EVCC on QNAP Nas | Bridge Mode | DNS issues during startup

[bxsp]

Dear,

I'm running EVCC on the Container Station of my QNAP Nas. I'm using Bridge mode, so all my containers get a dedicated IP address in my home lan and I don't need to bother around with Port forwarding or similar.

This works perfectly and EVCC get assigned its own IP address. evcc.yaml is mounted directly into the container, not whole /etc. However:

I'm using tibber and wanted to register tibber as my meter:

  - name: my_grid
    type: template
    template: tibber-pulse
    usage: grid
    token: <SNIP>
    homeid: <SNIP>

Now if i start the container I'm getting confronted with the following error:

[main  ] INFO 2024/01/24 23:13:04 starting ui and api at :80
[pulse ] TRACE 2024/01/24 23:13:04 POST https://api.tibber.com/v1-beta/gql
[pulse ] TRACE 2024/01/24 23:13:09 {"query":"{viewer{websocketSubscriptionUrl}}"}
[main  ] FATAL 2024/01/24 23:13:09 cannot create meter 'my_grid': cannot create meter type 'template': cannot create meter type 'tibber-pulse': Message: Post "https://api.tibber.com/v1-beta/gql": dial tcp: lookup api.tibber.com: i/o timeout, Locations: [], Extensions: map[code:request_error]

The container then restarts after 5 minutes.

If i login to the container via a shell within that time and debug:

• nslookup api.tibber.com works perfectly and resolves to the prober IPs
• evcc -l debug meter works and gives back proper data:

[main  ] INFO 2024/01/24 23:16:34 evcc 0.123.9
[main  ] INFO 2024/01/24 23:16:34 using config file: /etc/evcc.yaml
my_grid
-------
Power:          10691W
Current L1..L3: 17.1A 15A 14.6A

my_pv
-----
Power: -0W

my_battery
----------
Power: -1W
Soc:   0%

It really looks like that EVCC wants to create the meter directly after boot - when possible the network is not fully ready/started.

Anyone any idea?

Thanks

[StefanSchoof]

In a docker container is no init system, only evcc as binary. Providing network is something that is part of the docker engine. I think the problem is located in the QNAP docker area. Are there any settings or updates?

[bxsp]

I tried with/without DHCP, as well with providing a fixed DNS server during the setup of the container.

The problem is only during startup when the meter is created, if I start a shell right after it - i can run evcc -l debug meter and everything works. But the system of course thinks it failed and reboots 5 minutes after.

[coderph0x]

Docker is known to mess with DNS pretty heaily and QNAP is known to have a buggy Docker implementation. Not the best prerequisite ... :-D
Have you tried setting a DNS server on the virtual switch?
https://forum.qnap.com/viewtopic.php?t=143142&sid=9d81bb0c3c1fa6bf235bdf0fd15c2a70&start=105

[SolarPowerEV]

Just a suggestion: you can also run a Linux virtual machine on your QNAP. The App ist called "Ubuntu Linux Station".
It offers you a full Ubuntu 2022.4 environment where you can run evcc without any issues.

The advantage is also that - other than in a Docker container - evcc registers correctly via MDNS in your Network (with your Router).
So if for example you have a FRITZ!Box as your router, you can then access your evcc system using http://evcc.fritz.box:7070

The only disadvantage for that setup is that you can't use the HybridDesk Station App offered by QNAP at the same time, because both "Stations" can't use the HDMI-Output at the same time and hence QNAP doesn't allow to run these in parallel. But if you don't need HybridDesk for example to watch movies using KODI on your TV, then the Ubuntu Linux Station is probably way better than using a Docker on a QNAP.

I could install and run evcc on the Ubuntu station with literally following the Ubuntu installation manual for evcc by the letter. No error messages and no googling of anything needed. Plain vanilla execution of the steps described in the manual were sufficient.

[bxsp]

I'm aware of running VMs but I'd prefer container images. However - this certainly now seems to be a QNAP issue and not related to evcc, hence self-closing the discussion.

The issue does not occur if I use NAT mode networking, it only fails with bridge mode.