Living without add-ons on Home Assistant Container

How do I live without Add-Ons when running Home Assistant Container?
❤️ Found this video useful and want to support the channel? I'd love a donation at paypal.me/home...
These are the three main things that I see people struggling with when moving from Home Assistant Operating System to Home Assistant Container.
1. How to easily edit the Home Assistant Configuration file without the File Editor or Studio Code Server Add-Ons. For this I use Visual Studio code, connected directly to my Ubuntu server using SSH.
2. How to map a USB device from your Host computer to your Docker container. You'll need to do this if you want to use ZHA, Zigbee2MQTT or Z-WaveJS2MQTT.
3. Replicating the functionality of any 3rd party application add-on like Zigbee2MQTT, Mosquitto, Wireguard VPN or Plex Media Server. This can be done by adding those services as Docker Containers. It's actually far better this way because you're no longer limited to the services that are available as Home Assistant Add-Ons. You have a whole world of applications available on Docker that you otherwise wouldn't!
Links:
Companion Blog Post showing all these steps: www.homeautoma...
Home Assistant OS vs Home Assistant Container KZbin Video: • Which Home Assistant i...
Installing Docker and Home Assistant Container KZbin video: • Installing Docker and ...

[@eggertjohannesson]

Loving this series of videos. I'm running HA in docker myself and I'm getting a whole bunch of useful info from watching this. Keep up the good work.

[@Songio1983]

Very useful video (as the previous ones). It would be very useful to have more details on how to set up MQTT and ZIGBEE2MQTT containers with docker-compose. Personally, I am struggling on this...

[@mcheibani]

Thanks for the video. This series is very helpful. It would be good also to show how to integrate these containers into home-assistant. For example, how to interact with Plex media server or Frigate entity within home assistant if they are dockerized

[@Admiralfeb]

He showed the ability in the previous video.

[@naderhany3639]

man , you are awesome , my friends here in Egypt really likes your videos

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Thank you! 🙏

[@Andlekin]

I just put an order in for a Sonoff coordinator dongle, router, and a couple of test lights to get started with this. I will definitely re-watch all of your videos when I'm setting things up. I was worried that I'd have to buy a second micro computer as a dedicated Home Assistant OS box, but I'm happy to know I can just add this all to my existing docker box. Thank you for your work!

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

No problem! Glad it was helpful

[@Andlekin]

@@HomeAutomationGuy - Your videos have been invaluable. I added Hass to my docker box, and have Portainer and Zigbee2MQTT running. I even have it served through a AWS hosted reverse NGINX proxy so I can access everything remotely and securely. I've got lights automated in a few rooms, and started to add some nice-to-haves like turning on the lights at 50% when we come home late. Still learning the ins-and-outs of automation/scripting, but I'll get there. Very weird to do "scripting" through yaml instead of something like python or Go. Thanks so much!

[@sake8351]

@@Andlekini'm kinda stuck on getting an https(ssl certificate basically) to get home assistant working with google home, but all guides kinda abuse add ons of home assistant os, how did you get nginx proxy to work?

[@Andlekin]

@@sake8351 Yeah. It's working fine with LetsEncrypt and nginx as the reverse proxy. Did you set the trusted_proxies setting in your Hass config file?

[@Khakzoy]

I saw this video popup in my feed when searching some docker stuff regarding homeassistant. i have always been running HA in a container and was wondering if I was missing out. But most of the stuff you cover here I already tackled. Glad to see I do not miss out on important stuff but more on convenience / from interface things. Nice video, thanks!

[@WPGinfo]

Thnx Alan, This was very helpful! After your last video and blog I was a bit lost. I was under the impression that switching from a Pi400 to a 'proper server', without the 'supervisor stuff' would create BIG problems. This video seems to indicate and illustrate that this is not the case! This will help me to tinker a bit more until I end up with the system that will serve my needs [for now...] 1...2...3... there we goooooo...!

[@Admiralfeb]

Hey, if you make future videos featuring VS Code and running commands through SSH, you can hit ctrl + ` to open the integrated terminal in VS Code. It will create a terminal instance in the ssh scope. Hope it helps :)

[@fearthesmeag]

hey man, not sure if you can help. I get an error when trying to connect via VS Code "the remote host may not meet VS Code Prereq for glibc & libstdc++" Ive tried googling it, but its way over my head.

