HomeMatic support changes blog post (#21527)

* Initial commit HomeMatic changes blog post

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source/_posts/2022-02-07-improved-homematic-support.markdown

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "New Add-on for HomeMatic/homematicIP support - Action Required"
+description: "To improve HomeMatic support in the future we are deprecating the current HomeMatic CCU Add-on in favor of the more feature rich RaspberryMatic CCU Add-on."
+date: 2022-02-07 00:00:00
+date_formatted: "February 07, 2022"
+author: Stefan Agner
+author_twitter: falstaff_ch
+comments: true
+categories:
+- Announcements
+---
+
+If you are using HomeMatic/homematicIP smart home products with Home Assistant, the future will now be even brighter.
+
+The team around [RaspberryMatic](https://raspberrymatic.de/de/home/) has been hard working during the last months to make their alternative “HomeMatic CCU“ operating system a full fledged [Home Assistant Add-on](https://github.com/jens-maus/RaspberryMatic/tree/master/home-assistant-addon) with no compromises. Because of the much more advanced functionality of this third-party Add-on vs. the HA own “HomeMatic CCU” Add-on, this is now the recommended Add-on to use your Home Assistant also as a HomeMatic CCU smart home central. The old “HomeMatic CCU” Add-on from the official repository has now been deprecated. To make migration as smooth as possible, its latest release gained a final functionality: You can now export your configuration directly from its WebUI by using “Create Backup” to generate a `.sbk` system backup file, then stop the “HomeMatic CCU” Add-on, install the “[RaspberryMatic CCU](https://github.com/jens-maus/RaspberryMatic/wiki/Installation-HomeAssistant)” Add-on and import the backup file so that all your HomeMatic/homematicIP devices will be available right away. A big shout-out to Jens Maus specifically to make all this happen!
+
+<a href='https://github.com/jens-maus/RaspberryMatic/tree/master/home-assistant-addon'><img src='/images/blog/2022-02/raspberrymatic-ccu-addon.png' style='border: 0;box-shadow: none;'></a>
+
+In addition, starting from Home Assistant OS 7.3 onwards HAOS supports dual HomeMatic+homematicIP communication when using the [HmIP-RFUSB](https://de.elv.com/elv-homematic-ip-arr-bausatz-rf-usb-stick-fuer-alternative-steuerungsplattformen-hmip-rfusb-fuer-smart-home-hausautomation-152306) RF USB stick with the “RaspberryMatic CCU” Add-on. This change will, however,  also introduce a device rename for older installations still using the old HomeMatic CCU Add-on: With a HmIP-RFUSB, you will need to manually update the “hmip” device setting to `/dev/raw-uart` after the OS 7.3 upgrade. Or even better: migrate to the RaspberryMatic CCU Add-on right away to gain the full cloud-free smart home central functionality like the vendor-provided “CCU3”.
+
+Last, not least, work has just been started to completely rework the HomeMatic/homematicIP device integration layer within Home Assistant itself. While still in an **early development** phase [this complete re-design](https://github.com/danielperna84/custom_homematic) will come with great new features and a way easier setup and a more complete device integration of all your HomeMatic/homematicIP devices.
+
+So the future of using HomeMatic/homematicIP devices in Home Assistant was never brighter, be part of it!