Install REST

Controlling the home from distance can be made via standard web access methods such as the RESTful API.

Different options are available for the implementation of such a service:

• Installing a web server and writing CGI scipts
• Writing scripts serving a TCP socket and complying to the HTTP scheme
• Using a framework such as:
  • HTTP::Server::Simple
  • Mojolicious

I have chosen Mojolicious Lite for its simplicity and the ease of development.

Before all, make sure you have installed an xPL hub.

Install Mojolicious Lite

Mojolicious::Lite can be installed with the standard CPAN method. For Debian and related distributions such as Ubuntu, a dedicated option is to use:

sudo apt install libmojolicious-perl

Once installed, one can test the service with:

REST_SERVICE_DIRECTORY='/home/control/Documents/Controls'
morbo $REST_SERVICE_DIRECTORY/testRest.pl

This starts an HTTP service, usually on port 3000. Each time the Perl script is updated, the service is updated too. Interpretor errors are displayed in the terminal in whick the morbo runs.

Test the service in another terminal window:

curl -X GET localhost:3000/test/hello/world?'a=b&c=d'

Check the result in:

cat /tmp/testRest.log