Glossary

When working with ioBroker, you'll encounter a handful of terms that you need to know to understand tutorials and forum posts. Here they are, listed alphabetically.

  • ACL

    Access Control List (ACL) defines the access rights of a single object. It is represented as a three-digit number, for example...664 , and apply in that order to the owner, owner group, and all other users. Reading counts as 4, writing as 2. See Access Management .

  • adapter

    A module for a device, service, or function. Because ioBroker is entirely made up of modules, almost everything is an adapter: the admin interface, the visualization, the script execution. See Controller and Adapter .

  • Admin

    The adapter that provides the web interface is usually on port 8081. Everything runs through it: installing adapters, creating instances, viewing objects, and writing scripts. See Admin Interface .

  • Alias

    A virtual data point that points to a real one. This allows you to change the name, role, and unit of another data point without modifying the adapter. See Alias .

  • Backup

    A backup of the installation. The ioBroker backup includes objects, states, and configurations, but not the recorded measurement data. See Data Backup .

  • Blockly

    Graphical programming: Scripts are assembled from building blocks instead of being written. When saved, this results in JavaScript, which is then executed. No programming knowledge is required.

  • CCU

    The Central Control Unit (CCU) is eQ-3's smart home control center for Homematic. The current version is the CCU3. It can be used to control Homematic and Homematic IP devices, both wireless and wired.

  • Data point

    Colloquially, the position where a value is located. More precisely, it consists of two parts: the object that describes the value, and the state that contains it. See states .

  • Expert mode

    A switch in the admin panel displays additional objects, columns, and settings: internal data points, access rights, and installation from GitHub. It doesn't change anything about the system; it simply displays more information. See the interface walkthrough .

  • Device

    English: device . A level in the object tree, usually directly below the adapter, that summarizes all channels and states of a device.

  • history

    The recorded history of a data point. A state only knows its current value; anyone wanting to know its value yesterday needs one of the adapters.history ,influxdb orsql , specifically switched on before the values are recorded. See data logging .

  • Homematic

    A smart home system from eQ-3, widely used in Germany. The devices are connected via a CCU.

  • Host

    The computer on which ioBroker is running. In a multi-host setup, there are several.

  • Instance

    An ongoing process of an adapter. Most adapters allow multiple adapters, so that, for example, two Hue Bridges can be set up separately. The instance number is at the beginning of the object tree:hue.0 andhue.1 See Controllers and Adapters .

  • JavaScript

    The programming language in which ioBroker and its adapters are written, and in which you can also write your own scripts.

  • js-controller

    The main process of ioBroker. It manages the two databases, starts the instances, monitors them, and restarts them in case of errors. See js-controller .

  • jsonl

    The default file format of the two internal databases. This resolves the older issue.file -format and is significantly faster. See Redis .

  • channel

    A level that groups related states, usually below a device. A device can have multiple channels.

  • category

    English enum . A list of objects that belong together: all the appliances in a room, all the lamps in the house. See categories .

  • Multihost

    Operating across multiple computers, for example to distribute load or to use an interface that is only connected to a specific device. One host manages the databases, and the others connect to it. See Multihost .

  • Node-RED

    Graphical programming by chaining pre-built modules into a sequence. An alternative to Blockly, with its own interface.

  • object

    The description of a data point: name, data type, unit, role, whether it is readable and writable. The object itself rarely changes, but its state is constant. See Objects .

  • Redis

    A database that stores its data in RAM. In ioBroker, it can optionally be used for system states, which significantly reduces write operations to the card or disk on larger systems. See Redis .

  • Repository

    The list from which the adapters come. There are two: stable for regular operation and beta for testing. See Repositories .

  • role

    What a value represents: switch, temperature, brightness. User interfaces and voice assistants adapt to it. See Roles of data points .

  • State

    See condition.

  • vis / vis-2

    The visualization: custom user interfaces assembled from widgets. vis-2 is the successor and the right choice for new projects. See Visualizations .

  • Widget

    A control element in a visualization. It displays or controls a state, such as a switch that changes its appearance.

  • Condition

    English state . The current value of a data point, along with the timestamp, the time of the last change, and the confirmation indicator (ack ). See conditions .