Everything New In Home Assistant 2025.1!

[@RaffBuilding]

The "Home Assistant Google Drive Backup" Add-On has been great, but nice to see HA getting close to a native solution.

[@dyorkii]

That project has been a great help for me. I hope they worked with Mr Beechen with the new system.

[@manosioa]

An amazing add on! Been using it for so long! ❤

[@AntiSane]

I'm sticking with the Google Drive Backup, I have it backup every 3 days (and keep 5 backups). Too much can happen in a week's time IMO.

[@lovemakerbgo5394]

Very needed Google backup with all these shitty new versions of ha a integrations that cause malfunction every 2 weeks

[@sdfhjklhsfdjdsflhkds]

@@AntiSane Ditto. The HA backup feature has a ways to go to come close to the flexibility of what Google Drive Backup currently does. And forced encryption is a no-go for me, since I also backup to my NAS.

[@bornaradusin9723]

The history graph feature was soooo neeeded!! Amazing video as always! Thank you

[@alsothejiraguy]

I know I should have brought it up during the month of what the heck, but I really wish they'd update the plant entities. They are still configured in yaml, which isn't a problem, per se, but they don't support the unique_id tag, which means I can't do a thing with them on the front end.

[@cr0ft-2k]

Enforcing encryption on backups without any options given is *absolutely* going to burn some people who don't pay attention. Their HA blows up, they go to restore and then they're screwed because they lack their encryption key, or they lose it, or they go "I'll write that down a little later". It should be opt-in. Honestly, I don't even know why a HA backup should be that sensitive, that you can't even opt for keeping it open and unsafe.

[@LKamii]

Great learning opportunity

[@Sietcetera]

but what about the secrets file. Do you want to expose that stuff to the cloud not encrypted? That's why they encrypt it.

[@dbTOTOWdb]

I also hope that the time selection for the automatic backup will soon be available. I don't want to start my NAS only for the Backup.

[@Jeroen_a]

@2:55 Yes, there is. If you have a folder configured under storage (like i have to my NAS) You will have a 3rd option presented to you and that is the NAS in my case. You can include it in the backup scheduler. The cloud backup only stores 1 backup with a max of 5GB.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Listen again to 2:24 where I said that NAS locations would appear there

[@Jeroen_a]

@@EverythingSmartHome i speed-ed right passed this :)

[@griting]

Great QOL changes in this release, especially love the scrollable graphs and automatically focusing the filter on ctrl+f. It's great to see another valuable perk being added to justify the cost of the Nabu Casa subscription. Don't get me wrong, I love Home Assistant and I subscribe to Nabu Casa to support its development, but I really hope that the 5GB storage per customer doesn't act as a jumping-off pedestal to justify additional price increases, though.

[@rorygallagher-redslug]

I now wait patiently for this video at the start of the month!

[@theacematt2]

4:50 - omg yesssssssss

[@stadros83]

CAN we disable this encryption key ??

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Not that I could see

[@fajnb_jl]

@@EverythingSmartHome That's sad news as I used backup feature to get some of the harder to get data out of the HA. It would make sense to enforce it IF you want your backup on Nabu Casa's cloud service, but not being able to disable it for "offline" backups is bad. Sure let it be a default OPTION, not a given.

[@freman]

I concur, do not want.

[@andyhume874]

I think this is because the backups could contain live credentials for various integrations. e.g. giving access to people's Amazon/Google/All The Third Parties. I assume some decision has been made to enforce some safety around that fact.

[@freman]

@@andyhume874 wonder if I'll be making another mod like I had to for haveibeenpwned password checks...

[@Donevigor]

I wish there was better user control so we can expose just some controls to individual users

[@DawgBone]

For whatever reason, I'm not able to specify any location other than local backup??? 2025.1.1

[@ronm6585]

Thank you. Happy New Year.

[@michaelfalkson317]

I have tried the new backup feature and it works as it should. However, the download of the completed backup fails every time after about a minute. I I have redone the backup and the size remains the same, but still the download of the backup fails. Any comments? Thanks

[@therealsprint]

I recently updated and sadly the waste collection schedule integration doesn't work anymore.

[@frankmthompson]

Doesn't seem like it, but though I would ask. Can you do multiple automatic backups? Would be nice to set up 1 for cloud that holds say 3 backups, but be able to set up another which stores more locally.

[@kelvin1316]

Or to say for the cloud I just want to backup settings and add-ons. For local I want to backup everything Inc history. That way saving space for cloud in event of real emergency but local has complete backup for hardware failires

[@jeffreybroughton3347]

If you have been using Google Drive Backup, how do you convert to using the new HA Backup?

