PC2HASS is a Python program that can control a Windows PC from Home Assistant.
- Switch between different display configuration of a Windows PC from Home Assistant. Unlimited combinations of:
- Different resolutions
- Multi-monitor setups (#, left, right, extended, duplicate)
- Launch Windows applications and websites from Home Assistant
-Thank-you to Martin (martink84) at Sourceforge for the MonitorSwitcher component-
Before using this software, please refer to the security cautions at the end of this guide.
Follow this guide to get up and running, controling your PC from the lovelace frontend and backend scripts.
- Home Assistant server
- Windows PC with Python 3.7 or later installed
You will need to know and have both configured with a fixed IP addresses.
- Python Requests library on your Windows PC
The Requests libraray, https://2.python-requests.org/en/v2.7.0/ can be installed with the following command line:
pip install requests
Download the PC2HASS zip file and extract it to a known location on your Windows drive.
Download Monitor Profile Switcher from https://sourceforge.net/projects/monitorswitcher/ and extract the file MonitorSwitcher.exe to the same folder that you have PC2HASS.py in.
- Open Home Assistant and navigate to your Profile page.
- Under Log-Lived Access Tokens, click CREATE TOKEN.
- Give it any name you like, and copy the token it gives you to the clipboard.
- Using your favorite editor (IDLE, Notepad++, Notepad) open
PC2HASS.py
from http.server import HTTPServer, BaseHTTPRequestHandler
from io import BytesIO
from subprocess import call, Popen
from os import listdir
import fnmatch
import json
import requests
CREATE_NO_WINDOW = 0x08000000
DETACHED_PROCESS = 0x00000008
AUTH = 'Bearer ENTER-HA-LONG-LIVED-TOKEN-HERE'
HASS_IP = 'ENTER-HA-IP-ADDRESS-HERE:8123'
APPS_ENTITY = 'input_select.pc_apps'
MODES_ENTITY = 'input_select.pc_modes'
class SimpleHTTPRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
- Replace the text
ENTER-HA-LONG-LIVED-TOKEN-HEREwith the token text you just copied - Replace the text
ENTER-HA-IP-ADDRESS-HEREwith the IP address of your Home Assistant server - Save and close the file
PC2HASS.py
- In Windows setup your display(s) to a configuration that you would like to use
- Resolutions, Duplicate, Extended, Disabled, Positions, etc.
- Open a command prompt and navigate to the PC2HASS directory
- Enter the command
MonitorSwitcher.exe -save:\screens\CONFIG.xml, replacingCONFIGwith a name for your current configuration - Repeat for each different display configuration you would like to have
Place shortcuts to any applications you would like to launch from HA in the \apps folder inside the PC2HASS folder
- Shortcuts can be
.lnkor.urlfiles only
Within Home Assistant add the following to your configuration.yaml file:
- Entities for the display switcher and application launcher
input_select:
pc_modes:
options:
- none
name: PC Video Modes
initial: none
pc_apps:
options:
- none
name: PC Applications
initial: none
- Rest commands to refresh the two enities and execute the requests
rest_command:
set_pc_mode:
url: 'http://ENTER-WINDOWS-PC-IP:17017/'
method: POST
content_type: 'application/json'
payload: '{"cmd": "pcres_load", "data": "{{ newres }}"}'
set_pc_app:
url: 'http://ENTER-WINDOWS-PC-IP:17017/'
method: POST
content_type: 'application/json'
payload: '{"cmd": "pcapp_load", "data": "{{ newapp }}"}'
get_pc_modes:
url: 'http://ENTER-WINDOWS-PC-IP:17017'
method: POST
content_type: 'application/json'
payload: '{"cmd": "pcres_list"}'
get_pc_apps:
url: 'http://ENTER-WINDOWS-PC-IP:17017'
method: POST
content_type: 'application/json'
payload: '{"cmd": "pcapps_list"}'
- Change
ENTER-WINDOWS-PC-IPto the IP address of your Windows PC
Within Home Assistant add the following to your automations.yaml file:
- Refresh the display options/state and the apps options every 5 minutes
- id: 'loadpcmodes'
alias: load_pcmodes
description: ''
trigger:
- event: start
platform: homeassistant
- minutes: /5
platform: time_pattern
condition: []
action:
- service: rest_command.get_pc_modes
- id: 'loadpcapps'
alias: load_pcapps
description: ''
trigger:
- event: start
platform: homeassistant
- minutes: /5
platform: time_pattern
condition: []
action:
- service: rest_command.get_pc_apps
- Command the PC when the display or application is selected
- id: 'changepcres'
alias: change_pcres
description: ''
trigger:
- entity_id: input_select.pc_modes
platform: state
condition:
- condition: template
value_template: '{{ trigger.from_state.state != trigger.to_state.state }}'
action:
- service: rest_command.set_pc_mode
data_template:
newres: '{{ trigger.to_state.state }}'
- id: 'changepcapp'
alias: change_pcapp
description: ''
trigger:
- entity_id: input_select.pc_apps
platform: state
condition:
- condition: template
value_template: '{{ trigger.from_state.state != trigger.to_state.state }}'
action:
- service: rest_command.set_pc_app
data_template:
newapp: '{{ trigger.to_state.state }}'
- Double-click PC2HASS.py on the Windows PC to launch it
- Restart Home Assistant for the changes to take effect
Within Home Assistant you may add the entities to your lovelace file to create drop-down selection boxes:
- entity: input_select.pc_modes
- entity: input_select.pc_apps
The Display Modes will update the current display state every 5 minutes. If the current Windows display state matches one of the saved xml files, it will display that. If no match is found it will display "Unknown".
