HowTo: Node Red - Install new nodes - nerdiy.de - Nerdy DIY HowTo's about electronic, 3D-printing and more.

The great thing about NodeRed, in addition to the easy programming, is that there are all sorts of plugins (called “nodes” in NodeRed) that can be used to expand NodeRed’s range of functions.

A list of the currently – officially – available nodes can be found at: https://flows.nodered.org/

Once you have found a node that you want to install, you can do this using the “Palette Manager” available in every NodeRed installation.

How this works is described in the following article.

Safety instructions

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Requirements

Helpful articles:
So that you can install new nodes, NodeRed should of course already be installed.
How to prepare a RaspberryPi and then install NodeRed on it is described in the following articles.

The following three articles describe what needs to be done to prepare the RaspberryPi:
RaspberryPi – setup for nerdiys!
RaspberryPi – The first configuration!
RaspberryPi – Control the RaspberryPi via SSH
NodeRed – Installing NodeRed on the RaspberryPi

Required tool:
-no-

Required material:

In the following list you will find all the parts you need to implement this article.

Log into the NodeRed configuration interface

Before you can edit your NodeRed configuration, you must - if activated - first log into the NodeRed configuration interface.

View of the login dialog. Here you have to enter the login data that you specified during the configuration of the login. You can find information about this in the article **NodeRed - set up user login**.

Install new nodes via the configuration interface

Open the configuration interface of your NodeRed installation.

Now click on the three gray horizontal bars at the top right and then click on “Manage Palette”.

In the window that now opens, select the “Install” tab.

You can now enter search terms in the text field below to find your desired node. In this example, an “Alexa” node is installed, which enables NodeRed to be controlled from an Alexa device.

After you have found your desired node in the suggestion list, click on the corresponding “Install” button.

Before the installation starts, you have to confirm this again in a small window. Here you also have the option of displaying further information about the desired node by clicking on “Open node information”.

Once you have confirmed the installation by clicking on “Install”, it starts. This is indicated by an animation in the search suggestion list.

If the installation was successful, you will then be shown which specific nodes were added to your palette.

In addition, the “Install” button on your search suggestion list is now grayed out. This indicates that you have already installed this node.

Have fun with the project

I hope everything worked as described for you. If not or you have questions or suggestions please let me know in the comments. I will then add this to the article if necessary.
Ideas for new projects are always welcome. 🙂

PS Many of these projects - especially the hardware projects - cost a lot of time and money. Of course I do this because I enjoy it, but if you think it's cool that I share the information with you, I would be happy about a small donation to the coffee fund. 🙂

4 comments

nemul says:

23. October 2022 at 11:29

So far I have used this module for my MagicMirror: https://github.com/Jopyth/MMM-Buttons
Unfortunately, this no longer works with the current version of MagicMirror. Apparently you also use the touch function together with a MagicMirror.
How can I use your code to make it work with the MagicMirror?

Thanks for your help
Nemul

1. Fab says:
  
  23. October 2022 at 20:49
  
  Hi Nemul,
  what exactly do you want to do with the button press? 🙂
  Or what do you mean by “touch function”?
  Best regards
  Fab
  
Nemul says:

24. October 2022 at 19:26

I send “notifications” to the following module:
https://github.com/tosti007/MMM-ProfileSwitcher

This allows me to display different pages as needed. As mentioned earlier, this has to do with this module: https://github.com/PatriceG/MMM-MPR121 works reliably. Unfortunately not with the current version of MagicMirror.

Many thanks in advance!

1. Fab says:
  
  1. November 2022 at 14:33
  
  Hi Nemul,
  Unfortunately, I never used the direct control of the MagicMirror modules. The only thing I do in terms of controls is turn the screen on and off. I also connected an MPR121, which is evaluated via NodeRed.
  You should then actually be able to send commands to the MagicMirror instance. I have stored information on how to use the MPR121 with NodeRed here: https://nerdiy.de/howto-raspberry-pi-mpr121-touchsensor-via-i2c-und-node-red-auswerten/
  Best regards
  Fabian