

Create Your Dashboard in HABPanel

1. Open HABPanel from the openHAB UI.

2. Click the gear icon in the top right corner to manage dashboards.

3. Click Add Dashboard, give it a name, and click OK.

4. Exit the gear menu to enter the new dashboard. It will be empty initially.

5. Click the gear icon again near the dashboard title to enter edit mode.

6. Click Add Widget in the top right, then choose the Switch widget (or any other suitable widget).

7. The widget will appear on the dashboard. Click the three-dot menu on the widget and assign it to one of your linked IHC outputs.

8. Customize the widget’s appearance using available options to suit your preferences.

9. Repeat to add controls for other IHC devices as needed.