Being new to NodeRed(NR) and wanting to build an app to manage all I can via NR what is the best choices to make from the start. Eventually I want to run on Windows11 and access Victron remotely. I have downloaded\installed NR and the Victron node on W11. Also have enabled Large OS on CerboGX.
what interface protocol to I choose, mqtt, modbus, or something else.
will other 3rd party software be required (need to minimize
is using to flow editor the ide of choice
Moving to mods.
There is no need to run it on your laptop. It runs on the Cerbo where the nodes will run locally, you will access and configure it remotely via your browser.
No need to worry about protocols, thats what the nodes are for.
Suggest you watch the 3-part NR introduction on the victron yootoob channel.
i did watch the vids, 3 times. I prefer to run on laptop for now. I do not want to put my code on the cerbo if it can run effectively on laptop.
The other option is dbus via tcp.
More detail of the benefits/risks of doing that can be found here:
node-red-contrib-victron (node) - Node-RED (nodered.org)
I agree wit Nick, personally find it easier just using the stock install on gx device.
Being in the early learning stage, there's surely a lot of "big picture" angles I am unaware of. Hoping to gain on some via this thread and others doing similar. My initial take has lots of "knowledge" missing for me to grasp the big pic of my final working app. Not in big rush to get done, so long as I can get feedback from these types of forums I should eventually get it.
Any examples of what you are suggesting would be helpful....
Thanks!
Personally I just use debug nodes to ensure my flows are working as expected.
Can even go a step further and get push notification on events to alert you something has happened as a form of long term debugging before you implement actions.
For example say your flows are reading sensors/doing calcs and if a condition is met it performs an action.
Just replace that action with a push notification. That way you can debug your flows over time on the prod system without the action activating/no hard to system if it's wrong.
My env consists of a cerbogx with latest official build of firmware, with venus os large enabled, remote on lan enabled, 2way comm enabled, and remote support. Also have nodered and the victron nodes installed on my w11 box.
Nick, are u saying get rid of my w11 install and just work directly via cerbo as I have been doing on w11?
Yip. That is the most seamless way of doing it and keeping it current.
The cerbo runs it brilliantly, is always on and unaffected by network reliability.
It is also more secure as you don’t need to expose the unprotected mqtt ports.
can you share a snippet of code\flow that would do this? I have a bmv712 connected and accessing data now on the cerbo. how would i deploy and access via web\android?
Thx!
Ultimately it is connected to one inverter environment, so you can't exactly separate into a test/prod environment.
A flow will run anywhere, though you will need to reconfigure the nodes when you import it elsewhere.
When I test, I have it send the desired change to a debug node or a test dashboard so I can be sure the logic is working without having it actually sent to the system itself.
Once I am happy it works I will connect the output to a writeable node.
The UI/dashboard (when loaded on the cerbo) is accessible remotely via VRM - both dash 1 and 2.0 supported.
The dashboards are just a web page, that any suitable browser will render.
Here are some examples of mine.
Dash 2.0
Heatpumps:
Dash 1
All available to me via VRM large image tab, or locally on the LAN.
Another thought about my env comes to mind.
i see a lot of folks running on PI device vs cerbo. What is the reason for doing this setup any different than me running on w11 vs cerbo?
The PI just replaces the Cerbo but it still runs the same venus OS and architecture. It is not a separate device just running node red.
PI's tend to be cheaper, and in some cases were a bit faster, but are unsupported.
There is nothing stopping you uncoupling node red, that is your choice. It is just a road less travelled and I am not sure what the benefits are, unless you intend creating some seriously resource intensive flows.
I have not managed to slow down my cerbo yet, the venus got a bit challenging but this has more grunt, and the ekrano has even more.
