What to do if ESPHome shows all nodes as offline

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The ESPHome dashboard undeniably offers a user-friendly experience to manage devices and updates. Nevertheless, there's a common hiccup that often leaves users scratching their heads: ESPHome displaying all nodes as offline when, in reality, they are functioning just fine. The good news is that a straightforward solution exists for this pesky problem, particularly for those running ESPHome in a Docker container or on an Unraid server.

Screenshot of the ESPHome interface for 'air_quality_node' displaying an offline status. The interface includes a red OFFLINE indicator, and four tabs labeled EDIT, VALIDATE, INSTALL, and LOGS, with 'test.yaml' file noted above the status.

Docker Container and Unraid Server Users Rejoice

It's widely acknowledged that this peculiar issue often occurs in the context of Docker containers, rather than the Home Assistant add-on. In such cases, the solution is as simple as adding a single environment variable to the Docker container. Those using Docker Compose can add the following snippet:

environment:
  ESPHOME_DASHBOARD_USE_PING="true"
Esphome Node Offline 02

For Unraid server users, fear not – the process is equally painless. Simply add the mentioned variable through the web interface, and you're all set to enjoy your ESPHome dashboard without any misleading offline statuses.

A portrait photo oif Liam Alexander Colman, the author, creator, and owner of Home Assistant Guide wearing a suit.

About Liam Alexander Colman

is an experienced Home Assistant user who has been utilizing the platform for a variety of projects over an extended period. His journey began with a Raspberry Pi, which quickly grew to three Raspberry Pis and eventually a full-fledged server. Liam's current operating system of choice is Unraid, with Home Assistant comfortably running in a Docker container.
With a deep understanding of the intricacies of Home Assistant, Liam has an impressive setup, consisting of various Zigbee devices, and seamless integrations with existing products such as his Android TV box. For those interested in learning more about Liam's experience with Home Assistant, he shares his insights on how he first started using the platform and his subsequent journey.

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