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Ping & Wake-on-LAN smart home integration, free and open source

Ping & Wake-on-LAN integration for Gladys Assistant

See which computers, NAS, TVs or phones are on, and wake them up with Wake-on-LAN.

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Know which computers, NAS, TVs or phones of your home network are on, and switch them on from Gladys. Each watched host becomes a Gladys device that says whether it answers (online / offline) and how fast (latency), with a Wake up button when its MAC address is known (Wake-on-LAN).

Typical uses: switch on the NAS before a backup and wait until it answers, see on the dashboard that the kids' console is still on, know that a phone is home (presence), get warned when a server stops answering.

Developed without the hardware: feedback welcome. The integration is covered by automated tests, but has not yet been tried in a real Gladys installation with a real Wake-on-LAN computer. Tell us on the Gladys forum how it works with yours.

What you get​

  • One device per host, with these features:

    FeatureType in GladysShows
    Onlinepresence sensor (yes/no)green "presence detected" when it answers, red otherwise
    Latencyduration, in millisecondsaverage round trip of the last check (history chart)
    Wake uppush button (only with a MAC)Push sends the Wake-on-LAN packet

  • A Network devices dashboard widget: several hosts at a glance, with a Wake button for the ones that are off.

  • A scene trigger, A device did not wake up, and two scene actions, Wake a device (Wake-on-LAN) (which can wait until the device answers) and Check an address.

Requirements​

  • Gladys Assistant 5.1.0 or later.
  • For the checks: hosts reachable from the Gladys machine, by IP address (a fixed one is best: reserve it in the DHCP settings of your router) or by a DNS name. .local names (mDNS) cannot be resolved inside the integration.
  • For Wake-on-LAN:
    • the computer is on the same local network as Gladys, and preferably wired (Wake-on-LAN over Wi-Fi rarely works);
    • Wake-on-LAN is enabled in its BIOS/UEFI and in its system (Windows: properties of the network card, Wake on Magic Packet; turning off Fast startup often helps; Linux: ethtool -s <interface> wol g; NAS: power settings);
    • its MAC address (written on the router's list of devices, or ipconfig /all, ip link).
  • At installation, Gladys asks you to allow two accesses: Wake-on-LAN access (the core sends the magic packets: the integration's container cannot send broadcasts) and SSDP search for ssdp:all (the network search).

Configuration​

Settings​

SettingDefaultWhat it does
Check interval30 sHow often every host is checked (15 s to 5 min).
Offline after1 minuteTime without any answer before a host is shown offline. "At the first failed check" reacts at once.
Wake-up timeout3 minutesTime a woken device has to answer before A device did not wake up fires.
Language of the feature namesFrenchNames of the features of new devices (Online, Latency, Wake up) and language of the messages.

Adding a host​

In Integrations → Ping & Wake-on-LAN → Configuration, fill in the Add or update a host form and run it:

  • Name and IP address or host name (required);
  • MAC address, to get the Wake up button (any notation: 64:e4:d5:b4:12:66, 64-E4-D5-B4-12-66…);
  • Broadcast address, only if the computer ignores the default wake-up (try the broadcast address of its network, e.g. 192.168.1.255);
  • Check method: Automatic (ping, then TCP when the ping gets no answer), Ping (ICMP) only, or TCP port only;
  • TCP port: the port tried when the ping fails (e.g. 445 for a Windows PC, 62078 for an iPhone). Without it, the automatic method tries a few usual ports;
  • Offline after (this host): overrides the setting for this host (phones: 10 to 30 minutes).

The integration checks the host once and tells you whether it answers. Then open the Discover tab and press Add to Gladys. To change a host, run the form again with the same name or the same address: the device keeps its history. If the MAC address was added, press Update in the Discover tab to get the button. Remove a host takes it out of the list (its device stays in Gladys until you delete it).

Search the network (and the Scan button of the Discover tab) asks Gladys for the devices that announce themselves on the network (UPnP/SSDP: TVs, NAS, media servers, routers, printers, game consoles, Windows PCs with network discovery on) and proposes them in the Discover tab, named after their UPnP description. When the Gladys machine knows its MAC address, the device comes with the Wake up button. Phones and most computers do not announce themselves: add them by hand.

Devices​

  • Online: 1 as soon as the host answers, 0 once it has not answered for the Offline after delay. A host never checked yet has no value.
  • Latency: average round trip of the last check, in milliseconds, published again when it moves by 20 % (1 ms at least): the history stays readable. Nothing is published while the host is offline.
  • Wake up: sends the Wake-on-LAN packet. The host is then checked every 5 seconds; a packet is sent again every 30 seconds while it stays silent, until it answers or the Wake-up timeout ends.

How a host is checked:

  • Ping (ICMP): three echo requests 0.2 s apart, 1 second to answer.
  • TCP: a connection to a port. A refused connection proves the host is up too: only silence means offline. It catches the hosts that ignore pings (Windows firewall, some phones). Without a port, the automatic method tries 80, 443, 22, 445, 139, 3389, 5000, 8080, 8009 and 62078 together.

Gladys shows "No recent value" on a value older than 48 hours: an unchanged state is published again every 12 hours to avoid it.

