Rain Bird smart home integration, free and open source
Rain Bird irrigation controllers (LNK Wi-Fi), locally: zones, rain sensor, rain delay, programs.
Published by guim31
- Devices
- Version 1.0.1
- Requires Gladys >=5.2.0
- ★ 0
Follow and control your Rain Bird irrigation controller from Gladys, over your local network: see which zone is watering, whether the rain sensor detects rain and whether a rain delay pauses the schedule; water one zone for a few minutes, stop everything, start a program, or pause the schedule for the rainy days ahead. No Rain Bird account, no cloud: Gladys talks to the controller's Wi-Fi module directly.
Developed without the hardware: feedback welcome. This integration was built from the protocol of the open-source library pyrainbird and the answers of real controllers recorded in its tests and in those of Home Assistant, not on a real controller. If something does not work as described, please say so on the Gladys forum or in the issues.
This integration is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, Rain Bird Corporation.
What you need
- Gladys Assistant 5.2.0 or later.
- A Rain Bird controller with a LNK or LNK2 Wi-Fi module (ESP-TM2, ESP-Me, ESP-ME3, ESP-RZXe, ST8x-WiFi, ARC8, TRU…), already set up with the Rain Bird app and connected to your Wi-Fi.
- The IP address of the module on your network: look for it in your router's list of devices. Give it a fixed address (DHCP reservation) so it does not change.
- The controller password chosen in the Rain Bird app when the module was set up. It encrypts every exchange with the module.
The module serves one client at a time and answers slowly. While Gladys reads it (a few seconds each minute by default), the Rain Bird app may have to wait or show an error: try again a moment later, or choose a longer reading interval.
Set up
- Install the integration from the Gladys catalog.
- In Configuration, enter the Address of the module (for example
192.168.1.20), its Module password, and optionally a Name. Two or three controllers? Fill in the Second controller and Third controller sections too. - Choose the options: Watering from a zone switch (min) (10 by default), the Reading interval (1 minute by default, 2 or 5 minutes to leave the module freer for the app) and the Language of the feature names.
- Save, then click Test the connection: the message under the button says, for each controller, its model, its zones, what is watering, the rain sensor and the rain delay.
- Open the Discover tab: one device per controller. Click Add, pick a room, save.
The address can also be written https://192.168.1.20 or
http://192.168.1.20: without a scheme, the integration tries HTTPS first (the
newer LNK2 firmwares, with their self-signed certificate) then HTTP (the older
ones), and keeps the one that answers.
The device of each controller
The device is named after the Name of the configuration, or "Rain Bird" followed by the model. It is identified by the MAC address of its Wi-Fi module: giving the controller another address keeps the device and its history.
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Zone 1, Zone 2… (one per zone wired on the controller) | A switch, on while the zone waters. Turning it on waters the zone for the minutes of the configuration (the controller stops it by itself); turning it off stops the watering of every zone: the controller has no "stop this zone only" command. |
| Rain sensor | On (1) when the rain sensor wired to the controller detects rain. Stays off without a sensor. Absent when the controller refuses this reading. |
| Rain delay | The days the schedule stays paused (0: none). A slider from 0 to 14 days (30 on the BAT-PRO and LX models): moving it sets the delay on the controller. |
| Online | On while the controller answers; off after two readings in a row without answer. |
| Stop watering | A button: stops every zone. |
| Run program A, Run program B… | A button per program of the model (A to H at most; none on the ESP-RZXe and ST8x-WiFi, which schedule each zone on its own): starts the program now, as at its start time. |
Rain Bird names the zones in its app, in the cloud: the integration does not read them. Rename the features in Gladys (device settings) to "Lawn", "Vegetable garden"…
The features are created in the Language of the feature names of the configuration (French by default) and keep their name afterwards.
Dashboard
The Rain Bird widget shows one controller (the one chosen in its settings, or the first of the configuration):
- the zones, those watering first, with a Watering or Idle badge (8 at most; the number of the others is shown below);
- the rain sensor, the rain delay, and the connection when the controller does not answer;
- four buttons: Water… (choose the zone and the minutes), Stop (every zone; a check mark when nothing waters), Program… (choose the program; absent when the model has none) and Rain delay… (choose the days, 0 cancels the delay).
Scenes
Triggers
- Rain Bird watering started: a zone starts watering. Filters: the controller, the zone, and Started by: The controller (schedule, app) or Gladys. Information passed on: the zone, who started it, the controller name.