The Applications will always revert back to "Select Application" after 5 minutes however a choice may be selected at any time.
Due to a bug in Home Assistant, the icon cannot for the input_select cannot be changed.
First add an additional rest command in `configuration.yaml'
Available commands:
- "pcres_load","data": use the filename of any xml profile you have saved
- "pcapps_load","data": use the filename of a shortcut (lnk or url) in the apps folder
E.g. This one would activate the "TV Only - 4k.xml" profile.
rest_command:
pc_4k:
url: 'http://ENTER-WINDOWS-PC-IP:17017/'
method: POST
content_type: 'application/json'
payload: '{"cmd": "pcres_load", "data": "TV Only - 4k.xml"}'
Then use the rest_command in your script or automation.
The buttons on the Mini-Media Player card ( https://github.com/kalkih/mini-media-player ) shown above were created with script(s) and the additional rest_command (s)
Example script in scripts.yaml for the 4k button shown:
'1580231972116':
alias: ht_pc4k
sequence:
- entity_id: media_player.avr_theatre
service: media_player.turn_on
- data:
source: PC
entity_id: media_player.avr_theatre
service: media_player.select_source
- entity_id: media_player.ht_tv
service: media_player.turn_on
- data:
source: HDMI-1
entity_id: media_player.ht_tv
service: media_player.select_source
- data:
sound_mode: Computer*
entity_id: media_player.ht_tv
service: media_player.select_sound_mode
- service: rest_command.pc_4k
(Turns on the receiver and the tv. Sets the receiver input. Sets the TV video mode. Sets the PC to 4k TV Only.)
Here is the lovelace for the entire example card above:
- type: entities
show_header_toggle: false
entities:
- entity: media_player.ht_tv
type: 'custom:mini-media-player'
name: Home Theatre TV
icon: 'mdi:television'
group: true
sound_mode: full
hide:
power_state: false
sound_mode: false
volume: true
- entity: media_player.avr_theatre
type: 'custom:mini-media-player'
name: Home Theatre
icon: 'mdi:speaker'
group: true
hide:
power_state: false
shortcuts:
columns: 6
buttons:
- image: /local/keyboard-multi_monitor.svg
id: script.1579297159939
type: script
- image: /local/keyboard-4K_TV.svg
id: script.1580231972116
type: script
- icon: 'mdi:disc'
id: script.1579298837575
type: script
- icon: 'mdi:cast'
id: script.1579306601961
type: script
- icon: 'mdi:playstation'
type: script
id: script.1579666236032
- icon: 'mdi:close-box-multiple-outline'
id: script.1579287391667
type: script
- entity: input_select.pc_modes
- entity: input_select.pc_apps
(Note, the first two buttons use a custom icon)
The Python HttpServer https://docs.python.org/2/library/simplehttpserver.html used in this software is very basic, and not intended for production. It only implments basic security checks.
Also of note, the application launcher runs windows commands sent to it over port 17017. Normally this would be unacceptably dangerous, however to prevent unauthorized commands, it will only execute a command if the name received matches the name of a file present in the \apps directory of the installation. Any attempt to escape this directory, or pass any arguments will fail this check.
Please do not use this on a PC that is exposed directly (without a firewall) to the internet.
In addition it is recomended you set your PC to block all incoming requests to port 17017 except those coming from the IP address of your Home Assistant server.
PC2HASS - Windows PC to Home Assistant Interface for Display Settings and Application Launching
Copyright (C) 2020
https://github.com/cbishop76/PC2HASS/blob/master/PC2HASS.py
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>