Dashboard widget​

Edit dashboard → add a widget → Network devices. Leave Devices shown empty to see every host (10 at most), or pick some. Each line gives the state of a host: Online with its latency, Offline, or Starting after a wake-up. Up to four Wake buttons are shown for the offline hosts that have a MAC address.

Scene trigger​

A device did not wake up fires when a device woken by the integration (button, widget or scene) still does not answer at the end of the Wake-up timeout. The Device filter is optional. Variables: Device name, Address, Seconds waited.

Beware of loops: a scene that wakes the device again on this trigger starts over at every failure, every few minutes, with no end (a computer unplugged from the mains will never answer). Send a message instead, or stop after one retry with a condition of your own.

For "the device is on / off", use the core trigger Device state change on the Online feature, and tick Execute only when threshold is passed: the state is sent again every 12 hours, and without the box the scene would run again each time.

Scene actions​

  • Wake a device (Wake-on-LAN): Device (required) and Wait until it answers. Without waiting, the packet is sent and the scene goes on. With it, the next steps start once the device answers, or after 100 seconds (Gladys gives an action 120 seconds at most). Results: Answering (1 or 0) and Start-up time in seconds. A device already on is not woken (Answering 1, Start-up time 0).
  • Check an address: an IP address or a host name (scene variables allowed) and an optional TCP port (then only this port is tried). Results: Answers (1 or 0) and Latency. No device is created.

The results are numbers (1/0) so that Condition on variables can compare them: choose the result, =, and type 1.

Scene examples​

  1. Backup on the NAS at night: Scheduled trigger at 2:00 → Wake a device NAS with Wait until it answers → Condition on variables: Answering = 1 → your backup steps (for example Make a HTTP request to the NAS) → Send Message with the Start-up time result (insert it from the variable list).
  2. Movie evening: in the scene that sets up the living room → Wake a device media PC (without waiting) → Wait 1 minute → turn on the TV.
  3. Server watch: Device state change on Online of the server, value No presence, threshold box ticked → Send Message "The server no longer answers". A second scene on A device did not wake up → Send Message with the Device name and Seconds waited variables.

Troubleshooting​

  • A host stays offline although it is on: it ignores pings (Windows firewall, phones). Use Check method → TCP port only with a port it opens (445 for Windows file sharing, 3389 for remote desktop, 22 for SSH, 62078 for an iPhone), or keep Automatic with that port.
  • A phone goes offline and back all the time: phones asleep on Wi-Fi stop answering for minutes. Give the host Offline after 10 to 30 minutes.
  • The Configuration screen says that ping (ICMP) is not allowed: the Docker of your Gladys machine does not let containers send pings (Docker older than 20.10). Hosts are then checked over TCP only: give each one a port, or update Docker.
  • Wake up does nothing: check the MAC address, that Wake-on-LAN is enabled in the BIOS/UEFI and the system, and that the computer is wired. Try the broadcast address of its network. A computer that was unplugged from the mains often needs one normal start before Wake-on-LAN works again.
  • The network search finds nothing: many devices do not answer SSDP; add them by hand. If the message says the search is unavailable, Gladys refused the SSDP access.
  • "No recent value" on a device: the integration may be stopped; look at its logs in the Supervision tab.
  • Logs: on the integration page in Gladys, or docker logs on the host. They stay quiet: the start, a host going offline or coming back, each Wake-on-LAN, and a problem once when it starts and once when it is over. LOG_LEVEL=debug shows every check.

Limits​

  • IPv4 addresses and DNS names only; .local (mDNS) names are not resolved.
  • Wake-on-LAN reaches the local network of the Gladys machine: waking a computer on another network (VPN, other VLAN) depends on your router forwarding broadcasts, which most do not.
  • Gladys sends one magic packet every 2 seconds at most: waking ten computers at once takes 20 seconds.
  • A successful wake-up only means the packet left: only the next answers prove the device is on.
  • 64 hosts at most. Each check sends 3 pings or, in TCP, up to 10 connection attempts per host; nothing leaves your network, no account and no cloud service are involved.
  • What the integration stores: the list of hosts and their options, in /data/hosts.json in its container.

Configuration settings​

These are the settings Ping & Wake-on-LAN asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.

SettingTypeRequiredDescription
Your hostssectionNoAdd each computer, NAS, TV or phone to watch with the "Add or update a host" action below, then create its device in the Discover tab. "Search the network" proposes the devices that announce themselves (UPnP), with their MAC address when Gladys knows it.
Check intervalselectNoHow often every host is checked.
Offline afterselectNoTime without any answer before a host is shown offline. Phones asleep on Wi-Fi skip answers: give them 5 to 10 minutes (per host, in the action below).
Wake-up timeoutselectNoHow long a woken device has to answer before the "A device did not wake up" trigger fires. A packet is sent again every 30 seconds meanwhile.
Language of the feature namesselectNoNames given to the features of new devices (Online, Latency, Wake up) and language of the messages.

How to install Ping & Wake-on-LAN in Gladys​

  1. In Gladys, open Integrations: Ping & Wake-on-LAN appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
  2. Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-ping-wol:1.0.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration).
  3. Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
  4. You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-ping-wol.

Ping & Wake-on-LAN requires Gladys >=5.1.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.

Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.

About external integrations​

Ping & Wake-on-LAN is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by guim31, not by the Gladys core team.

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