[@guitargrin]

Just getting started with automation. Your video setting up HA in docker was really good. Working on this video now. Thanks for your work!

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Glad it was helpful! Enjoy the Home Assistant rabbit hole!

[@DavidM2002]

I don't use Containers very much on my NAS but I have set up several virtual machines which I finder easier to create. When I set up HA, I found that there is a virtual machine OVA file available for download and setting it up on my QNAP NAS was a breeze. Certainly easier than some of the Docker containers that I've tried to set up.

[@theshazman]

Been running docker HA since the start. I refuse to budge! Haha. Thanks for this video!

[@johnhubbard3879]

Hi Alan - I am a complete noob intent on learning how to use docker for the sake of home automation on my new 832 Zima board. There was a day when I would spend time at the command line, but that was 30 years ago.😂 I have a lot of catching up to do to say the least. Docker, yaml et al are new to me . . . . I know there is a video out there to install the python-matter-server docker container, but if you were to do one using your VERY understandable delivery that would be cool. No pressure in the least. With the tutorials you have already supplied I will eventually get there!

[@patrickmega76]

Thanks Alan, your videos are awesome and I'm considering moving from NAS hosted VM to NAS Containers now. The only add-on that I can't figure out how to get around is the DuckDNS which i've set up to allow remote access so wondering if you have any workarounds for this please? The port-forwarding stuff is easy, but DuckDNS also adds free Let'sEncrypt certificate which would be quite tricky to do manually. Thanks again for the great videos!

[@RickFarris]

Thanks for this great series, Alan. I ran into a problem with permissions with several Docker installations after I created "home" directories for them, my 'sudo docker-compose up -d' was failing with a "no permissions" error when trying to create new directories. I was sure that putting my user-login in the "Docker" group should solve that, but maybe updating Docker along the way screwed that up. Any way, I've dealt with the problem by "sudo chmod"ing the base directories to 777 and everything works fine.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Thanks Rick! Chmoding is a great solution to that problem. I also tackle it another way in the companion blog post by taking ownership of the file using "chown". More information here: www.homeautomationguy.io/home-assistant-tips/using-visual-studio-to-edit-your-home-assistant-configuration-yaml-file-over-ssh/#common_issues

[@Jimbo2Jones]

I've barely started watching this video and it's already awesome. Look forward to finishing watching it.

[@michaellavelle7354]

Yours is the best explanation yet - by far. Thank you for taking the time. Question: It's one thing to install additional docker Containers, like InfluxDB and Mosquitto, but how does Home Assistant know to use them? Where is the connectivity file or feature that is built into Supervised?

[@wchorski]

The difference is between "Add-on" vs "Integration". Other docker container services are like the "Add-ons". Inside of HA, the Integrations are the connections that tells HA to pull in the information (sensors, logs, etc) from the "add-ons"

[@gerardoconnor1261]

Thanks, These videos are great. Keen to see how to backup without Supervisor/Addons!

[@aaabbb-tn3lr]

Thanks, this is a great series. I cant wait for the next video. How do you connect your NodeRed container with the HomeAssistant container? How do you decide what to build where? For me it is quite difficult to get out the best of both worlds.

[@EsotericArctos]

This is a great video for the tinkerers and makers that like to play around with things, but I don't feel that I am missing any functions within my Smart Home by using HAOS. I can control the blinds, windows, curtains, climate control, lights etc simply within HAOS. It's all maintained easily, updates come through automatically, no complexities. I don't have anything against the tinkerers and makers, but I feel this is not the best way for most people who would be looking at Home Assistant to control their home. I just prefer to keep my home automation subtle, and reliable and something I don't need to tinker with all the time. If I want an NVR or Plex Server, I will run them up separately. Home Assistant just runs on a low power device doing its own thing. Just my thoughts.

[@johnlocke_1]

In reality, 90% of people won't use HA for their automation needs. They will buy some type of cloud based device that integrate with Google or Alexa. HA is not remotely as convenient. That said, using HA in docker is even less convenient, but it does feel great when it all works after 7 hours of tinkering!

