Migrating from Vera: A general discussion thread for questions/concerns/sharing of information to assist users with a background in Vera

🎬 Get Started Migrating to Hubitat
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Another Vera refugee here. I know they're holding out for salvation over there as a result of their acquisition, but I figured no amount of support resources was going to solve the crippled hardware problem, so I looked into alternatives and found Hubitat.

I started with home automation using XTension on a Mac to control a gazillion X-10 devices, and I loved the fact that it gave me a nice interface for creating complex routines with AppleScript. I was disappointed after moving to Vera, when I realized that there was no such capability built-in. PLEG might be useful for hacking around, but it wasn't until I saw the Rules Engine on Habitat that I felt like someone was finally figuring out how to do home automation in a modern way. (A quick shoutout to the creator of Reactor for Vera, though, because that was a treat to discover).

Anyway, my HE just arrived today, so it looks like this will be Migration Weekend.

Any tips on the best strategy for migration? Is there some sort of exclusion dance ritual that I need to perform? Do I just delete devices from Vera then have Hubitat discover them? Is there a "batch processing" way of doing it? I'm happy to have both hubs running together for a while, but in general, minimal downtime helps improve the WAF, so to speak.

Looking forward to this! (Still wish that Harmony support were a bit more settled, but we'll get there, right?)

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You should find lots of advice on migrating, but the big one is.. recognize that as you Exclude a device off Vera (or SmartThings or offany existing hub) you could easily be removing a "keystone device" -- one that other devices are using as a repeater to get to the hub. Instead of just one unstable network, you now have two!!

It probably means a) move the keystone back; or b) expedite the migration of the flaky devices on the old network; or c) ZWave repair.

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I migrated from Vera a few months ago. Make sure to exclude everything,then include via HE. You will think something went wrong because in HE inclusion only takes seconds. Do one at a time and make sure it shows up in HE before you move to the next one.

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I realize I'm responding to an old thread, but it bears mentioning that Multi-System Reactor (MSR) indeed has the built-in ability to act as a virtual Deus Ex Machina. If the OP is still contemplating methodologies, that's certainly one I would recommend pursuing.

P.S. New to the Hubitat Forum (hi, guys!), so apologies for breaking etiquette right off the bat with my first-ever post, ha ha. :slight_smile:

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