ether_housed

ether_housed

About

This is the API server for ether_house project. Client software runs on an Arduino and interacts with this API.

In designing the software, I aimed for longevity. I want the software to continue to run for many years without maintenance. I decided to use golang.

• Go binaries are statically compiled, which means the same binary I compile now will continue to run on new platforms for years to come.
• With godeps I can include all compatible libraries together with no external dependencies, regardless of their long term state.
• I use Heroku to deploy the code. Heroku is free for small installs and a stable platform. They can probably keep this server up better than I can.
• I use a DNS name I can control for service discovery. This gives me the flexibility to change platforms over time if necissary.

Usage

This is an API server. It isn't really designed to be useful to humans. All it really does is store shared state and configuration for ether_house clients as they report in.

Requirements

• golang 1.3 (1.2.1 seems to work too)
• memcached
• heroku (optional)

Install

Using heroku

• Install heroku, get an account, log in with the tool

• Clone this repo

• Make a copy of the secrets file and make your own secrets

• Create an app

  Use the golang buildback

  heroku create -b https://github.com/kr/heroku-buildpack-go.git

• Enable Memcache (optional)

  heroku addons:add memcachedcloud:25

• Push

  git push origin heroku

• Push your secrets

  make push_config

Locally on Ubuntu

# cd to directory containing this code
sudo apt-get install go
export GOPATH=$HOME/gopath:`pwd`/Godeps/_workspace
go get github.com/kr/godep
sudo apt-get install memcached
go build .
./solarkennedy-ether_housed

Security

The client uses HTTP in combination with an API key to authenticate and authorize. A compromised API key means someone can change the stored state associated with that key, as well as retrieve the mac address associated with that API key.

This key is considered a simple shared secret. If you want new ones, change the secrets.sh file and program the new key on the arduino.