[@derekslone1135]

Haveing set up SSH in VS COde, the "term,inal" in VS Code will be an ssh terminal on the remote server, avoiding the need to most explicit ssh-ing to start docker compose, etc..

[@comfy_rwds]

You should just use portainer to manage docker containers in a homelab; infinity times easier. There's a stack of sungrow add-ons for invertors for home assistant; I'd be curious to see how to replicate that with docker containers.

[@TheJRhyder]

I've used WinSCP and have designated Notepad++ as the text editor for modifying any config files on my Unraid server. This has worked well for my new HA instance as well.

[@jamesmacwhite]

Iframes are being phased out in favour of dashboards which point to a web page which loads it in in the same way. Be careful with some apps which use security headers e.g. X-Frame-Options or Content-Security-Policy, you will have to allow your home assistant domain in this policy. This is a good reason to deploy your home assistant installation on a proper subdomain with SSL i.e. reverse proxy.

[@paulholstein9448]

If you could make a video explaining how to install HACS without add-ons, that would be terrific. Also, you might as well show how to install a code editor withing HA without add-ons.

[@ThisIsAled]

Thanks for your videos, I'm here for HA but new tips for VS code are great.

[@delle2011]

Would be nice to have some tutorials for the move HAOS to Docker , e.g. How to get the backup data from Influxdb into the Docker Version.

thank you, now I know that HA could run without supervisor and panel is a thing 🎉

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Glad I could help!

[@rufiromang]

I am excited for docker implementation of home assistant. Docker is a mean that I am familiar with. And I want to learn about using home assistant to make my home automation system runs locally. At least part of them. I am interested if you can cover topics on how to bring devices that works on tuya apps for example, becoming local device through home assistant. Looking forward to see you cover the topic. I just subscribed btw.

[@mrbarrington-smythe9033]

Thanks for another useful video. I want to try this with Node Red and InfluxDB+Grafana. If I have these installed in a separate container than Home Assistant, will they be able to see its entities and interact with its entities as if they were add-ons?

[@jopper231]

I'm running Home Assistant supervised on Docker, Ubuntu 20.4 LTS. So double the fun, using containers & using addon store (which installs addon's into containers).

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

A lot of people run this and have great success with it. I don't mention this method in my video because it's not technically a supported Home Assistant installation method

[@dastiieto7651]

Im complete with you.... Go further!! Awaiting interesting videos ;)

[@jackhider4064]

Great Vids, very informative. Was wondering what version of the nuc you use and what version of ubuntu is running on it. I have home assistant on a pi and its creaking, but have managed to get a nuc5 to try out. cheers and keep up the good work

[@FrankGraffagnino]

since the VS code instance is already ssh'd into that machine, when you need to run commands can you just use the terminal tab within VS code so you don't have to keep switching windows around? great video

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Great tip, thank you Frank!

[@marcofiorani1981]

Thanks for your work all the videos is very clear. Did you know how to set up MQTT and ZIGBEE2MQTT containers with docker-compose? Is two days i'm trying without success, I have read tons of guides but there are always somethings wrong. Can you explane how to set up ZIGBEE2MQTT as the other dokers compose you made?

[@edbouhl3100]

I tried to install HA OS on an old Dell R320 server but changed my mind when I figured out that they locked the FSTAB file, limiting the drive connection options to USB. So no luck using the server SATA drives or pcie card drives. But this Docker approach looks very promising.

[@jamegrabham9992]

Thanks, Alan... I currently have HA OS on a Proxmox VM (on an HP Elite PC)...but I would love to put it on my QNAP NAS with Reolink cameras...and Linux Server and Docker...I need to learn more about Docker...nothing against HA OS...I have enough computing power without buying more...keep up the videos, please...:)

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Thank you Jame!

[@moltenaluminium]

I came here looking to find out how to install ESPHome along with my existing HA container so I could start integrating those devices. Any chance there's a video on that?

[@lastsly]

​ @Home Automation Guy Please can you create a video that helps us setup sonoff devices on HA container. I cant find anything online

[@martinchinery4184]

Will you be doing a video on installing a database such as Mariadb or Inflex in a docker container and configuring Home Assistant to use the database. That would be really helpful.

