I'm extremely excited about the new capabilities of the 9.5 firmware and, in particular, the new RESTful interface (REST API and HTTP/S server) for SNAP PAC controllers. I have several PACs throughout my home for various tasks like lighting, A/C, irrigation, energy management, monitoring, and surveillance. The new RESTful interface allows me to take my home automation system to completely new levels, including interacting with my other home automation/IoT products, like my Nest thermostats, smoke alarms, and NestCams; my Philips Hue lighting; my Wemo switches; and much more.

This post isn’t about home automation, however. It’s about getting the firmware upgrade done and configuring the HTTP/S RESTful server. And in doing so, it was important to me (and my application) that I preserved the persistent control system variables used in my control strategies. So...the following are the steps I took to upgrade my firmware while preserving important data and getting started with REST.