Alexa and AppleTV via Kubernetes

WTF Kinda Tutorial is this?

It’s not, it’s my notes for how I got everything up and running… The readme’s from homebridge-alexa and homebridge-apply-tv-remote have more details.

References

• My Homebridge config git repo
• homebridge-alexa git repo
• homebridge-apple-tv-remote git repo
  • Note: There are known stability issues with this plugin. I like to play with broken toys…

My notes

1. Deploy homebridge
2. Register an account with homebridge.ca
   • These creds are going directly into the config file :( , don’t re-use passwords.
3. Install the homebridge-alexa plugin… HomebridgeUI>Plugins>Search “homebridge-alexa” >> Install
4. Enter your homebridge.ca credentials in the Plugin Settings… HomebridgeUI>Plugins>“Homebridge Alexa”>Settings
5. Restart Homebridge (Click the power button in the top right corner of the UI)
6. Install NPM + NVM if you don’t have it (M1 Mac Instructions):

# I know, curl to bash... just like the hax0rz do :(
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.2/install.sh | bash
source ~/.bash_profile
nvm install v15

7. Install and use node-appletv-x to generate an API key for your TV.

npm install -g node-appletv-x
appletv pair
    <Enter Pin from TV when prompted>
Credentials: <Save-This-String-For-Later>

8. Install the homebridge-apple-tv-remote plugin via the HomebridgeUI
9. Update the plugin settings:
   • Device Name: Idiot Box
   • Device Credentials (Step 7)
   • Configure Switches (I just want play/pause)
   • Click save
   • Note It might be better just to copy/paste this config (update your credentials)

   {
   "name": "Apple TV Platform",
   "devices": [
       {
           "name": "Idiot Box (TV)",
           "credentials": "<SNIP - Step 7>",
           "isPlayPauseSwitchEnabled": false,
           "playPauseSwitchName": "Idiotbox Pause",
           "commandSwitches": [
               {
                   "name": "Play (TV)",
                   "commands": [
                       {
                           "key": "play",
                           "longPress": false
                       }
                   ]
               },
               {
                   "name": "Pause (TV)",
                   "commands": [
                       {
                           "key": "pause",
                           "longPress": false
                       }
                   ]
               },
               {
                   "name": "Right (TV)",
                   "commands": [
                       {
                           "key": "right",
                           "longPress": false
                       }
                   ]
               },
               {
                   "name": "Left (TV)",
                   "commands": [
                       {
                           "key": "left",
                           "longPress": false
                       }
                   ]
               }
           ]
       }
   ],
   "platform": "AppleTvPlatform"

} ``` 10. Restart Homebridge 11. In Alexa App, add the “Homebridge” skill, and sign-in to your Homebridge.ca account. 12. Say, “Alexa discover devices” 13. 14. You should be able to see your Idiot Box in the “Devices” menu of the Alexa App. 15. A bit of troubleshooting… remove/reinstall the homebridge-alexa plugin if things aren’t showing up