I want to set up Homebridge. I have an always-on Mac Mini and am tempted to just set up Homebridge on that (I keep the Mac Mini on all the time to sync photos/videos to local storage). I also have a Synology NAS in case that could be used? But it seems most people use a Raspberry Pi. Is there any particular advantage to using one or the other?
Also, how reliable is Homebridge? I want to buy the Level Lock that only supports Homekit currently, but wouldn't want to invest in it for something as important as locks if Homebridge is finicky or unreliable.
Last, if I use my Mac Mini, should I set it up on a virtual machine? Or would it be easy to move the Homebridge install to a new Mac Mini if I upgrade someday?
I think the appeal of the Pi is that it's pretty cheap if you don't have anything else. Since you have both the Mac Mini and a Synology, any of these options should work well, but I'd probably choose something besides the Pi so you don't have to buy more hardware (it might even work a bit better or be more reliable--I'm sure you have your Mac's backups automated, something that's a bit more difficult to do on a Pi, where I've also had an SD card apparently die). If you do use the Mini, either a VM or "bare" would work (or something in between like Docker; HomeBridge and plugs are all NPM). I haven't moved HomeBridge to a new device in a while, but if you do it manually, I think it's just one folder plus your config file. There are GUIs (web-based) that make this even easier. I'm using plain HomeBridge with the https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-config-ui-x plugin on top that gives a web-based admin UI for HomeBridge, including configuration, backup, and restore; many people here lately have also been using HOOBS, which seems to be an even fancier version of that (based on the same UI X idea but separated into its own thing instead of a HomeBridge plugin, so it's still usuable if HomeBridge itself goes down).
Mine has been pretty reliable except for the "HomeKit hub" portion," which is an iPad, AppleTV, or HomePod you'll need to be always home and always on if you want to use HomeKit automations or control/monitor devices remotely. This isn't essential--you can still use it on-premise without one--but it's probably something most people would want. I'm using an iPad, and every once in a while an automation will fail to run or Home will claim it can't find my iPad/hub when I'm away. I assume these are both related to the same root cause, possibly the iPad sleeping so hard it takes a while to wake up; perhaps an AppleTV or HomePod would work better here. I went without HomeBridge for a while but recently set it up again to supplement presence from the Hubitat app, which hasn't always been reliable. The HomeKit one isn't either, but I'm hoping I'll normally get events from at least one and have it work well enough. I don't want to say that this is unreliable, and I suspect many people have better experiences, and even mine is good most of the time. Still, my primary use is to supplement Hubitat (e.g., quick control or monitoring when away; presence) not replace substantial portions of its automation capabilities.
However, because you're posting here: it sounds like you have a HomeKit-only lock you want to use in Hubitat? If so, you should be aware that this integration is one-way: it exposes Hubitat devices to HomeBridge, which in turn exposes them to HomeKit. It does not do anything to get HomeKit-only devices into Hubitat. For many devices, you can use workarounds to effectively get something like this (e.g., a HomeKit-only smart plug could be controlled by Hubitat with the help a virtual device exposed to HomeBridge; have automations on both the Hubitat and HomeKit sides that control one device when the other is controlled). You could do something similar with a virtual lock from Hubitat, but it's a bit mor work, and there are lots of locks natively supported by Hubitat that would be a lot easier unless you're particularly attached to this one.
I'm votin' for the Mac Mini. It's what I use and although I do have a few rPi, and have installed Homebridge on them more than 5 times, the Mini is where it belongs for me.
Installation is simple and there are plentiful guides. You do NOT need Brew/HomeBrew or anything else, just click:
I run mine on an old MacBook Pro. It’s very fast and stable. Easy to access with screen sharing locally and I use TeamViewer on that for remote access to the hub admin as well
Simple to install and move to another Mac later if you want. Plus TimeMachine backups. They saved me when I messed things up when I was still learning, or installed an experimental Homebridge plugin that screwed everything up.
To run mine, I just launch a terminal window and start it. I also run several other node.js applications that way too.
I don't want to say that this is unreliable, and I suspect many people have better experiences, and even mine is good most of the time. Still, my primary use is to supplement Hubitat (e.g., quick control or monitoring when away; presence) not replace substantial portions of its automation capabilities.