[@ShavedAp3]

I updated to 2025.1 but I dont get a wizard for doing back ups strangely or do I first need to remove the google backups addon? Turns out nothing seems to have changed for me even though it says im on core 2025.1 its very odd tried pressing the e key nothing d key nothing a key guess what nothing haha I needed to do a browser refresh all is well with the home assistant world once again :)

[@KrispKiwi]

So no google drive on the home assistant integration yet but likely coming so the addon is stil useful until that occurs

[@DaNobody]

Hi, I was trying to install HAOS on generic x86 x64 and I can't seem to access the homeassistant url even with the ip. I can see that the system is up through the observer url. What should I do to fix this?

[@sbarmen]

Does it respond to ping? Have you waited 15-20 minutes? Any way to connect a monitor to see what's going on?

[@markus2876]

Does backup now also do a backup of HACS and addons installed through HACS? I found that HACS addons was not part of my full backup.

[@HowardPrice]

I do not want to encrypt my backups. Is there some way to turn that off?

[@simonlaxton500]

Hi Lewis. Love your work, keep smashing it. I've just purchased an Everything Presence 1 to give me mmW/PIR/Bluetooth. Can they all work together? The stuff I'm reading gives options to make the EP1 a BT Proxy but I want this function as a sensor too!! Can you please assist/guide me to the right place.

[@kelvin1316]

Why do they not support attaching a drive to HA and backing up to that?

[@mdmk]

It does. You can add network drive locations by adding it in Storage settings.

[@kelvin1316]

@@mdmk I mean a USB drive. I use HAOS and have never been able to find a way to add a local drive to be able to backup to. My network is t fast enough for the multi gigabyte backup it would be transfering lol

[@Whateverrrr863]

Force to have encrypted backup is bad bad bad. I don't want that, backups are locally.

[@Captain_Biggles]

In before they disable encryption by default and then people's cheap Chinese NASes get hacked leaking all their shit

[@quasistoic-all-in]

Here’s hoping we get a grandfather-father-son backup retention strategy option in the future.

[@lafeu812]

Can you create a video showing how to reduce the backup size? My HA instance is 1.5 years old and the backup size is 11.4GB, so nabu casa cloud is too small -.-

[@MrDBT85]

I wonder if restoring a backup still takes hours and hours with no idea on progress.

[@mrxmry3264]

I'm not gonna use that new encrypted backup feature because what good is a backup that can't be restored?

[@MR.MACH1NE]

This new update has broken the HACS integration for some people. I've rolled back for now until I can spend more time to troubleshoot

[@MrSavage77]

Victron integration not working anymore, while for Tesla you need to re-authenticate. Restored from backup the previous version

[@patrickpopp9197]

I have the nabucasa cloud but my backups are 7GB so the 5GB unfortunately won't do it

[@manosioa]

Dear god! What do you have in there?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

That's a big backup 😅

[@IggyJackson]

Mine are 7G too. I thought that was the norm

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Usually only if you store a large amount of media (camera recordings from Frigate), or you keep the database statistics for a long time

[@IggyJackson]

I think mine is from longer history and just having a bunch of sensors (16 channel Emporia Vue, 16 switchbot hygrometers, 10+ energy monitoring plugs, etc)

[@sleepytime3469]

I am a real newbie, literally just 2 weeks old, :) Is there any hope of getting a LOREX NVR integration?

[@PolarRed]

Enforced encryption is really something I don't want, or need, on my backups. Really hoping they walk this awful decision back and make it optional.

[@KerrySainsbury]

Agreed. It's a great idea right up until the moment when you need to restore and can't find the key. It should be a user decision. My lightbulb automations really don't need to be kept secure from hackers

[@kelvin1316]

Yeah, for local backups it really isn't necessary. They have done this for security, but add a new user and they get to see every device and entity on the system by default 🤷‍♂️ (something that I voted a out on the "what the heck" as someone brought it up)

[@adamodavis]

Agree. No need for encryption here, it’s just something else to go wrong.

[@kyle8575]

@@adamodavisWhat would go wrong, exactly?

[@adamodavis]

@@kyle8575 me losing the key for one.

[@SlykeThePhoxenix]

I wish I could easily run the Home Assistant LLM, voice synthesis and parsing on other hardware. My little Raspberry Pi is no match against the spare PC running a 3080Ti.

[@dougsellner9353]

Mandatory encryption? Loose a key and you loose everything? What's the point of an insecure/unstable backup system, and making that mandatory?

[@jps1]

If your pants are loose, you need a belt. If you lose your keys, you can't start your car.

[@nothingtoseehere93]

So? This is brain dead The HA devs love taking away user options with every release. They are slowly turning this into enterprise garbage mark my words. Can’t wait for the fork

[@ChipMIK]

@@nothingtoseehere93 Yep, i'm truly afraid you are so very right on that point :-(

[@matthewbennett2582]

I’m guessing this encryption change is due to the ability for Nabu Casa subscribers to store backups on their cloud servers. Mandatory encryption with only the user knowing the key lets Nabu wash their hands if law enforcement or some other agency try and issue a subpoena to grab someone’s logs; if only you have the key then they can just say “sorry we can’t do that.” I’m not based out of the EU so I’m not too familiar with the GDPR, but mandatory encryption could show that they’re taking the appropriate measures to secure people’s data should a breach occur.