- Rain Bird watering finished: a zone stops watering. Same filters. Information passed on: the zone, the minutes watered as seen by Gladys (to the reading interval; empty when the watering started before the integration), who started it, the controller name.
A watering is seen at the next reading: with a one-minute interval, a start or an end shows up within a minute. A zone switch already gives "zone on/off" to the scenes; these triggers add who started it, how long it watered, and one trigger for every zone.
Actions
- Water a Rain Bird zone: a controller, a zone number, a duration in minutes (10 by default). The controller stops the zone by itself.
- Stop Rain Bird watering: every zone of a controller, or of all of them when the controller is left empty.
- Run a Rain Bird program: a controller and a program (A to H).
- Set the Rain Bird rain delay: a controller and a number of days (0 cancels the delay; capped at the model's limit).
Scene ideas
- Rain forecast: when the weather forecast announces rain for tomorrow, Set the Rain Bird rain delay to 2 days.
- Someone in the garden: when the garden gate opens, Stop Rain Bird watering.
- Watering report: on Rain Bird watering finished started by The controller, send a message "Zone {zone} watered {minutes} min".
- Seedlings: every day at 2 pm in a heatwave, Water a Rain Bird zone: the vegetable garden zone for 5 minutes.
Troubleshooting
- "does not answer": check the address (it may have changed: give the module a fixed address in your router), that the controller is powered and that its Wi-Fi light is on. Gladys must be able to reach the module's network.
- "password refused (or not a Rain Bird module)": type the controller password again (the one of the Rain Bird app, case-sensitive). Also check that the address is the Rain Bird module's. After a refused password, the integration tries again only every 10 minutes (the module can lock out repeated attempts); saving the configuration tries at once.
- "busy with another client": the Rain Bird app (or another home automation system) was talking to the module. The integration retries a few times, then at the next reading. Two systems reading the module every minute will keep getting in each other's way: keep one.
- The Rain Bird app cannot connect: the module is busy with Gladys for a few seconds; try again, or choose a reading interval of 2 or 5 minutes.
- A zone switch flips back: the controller refused or ignored the command. The integration checks the controller five seconds after each command and shows what it really does.
- A new zone is missing: click Search in the Discover tab (or Test the connection), then Update the device.
- More details: start the integration with
LOG_LEVEL=debugto see every reading in its logs. Passwords and Wi-Fi settings never appear there.
Limits
- Developed without the hardware: feedback welcome. Tested against the recorded answers of real controllers, not against a real controller.
- Local network only, through a LNK or LNK2 Wi-Fi module: a controller without one (Bluetooth only, or cloud only) is not reachable this way.
- The integration reads the controller at most once a minute (the module serves one client at a time): a watering started from the controller shows up within the reading interval.
- No zone names (they live in the Rain Bird cloud) and no schedule editing.
- Turning a zone off stops every zone (the only stop command of the controller). Starting a zone while another waters: depending on the model, the controller stops it or queues the new one.
- Durations from 1 to 240 minutes (fewer if the model's limit is lower).
Configuration settings
These are the settings Rain Bird asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.
| Setting | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your Rain Bird controller | section | No | A controller with a LNK or LNK2 Wi-Fi module, set up with the Rain Bird app. The module serves one client at a time: the app may have to wait while Gladys reads it. |
| Address | string | Yes | IP address of the Wi-Fi module on your network (see your router; a fixed address is best). |
| Module password | secret | Yes | The controller password chosen in the Rain Bird app, which encrypts every exchange. |
| Name | string | No | Name of the device in Gladys. Empty: "Rain Bird" followed by the model. |
| Second controller (optional) | section | No | Same fields, for another Rain Bird controller of your network. |
| Address | string | No | |
| Module password | secret | No | |
| Name | string | No | |
| Third controller (optional) | section | No | Same fields, for a third Rain Bird controller. |
| Address | string | No | |
| Module password | secret | No | |
| Name | string | No | |
| Options | section | No | |
| Watering from a zone switch (min) | number | No | How long a zone waters when switched on in Gladys; the controller stops it by itself. |
| Reading interval | select | No | How often the controllers are read. Longer leaves the module free for the Rain Bird app. |
| Language of the feature names | select | No | Names given to the features when the device is added to Gladys, and messages. |
How to install Rain Bird in Gladys
- In Gladys, open Integrations: Rain Bird appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
- Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (
ghcr.io/guim31/gladys-rainbird:1.0.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration). - Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
- You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/guim31/gladys-rainbird.
Rain Bird requires Gladys >=5.2.0. 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
Rain Bird 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.
- Browse all integrations, native and community
- Build and publish your own external integration
- Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation