--- title: "MQTT Broker" description: "Instructions on how to setup a MQTT broker for Home Assistant." logo: mqtt.png --- The MQTT integration needs you to run an MQTT broker for Home Assistant to connect to. ### Run your own This is the most private option, is running your own MQTT broker. The recommended setup method is to use the [Mosquitto MQTT broker add-on](/addons/mosquitto). ## Configuration ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry mqtt: broker: 192.168.1.100 ``` {% configuration %} broker: required: false description: The IP address or hostname of your MQTT broker, e.g., 192.168.1.32. type: string port: required: false description: The network port to connect to. Default is 1883. type: integer client_id: required: false description: The client ID that Home Assistant will use. Has to be unique on the server. Default is a randomly generated one. type: string keepalive: required: false description: The time in seconds between sending keep alive messages for this client. Default is 60. type: integer username: required: false description: The username to use with your MQTT broker. type: string password: required: false description: The corresponding password for the username to use with your MQTT broker. type: string protocol: required: false description: "Protocol to use: 3.1 or 3.1.1. By default it connects with 3.1.1 and falls back to 3.1 if server does not support 3.1.1." type: string certificate: required: false description: Path to the certificate file, e.g., `/ssl/server.crt`. type: string tls_insecure: required: false description: Set the verification of the server hostname in the server certificate. type: boolean default: false tls_version: required: false description: "TLS/SSL protocol version to use. Available options are: `'auto'`, `'1.0'`, `'1.1'`, `'1.2'`. Make sure to put quotes around the value. Defaults to `'auto'`." type: string {% endconfiguration %}
If you are running a Mosquitto instance on a different server with proper SSL encryption using a service like Let's Encrypt you may have to set the certificate to the operating systems own `.crt` certificates file. In the instance of Ubuntu this would be `certificate: /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt`
### Public broker The Mosquitto project runs a [public broker](http://test.mosquitto.org). This is the easiest to set up, but there is no privacy as all messages are public. Use this only for testing purposes and not for real tracking of your devices or controlling your home. ```yaml mqtt: broker: test.mosquitto.org port: 1883 or 8883 # Optional, replace port 1883 with following if you want encryption # (doesn't really matter because broker is public) port: 8883 # Download certificate from http://test.mosquitto.org/ssl/mosquitto.org.crt certificate: /home/paulus/downloads/mosquitto.org.crt ``` ### CloudMQTT [CloudMQTT](https://www.cloudmqtt.com) is a hosted private MQTT instance that is free for up to 10 connected devices. This is enough to get started with for example [OwnTracks](/integrations/owntracks/) and give you a taste of what is possible.
Home Assistant is not affiliated with CloudMQTT nor will receive any kickbacks.
1. [Create an account](https://customer.cloudmqtt.com/login) (no payment details needed) 2. [Create a new CloudMQTT instance](https://customer.cloudmqtt.com/subscription/create) (Cute Cat is the free plan) 3. From the control panel, click on the _Details_ button. 4. Create unique users for Home Assistant and each phone to connect
(CloudMQTT does not allow two connections from the same user) 1. Under manage users, fill in username, password and click add 2. Under ACLs, select user, topic `#`, check 'read access' and 'write access' 5. Copy the instance info to your configuration.yaml: ```yaml mqtt: broker: CLOUDMQTT_SERVER port: CLOUDMQTT_PORT username: CLOUDMQTT_USER password: CLOUDMQTT_PASSWORD ```
Home Assistant will automatically load the correct certificate if you connect to an encrypted channel of CloudMQTT (port range 20000-30000).
If you experience an error message like `Failed to connect due to exception: [SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed`, then add `certificate: auto` to your broker configuration and restart Home Assistant.
### Embedded broker (Deprecated) Home Assistant contains an embedded MQTT broker called [HBMQTT](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/hbmqtt). If you don't have an MQTT broker, you can configure this one to be used. If configured, Home Assistant will automatically connect to it. | Setting | Value | | -------------- | ---------------------------------- | | Host | localhost | | Port | 1883 | | Protocol | 3.1.1 | | User | `homeassistant` | | Password | _password set under MQTT settings_ | | Websocket port | 8080 | ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry mqtt: password: hello ```
As of release 0.92, the embedded broker has been marked as deprecated. This means bugs may not be fixed, and the functionality may be removed in a future release.
There is [an issue](https://github.com/beerfactory/hbmqtt/issues/62) with the HBMQTT broker and the WebSocket connection that is causing a memory leak. If you experience this issue, consider using another broker like Mosquitto.
#### Owntracks To use Owntracks with the internal broker a small configuration change must be made in order for the app to use MQTT protocol 3.1.1 (Protocol Level 4). In the Owntracks preferences (Android: v1.2.3+, iOS: v9.5.1+) open **Configuration Management**; Find the value named `mqttProtocolLevel` and set the value to `4`. The application will now use MQTT 3.1.1 to connect, which is compatible with the embedded broker. #### Settings If you want to customize the settings of the embedded broker, use `embedded:` and the values shown in the [HBMQTT Broker configuration](http://hbmqtt.readthedocs.org/en/latest/references/broker.html#broker-configuration). This will replace the default configuration. ```yaml # Example configuration.yaml entry mqtt: embedded: # Your HBMQTT config here. Example at: # http://hbmqtt.readthedocs.org/en/latest/references/broker.html#broker-configuration ```