Z-Wave Devices - Adding and Removing

Adding Non-Secure Devices

To add (include) a non-secure Z-Wave device to your system:

Go to the Z-Wave control panel in the Home Assistant frontend
Click the Add Node button in the Z-Wave Network Management card - this will place the controller in inclusion mode
Activate your device to be included by following the instructions provided with the device
With the device in its final location, run a Heal Network

Don’t use this for secure devices, since this is likely to limit the features the device supports.

Don’t use the OpenZWave control panel (OZWCP), or the physical button on a controller, to add or remove devices. Many devices will only send the information about their capabilities at the time you include them. If you use the OpenZWave control panel, or the button on a device, then Home Assistant won’t have that information. Using the physical button on a controller will also result in a non-security inclusion being performed, which may limit the features the device supports.

When you add a device, it may initially appear without a specific entity ID (eg zwave.__) and without other identifying information. Running a Heal should help speed this process up, and you’ll need to run a Heal anyway so that all the devices in your Z-Wave network learn about the new device. You might need to restart Home Assistant (not reboot the system) to have the entity ID fully visible.

Network Key

Security Z-Wave devices require a network key. Some devices only expose their full capabilities when included this way. You should always read the manual for your device to find out the recommended inclusion method. Note, secure devices that had been connected to another hub/network in the past may have a “theft protection” feature which requires to first exclude the device successfully from the previous hub using the previous hub/Software setup before it can be enrolled in a new hub/network.

A valid network key will be a 16 byte value, defined in the zwave section of your configuration, such as the following example:

zwave:
   usb_path: /dev/ttyACM0
   network_key: "0x01, 0x02, 0x03, 0x04, 0x05, 0x06, 0x07, 0x08, 0x09, 0x0A, 0x0B, 0x0C, 0x0D, 0x0E, 0x0F, 0x10"

Each individual value in the defined key can be anywhere from 0x00 to 0xFF. Define your own key by making changes to the above example key or for additional security try one of the two scripts mentioned below.

Network Key

An easy script to generate a random key:

cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc '0-9A-F' | fold -w 32 | head -n 1 | sed -e 's/\(..\)/0x\1, /g' -e 's/, $//'

On macOS, this script will generate a random key:

cat /dev/urandom | LC_CTYPE=C tr -dc '0-9A-F' | fold -w 32 | head -n 1 | sed -e 's/\(..\)/0x\1, /g' -e 's/, $//'

Ensure you keep a backup of this key. If you have to rebuild your system and don’t have a backup of this key, you won’t be able to reconnect to any security devices. This may mean you have to do a factory reset on those devices, and your controller, before rebuilding your Z-Wave network.

Adding Secure Devices

After defining your network key, follow these steps to add (include) a secure Z-Wave device:

Go to the Z-Wave control panel in the Home Assistant frontend
Click the Add Node Secure button in the Z-Wave Network Management card - this will place the controller in inclusion mode
Activate your device to be included by following the instructions provided with the device
With the device in its final location, run a Heal Network

Removing Devices

To remove (exclude) a Z-Wave device from your system:

Go to the Z-Wave control panel in the Home Assistant frontend
Click the Remove Node button in the Z-Wave Network Management card - this will place the controller in exclusion mode
Activate your device to be excluded by following the instructions provided with the device
Run a Heal Network so all the other nodes learn about its removal