[@ChipMIK]

@@matthewbennett2582 If a local breach occurs, like the computer that runs HA gets stolen or confiscated, whats encryption worth? Absolutely 0. So why should i not be able to have an unencrypted local backup? Makes no sense here.

[@boorandras9723]

What a fantastic release (again...)!!!! It solves a problem (the need of scheduled automatic backups, stored in our encripted cloud) what has been ALREADY SOLVED (more than a year ago).. You know... that Google Drive backup plugin can do exactly this, but a bit better (scheduled time, etc..)) Great, fantastic, nice job.... :(

[@mdmk]

The focus here is that it is a tool for HA users who do not have time to set up extra add-ons. Think of it as built-in antivirus versus an extra robust antivirus you install on top of an OS.

[@boorandras9723]

@mdmk and did you ever seen a good working built in antivirus? And users who donnot have time? If my memoriy serves the installation and setup of google drive backup took about the same time while Lewis presented the working of the new backup feature.

[@AndreasHannoverSL]

Does ioBroker also enforce the use of encrypted backups? Asking for a friend...

[@WJSchmitt]

I did the upgrade, and then immediately restored the last version because it broke all my dashboards. All of the mushroom cards don't work in this new version.

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Generally those things aren't to do with the update. It's usually just a cache thing and a full reload will help. Also make sure to update mushroom cards to the latest. I'd be very surprised if the update broke that

[@panzorax.]

is that possible with home os, for example immich app like in casaos or other os

[@borrachomejor6767]

Does the new backup functionality have the ability to backup to Google Drive, OneDrive, etc? The Google Drive Backup integration you did a video on a while back has been working wonderfully for me. Is there any benefit to using the HA native functionality, or to using them concurrently? Great video as always!

[@mdmk]

Contributors can write backup integrations that support these backup locations. There's a Google Drive integration in progress, I think.

[@paul454]

I've been happy with the Google Drive backup (HACS). It has served me well and if this update doesn't break it, I'll continue to use it. One note about the Nabu Casa backup: I am a subscriber, however 5GB doesn't appear to be large enough for more than one backup. The backups Google Drive Backup makes are 3GB each, at least for me. I don't know if it backs up more than the new feature does, but my installation most likely tends towards a medium/average size... So I'm not sure what to think at the moment.

[@mdmk]

HA Cloud saves only one copy of the backup. It's meant to be a baseline feature for most users, but may not work for advanced users like us with bigger backup files.

[@paul454]

@@mdmk Thanks for the clarification.

[@clairerovic]

Maybe time for your own mouse mat, with shortcut keys, Some templating .... Date format codes

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Pretty fun idea actually 😅

[@SayWhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat]

10 years Home assistant exists but still no custom setings feature! Stupid to create sensors to use tham as a variables to later use them in automations and so on.

[@demorez5]

sounds like backups will finally work on the docker version too? i am interested to see if this builtin backups will be any improvement over my existing restic backups EDIT: apparently it doesnt

[@wesleyfraser3058]

Damn. Another single point of failure (loss of a string of text) to ensure that your backups are completely useless to you. How about setting up mandatory encryption if AND ONLY IF one is backing up to the cloud? Or at least have it disable-able. Good intentions, short sighted implementation.

[@Dycell]

Talk about short sighted… with encryption it will be far easier for the community to add storage locations without the worry among end users if it’s safe to backup or not… So they massively made things easier for the (community) developers to add storage locations. Furthermore, encryption is required in many countries for personal data (for example, the EU). I can’t believe some people are complaining about stuff they get for free while contributing nothing… It’s open-source, so if you don’t like it send patches or fork the project.

[@neho83_solar]

thank you for the french !!

[@big-ted-01]

Not very open of them to not supply a tool to unencrypt my data outside of Home Assistant

[@Gamen4Bros]

Yeaahhhh

[@PierreLeroy76620]

Nabu Casa should hire a data scientist to create and addon who could generate automatically insight depending of the data present in Home assistant... Also for the short cut when the screen allows it we should have a reminder on the side.

[@CamiloSperberg]

Nice that backups are encrypted by default, really smart choice :) this will make it possible for me to actually backup home assistant only instead of the entire proxmox to my backblaze account once somebody adds S3 support :) (currently doing this with restic)

[@iainhay2823]

Not just encrypted by default, it’s mandatory which is a massive negative for lots of users. On by default makes sense for anything non local though.

[@dudeman99999]

Who else is here because of the way he says kewl?