[@Crow1093]

you don't have to run always the 'docker-compose up -d' command in a terminal. You can Right-click on the docker-compose.yaml file in the sidebar and click 'compose up' .

[@Crow1093]

Exit: you have to Install the official docker extension

[@alexis1704]

Hi you are awesome!! Thanks for your videos. One question what about custom add-ons that doesn't have docker-compose information? It is possible to get this information from the code of the add-on? Thanks!

[@antoniorodriguezolmos]

Great series! What do you think about having HA OS + Portainer for those containers that don't exist as HA Add-ons? This is what I did recently to add one container. The rest, I found as add-ons but could run them as containers too, within HA OS. I'm wondering if there's a difference to pure docker or I'm adding overhead.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

A lot of people run that same setup as you and are happy with it. If it works for you, then there's no reason to change it!

[@martindebes5548]

I would like to see the installation and configuration of the combination of Zigbee2MQTT, Mosquito and Node-Red

[@nickcostick461]

Please do a video on how to use remote access via a Cloudflare tunnel! All of the tutorials online assume we can use the Cloudflared add-on. I'm having trouble finding resources on how to configure the YAML for Cloudflared.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I would suggest using Home Assistant Cloud for remote access. It's much easier, and the subscription cost helps fund future development of Home Assistant.

[@jonnymichellephilips3302]

newbie with docker, containers and HA. this video has helped a lot. Are you considering a video describing how to add cloudflared tunnel as container for ha? I'll admit at the moment I'm struggling. Thanks

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I've got no experience with Cloudflare Tunnels I'm afraid.

[@RocketBoom1966]

Really enjoying this series and looking forward to the next one. I have an Asus PN50 mini PC running Ubuntu with Docker. I'm just about to jump in and experiment with running an additional instance of HA via Docker and then if satisfied, transition to that from my pi-based system. Is ESPHome supported via Docker?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Sounds great! ESPHome is definitely supported and there is a docker container for it. hub.docker.com/r/esphome/esphome

[@t3chrs]

This is a great series. Thank you!

[@mirkoyou6993]

I had the same issue as i wanted to get Open Media Vault and Home Assistant running on one machine. I solved it by installing Open Media Vault as the OS and then install Home Assistant Supervisor seperatly (without container). I would never use HA without Supervisor as the addons are making it interesting

[@marekkrzyszton4862]

I was thinking for quite time to move from HassOS to Docker on my Synology NAS and your guides convinced me it's not that difficult 🙂 I have just finished moving all my addons into dockers, over 14 of them including homeassistant,ha-configurator, esphome, grafana, influxdb, mariadb, mosquitto, zigbee2mqtt, telegraf, tasmoadmin, unifi, zerotier. Additionally duplicati for backups and dozzle for logs monitoring. I have setup homeassistant to run on own ip address using macvlan, separate from host and it's working great, using much less resources than VM on the Synology. Still struglling how make dockers to use the same ip as HA docker (trying network_mode: "service:homeassistant", but it's causing another problems). Wondering any platform that we can share experience and get some community help? a discord channel or else forum?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

The home assistant forums and discord servers are a great place to ask for help. There's a help area on the Home Assistant website that shows you how to access those

[@marekkrzyszton4862]

@@HomeAutomationGuy yeah, there was dedicated homeassistant_container discord channel unfortunately they decided to drop it somewhen in Feb this year and forcing to use general ones, which are too crowded for me...

[@sapka12]

hey @@marekkrzyszton4862 , I'm trying to add influxdb and grafana to my home assistant, but I don't find any description for docker-compose. can you please share your grafana/influx part of your docker-compose.yml

[@SmartTechArabic]

This is amazing and very helpful. BIG Thank You 🙏

[@pilotbum]

I have learned a lot from your channel. Keep up the good work. Question for you, do you use Chrome? If so, how do you get the iFrame panels to work in Chrome? I can get them to work in firefox, but not chrome.

[@millionandbell7779]

the main reason right now that I want supervised is because it has a wyze cam add on that seems to be the only way to add them to home assistant

[@ikewestbrook6490]

Great series, thx! Any advise on the issue that for some docker images like RasberryMatic panel_ does not work? Duplicati is also always disconnecting on my raspberry 4B, its unusable. 😞Which alternative would you recommend?

