Sony PlayStation 4


The ps4 integration allows you to control a Sony PlayStation 4 console.

Requirements

  • Android or iOS device
  • PS4 Second Screen App for Android or iOS installed on device.

Set up

  1. Download the Second Screen App and make sure that you can find and control your PlayStation 4 normally.
Read the section "Granting Port Access" below before continuing.
  1. Navigate to Settings -> Integrations and press the plus button in the bottom right corner. Select PlayStation 4 from the list of integrations.

  2. Follow instructions displayed to generate user credentials. You will know this step is completed when a form with fields appears.

  3. On the PS4, go to Settings / Mobile App Connection Settings / Add Device, a PIN will be displayed.

  4. Pair Home Assistant to your PlayStation 4 by filling in the fields using the PIN from the above step.

  • Note: To find your correct region refer to the section Regions

Granting Port Access

The PlayStation 4 integration requires the use of privileged ports during configuration to work correctly, specifically UDP port 987 and TCP port 997. Depending on your OS of your Home Assistant instance, you may need to allow usage of privileged ports manually.

Do not run your Home Assistant Core instance itself as root or with root/sudo privileges to accomplish this. This would create a security risk for your host system.

There are varying methods to perform this, dependent on your OS that is running Home Assistant. Specifically, your Python Interpreter, which runs your Home Assistant instance, needs access to the mentioned ports.

Additional configuration is only required for Home Assistant Core users not running on Docker.

Debian-based

Home Assistant installed on a Debian-type OS may require configuration. This section is applicable but not limited to the following operating systems:

  • Debian
  • Raspbian
  • Armbian
  • Ubuntu

In terminal run the following command:

sudo setcap 'cap_net_bind_service=+ep' <python>

Replace <python> with your system path to Python that is running Home Assistant and/or your virtual environment if used. The path should not be a symlink or be inside of a virtual environment.

Example:

sudo setcap 'cap_net_bind_service=+ep' /usr/bin/python3.5

To find your system Python path:

  • Add the System Health integration to your configuration.yaml. In a web browser, access your frontend and navigate to the about/logs page “http:///developer-tools/info). In the System Health box, locate the item python_version and note the value that is displayed. Then in a terminal run:

    whereis python<version>
    

    Replace <version> with the value for python_version that is shown in the System Health box.

    Example:

    whereis python3.5.3
    

    The output which has the directory /bin/ is likely your system Python path which should look like this /usr/bin/python3.5

  • If Home Assistant is installed in a virtual environment, use terminal to cd to the root/top directory of your environment and run:

    readlink -f bin/python3
    

    or

    readlink -f bin/python
    

    The output will be your system Python path.

Docker

When running Home Assistant using Docker, make sure that the Home Assistant container is discoverable by the PS4. This can be achieved by ensuring that the Home Assistant container uses the host network driver (by passing --net=host to the container when creating, or adding network_mode: "host" to your compose file when using docker-compose).

Configuration

The PlayStation 4 integration does not use entries from configuration.yaml. You must configure this integration by using Integrations

Regions

Some titles will have different SKUs in the PlayStation Store database, depending on your region. You must select your specific region in the setup in order to retrieve the cover art for such titles correctly. The integration will attempt to search other databases for the correct title if it cannot be found.

The following regions have no database and can not be used by the integration: China, Philippines, Serbia, Vietnam.

Media Data

The PlayStation 4 integration will fetch information about the game or app that is currently running from your region’s PlayStation Store database.

Occasionally, the integration may fail to get the data at all, or may get incorrect data. To correct this issue, the integration allows for manual editing via any text editor.

Formatting

When the integration retrieves data from the PlayStation Store, it stores it in a JSON file named .ps4-games.json in the same directory as where your configuration.yaml file is located. The first line in the file will be { and the last line will be }. Between these lines, there will be indented entries for each game or app the integration finds. See the following example and table:

{
    "CUSA00129": {
        "locked": true,
        "media_content_type": "app",
        "media_image_url": "http://localhost:8123/local/image.jpg",
        "media_title": "Some App"
    },
    "CUSA00123": {
        "locked": false,
        "media_content_type": "game",
        "media_image_url": "https://somerandomurl.com/image.jpg",
        "media_title": "Some Game"
    }
}
Field Value Description
locked boolean Must be true or false
media_content_type string Must be game or app
media_image_url string Any valid URL for an image
media_title string The title of the game or app

The data in the example shows 2 entries.

Each entry will begin with the SKU ID of the title, e.g., CUSA00000 and will have a field named locked with a value of true or false associated with it. The default value will be false for each entry. If locked is true, the integration will not overwrite the data pertaining to that game or app.

The media_image_url value can be any valid URL. This includes the local directory of your Home Assistant instance. The first entry in the example directs to a file named image.jpg located in the config/www/ directory.

Editing with Text Editor

Backup a copy of your .ps4-games.json file before continuing. If there are errors in the formatting, your file may be deleted.

To edit, simply open the file in a text editor, find the game or app you would like to edit, and edit the value(s) you wish to change and then save the file. The changes will appear the next time you play the game or app on your console.

Services

Service select_source

Opens new application/game and closes currently running application/game. The game/app must be in the entity’s source list. Games will be added automatically when you open them normally.

Service data attribute Optional Example Description
entity_id No media_player.ps4 The entity id for your PlayStation 4.
source No Some Game or CUSA00123 The game/app you want to open. You can use the title or SKU ID. Using the SKU ID will be the most reliable.

Service send_command

Emulate button press on PlayStation 4. This emulates the commands available for the PS4 Second Screen App. This is not to be confused with DualShock 4 controller buttons.

Service data attribute Optional Example Description
entity_id No media_player.ps4 The entity id for your PlayStation 4.
command No ps The command you want to send.

Available Commands

Full list of supported commands.

Command Button Emulated
ps PS (PlayStation)
ps_hold PS Hold/Long Press
option Option
enter Enter
back Back
up Swipe Up
down Swipe Down
left Swipe Left
right Swipe Right

Troubleshooting

Cover Art Issues

If you are running a game/title on your PS4 that does not display a cover or displays the incorrect cover, post an issue here.

Be sure to include the following information:

  • Your Country

As well as the exact values for the following attributes found in the state of your PS4 entity.

  • media_title
  • media_content_id

Advanced Use

Ports

This integration uses UDP port 1987 as the source port during runtime. During configuration, the source port will be UDP port 1988. These port assignments can be used to configure firewall rules.

In the event that these ports cannot be used, the ports will fallback to a random port.