[@kelvin1316]

My backups are like 3gb already lol

[@turbo2ltr]

I still don't understand why they connect data points in the graph using right angles. It's so ugly.

[@mdmk]

Because otherwise it's an inaccurate data visualization. There is no way to know what the value of a sensor is between two points in time, and interpolating the two with a straight line or curved line will give users a false representation of the data.

[@turbo2ltr]

@@mdmk I heard that explanation before, but using that reasoning then the way they are currently visualizing it is also showing inaccurate data because it's depicting the value did not change the whole time between one datapoint and the instance before the next datapoint which is also not accurate. At the very least give us the option to turn on interpolation so you purists can keep it off. I mean lets be real, 99.9998% of the time, the interpolated line will be more accurate to actual values than the current visualization.

[@dougbeard7624]

The backup system is kind of an 'about time' kind of thing. But still no shared drive (samba) support. I'll stick with my add-on that does this. I don't understand the team annoyingly ignoring shared SMB drives and such, missing in MANY places throughout HA. Which is why the whole year of the multimedia a couple years ago, was such a flop. The lack of clear directional management, wild wild west type of approach to this project, is often frustrating. And the excuses of this is how open source works just you get from this team, doesn't fly as we've seen countless examples of better leadership in open source projects through out history.

[@mdmk]

The new automatic backups feature support network drives. You can add a network drive under Storage settings, and it will show up as a backup location. There is also a roadmap for HA since last year.

[@camera_manu]

This update broke openRGB plugin😢, had to downgrade😅

[@Sparky400]

Wow forced encryption was not clear in this video. Not happy. I think ill put off installing any updates

[@o2fst4uo]

The number of people lamenting enforced encryption on backups is absolutely wild. I cant fathom being against something so good.

[@vincentvalk6725]

Explain to me why I would want to encrypt my local backup on my local device. If anyone would get access to it they also have it to the active Home Assistant that is running as well.. so same risk. If the encryption key is lost... Your backup is useless. I do not want an extra risk of failure on my backup ( loosing the key). Adding it as an option, fine for those who like it, but do not force something for everyone as everyones situation is different...specially for such a community driven project. Also forcing this but not even giving minimal official guidelines/ recommendations of how you can setup your network with options to block iot stuff from the internet ( including pointing out some usefull but kind of hidden features) is just so strange to me....

[@nothingtoseehere93]

Core is taking more control away from users. They are also extremely snooty with pr reviews. I don’t like this trend

[@SayWhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat]

I WOULDNT UPGRADE TILL THEY INTRODUCE ABILITY TO NOT USE ENCRYPTION IN BACKUPS. Backups already stored locally and no need for any nonsense that will make problems in the future.

[@guardsheep]

omg... can't you wait with your video until the official release party?

[@EverythingSmartHome]

Tech tip: don't click the video till you've watched the release party if you don't want to watch it

[@notsonominal]

@@EverythingSmartHome Savage!

[@lisandroCT]

​@@EverythingSmartHome No need to overreact.

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

@lisandroCT I think the "omg" set him off - and I agree @guardsheep shouldn't overreact😁

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

4 hours later... Oops, you might have thrown yourself at complaining a bit quickly😂😂😂

[@kikr4000]

Encryption key. What a wast of developer time!!!!

[@phxf]

This really confused me. Video did not make it clear that you're talking about a pre-release beta version of home assistant. 2025.1 does not exist as stable software yet. Deceptive! Also, did you edit the blog post html to remove the warnings about it being unfinished beta stuff?

[@andyhume874]

It's being released today, so I don't think it's unreasonable for this to be published. Would be my opinion. :)

[@jamesreynolds8838]

This is not deceptive... He said these are the features for 2025.1.0, and they are. He never said it was released right now (though it should be shortly, since they always release at the beginning of the month)

[@Doerakker]

That is called CLICK BAIT

[@jamesreynolds8838]

@@Doerakker what on earth, no it's not. He's literally covering the features coming out this month, which he does every month

[@tannisroot]

He pre-records the video before the new release using the beta changelog, it is almost always identical to the actual release, there is no deception here. I am sure it will get released in a few hours if not already

[@jm-lc3jp]

Its been clear that the devs are mere journeyman progeammers for a while ( i remember when they used to put logs in /etc 😮) I appreciat their work but why csnt the adopt a Infrastrure As Code design pattern. I dont need backups if all my settings and infrastruture is defined in code. Let the database keep all the historic data i dont need; if my entire network is defined in code I should be able to copy config files, install and im recovered. To be clear i think this is possible but thr devs should be drving users to this pattern.

[@TechySpeaking]

First

[@EverythingSmartHome]

🍪

[@Doerakker]

Not really there were others. It’s a sad development imho

[@dyorkii]

@@Doerakker Why comment if you're just going to be a jerk? 🤔