[@AlexWohlbruck]

With this setup, how do you deal with backups? I noticed that the container version doesn't allow you to restore a backup on a fresh install. I also use an addon that would automatically run a backup on a schedule and upload them to my google drive. Do you have a way to do this with this config?

[@ralmslb]

Its missing the integration part isn't? From my understanding, having an iFrame inside HomeAssistance doesn't serve much to have home assistant talk with that service (e.g.: Plex used in the video).

[@vanshavobin4271]

Do a video about integration Google cast using docker home assistant

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Are you running into a Permissions Error when trying to save your configuration files when using Visual Studio? Check out the solution for this in the companion blog post: www.homeautomationguy.io/home-assistant-tips/using-visual-studio-to-edit-your-home-assistant-configuration-yaml-file-over-ssh/#common_issues

[@10138707]

thanks that help

[@clashbang7550]

Hm, I don't know if Docker is right for me. Yes, I can install VS Code and connect via SSH. But that's overkill for when I just want to edit a few lines of code from time to time. Other than that, I will be relying on this software. Right now I can do everything with my HA installation, including editing all the folders and files, and all I need is a browser. So no matter where I am, I always have full access to everything without needing any programs that need to be set up in a particular way, and I really don't want to give that up.

[@mauvanheusden]

thanks Alan, I finally subscribed today after watching yet another video of yours. I’ve installed Portainer and Hass Container and Zigbee2MQTT and Eqlipse Mosquitto (as a broker). I can’t get Z2M and Mosquitto to talk to each other yet. Could you cover this in a video as well?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Thank you! I will try and cover Zigbee2MQTT and Mosquitto in a future video!

[@joudatfd]

Hi, what about mapping /dev/serial/by-id/whatever to docker instead of /dev/ttyUSB0 - this can change to another device after reboot, but the former should stay the same

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

That's a great suggestion! I used the /dev/ttyUSB0 example as that is what they suggested in the Home Assistant ZHA documentation, but I agree that your approach seems more solid and stable long term.

[@bskramer1011]

this is a great idea... I wish i thought of this before I went through the trouble of using UDEV rules to makes symlinks that I would then mount to my containers...

[@hamhumtube]

I recently noticed this channel and I liked it much. Already studied several of the contents. Thanks for these nourishing tutorials. Been running HA in proxmox for more than three years. I never liked addons. Always faced issues. May be it was the case for early times but I haven’t used any of addon for a long time. I was also -as discussed in this video- deploying desired/required services on my docker host which also is in same proxmox where ha resides. I humbly agree that almost any type of add-ons can be replicated in docker containers but I couldn’t think of a replacement for zerotier addon. what would you suggest.Thank you.

[@jamesbody]

Have you seen that MikroTik have announced support for Docker? I think that it would be REALLY cool to run Hoe Assistant on something like a RB5009 - which is a remarkably well specified bit of kit. I have experienced running HA on Raspberry Pi and Odroid platforms - but as someone who uses a lot of MikroTik gear from a professional perspective, I would love to see it running in a Docker container on an RB5009!

[@stefanschouteden5196]

Hi Alan, thanks. Thx for your videos! I have no issues getting my zigbee dongle and devices working in home assistant (docker), but how can I get my old sonoff-mini devices (working with wifi, not with zigbee) to show in home assistant. In the past I used the add-ons for tasmota, but I cannot find a docker compose entry for these old devices... Any idea? Thx!

[@paulatkinson9010]

Love the video! Question... HA is installed in Docker natively so why not just install supervisor into docket? I done this and it seems to work great. Not supported, but works.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Yeh, it works, but I don't like to suggest unsupported ideas publicly on my channel in case a breaking change in a future Home Assistant update stops that from working.

[@NMOBrien]

One word “Portainer”… Just a brief interaction with the cli when you need to update Portainer itself. More straightforward than this IMHO.

[@simoneatough6391]

Do the IFrames work from outside your local network? Looking at moving to docker, but I want to be able to access the services linked through IFrames while off my local network Currently running as a VM on unraid

[@JustinUK-vv8bb]

Just out of interest what user group settings do you have on the /opt directory? Do you have it set at root:root cause I find this causing problems creating directories in the /opt folder directly

[@NicksStuff]

Can you add a service in a docker container on a supervised install as well? Without the supervisor yelling at you?

[@p0wertiger]

I've been missing the addons with container for a while but that's because I was lazy with Supervised in another location instead of experimenting and I didn't spend enough time to search for some guide showing how to integrate separate containers :P The thing that scared me a bit was lack of Ingress integration. Iframe config does exactly the job. Thanks. I may even try integrating Mediawiki here (tried Bookshelf, addon documentation says Ingress does not work but I'm sure it's just the matter of app and nginx configuration). But then, since Supervisor does just that - manages its own set of Docker containers, aren't these images available to use in my own compose file? For the directory, when I stumbled upon CentOS I found out the /srv dir and now I tend to put all the data like configs or Docker data dir there (most often mounted to separate LVM volume), /opt now holds only things like entire environment/package, eg Apache Solr, J2EE servers etc.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I am sure most of those add on images are available somewhere to use in a normal docker compose file.

[@Andrew-ix2yq]

Bravo! You're the saver! 🎉

[@zenaustere]

Is there a walkthrough on how to setup a custom dashboard like mushroom etc?

[@Andlekin]

Thanks for the guidance, it really helped me set up my own Hass.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Thank you so much for the donation! I really appreciate your support and wish you all the best with your HA journey

[@Andlekin]

Now, if I could just automate my typo-fixing >.

[@Jmcinally94]

I think I'm ready to take the plunge, but my concern is that I'd need to reconfigure all my add-ons as containers from scratch. Is there an easy way to copy the content from existing HAOS add-on's into fresh Docker Containers to use with HA Core?

[@fernandopenah]

Can you show us how to install VS Code Server in a container so we can access it through the sidebar? I'm struggling to get it to work.

[@salernod2812]

I'm still using hacs versión or Sonoff Lan integrations. I downloaded eWelink container thinking this would take over the integration with my sonoff devices, but i dont know how to tell HA to use that integration instead. EWelink container can see all my devices and i can control from it. But HA is still relying on the hacs sonoff lan integration to see the devices.

[@MLCHRL]

I dont know, Im just using git to avoid directly working on the host machine. This is normally mutch smoother and you can build your own pipeline that should also do all this stuf for you automaticly. So instead of configuring your IDE to the needs, configure your CI/CD workflow like a boss.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

"Cattle, not pets"

[@johnhubbard3879]

Hi again Alan, as an update I figured out how to add the matter-server container. Question: where did you find the web url for plex that you pasted into the yaml file to add it to the side bar in home assistant?

[@johnhubbard3879]

figured this out too

[@thaitichi]

After entering my synology password, visual studio says "Setting up SSH Host ....: Waiting for port forwarding to be ready". Not sure what to do. SSH is enabled in my NAS.

[@walterwong4840]

I have tried and tried and research and research but still am not able to install bluetti2mqtt into my synology docker. Can you do a video on it?

[@lemon274]

what high quality content!

hey, thanks for your videos about HA using docker. I'm trying to run HA in a kubernetes cluster (docker on steroids we can say). I have one question: Do you have all the config folder in your git source control or are you excluding any files or folders? and I saw there is no option for checking the config when Im running the docker version, how do you do that?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

The option is there, but it is only displayed when you have Advanced Mode enabled for your user account. To do this click on your Username at the bottom of the navigation menu and then toggle the Advanced Mode switch to On. You should now see the Check Configuration option under Configuration -> Settings -> Server Controls.

[@MyHeap]

First I want to tell you that this is a great series. Thank you for posting it. In my home, I have all Linux machine. My personal computer, NAS, Firewall, etc. You show how to add a code editor and that is cool. But, is there a Linux code editor that can be used in place of Visual Studio Code? [EDIT] Nevermind. I didn't realize that Visual Studio Code was available for Linux. I am all good now! Joe

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Glad you discovered it! VS Code is amazing!

[@MyHeap]

@@HomeAutomationGuy I have a dumb question. When I try to edit yaml files from the code editor, I am not allowed to write out the file. This is because the owner and group are root and i am logging in with my user account. from a regualr ssh session I can do a sudo nano file.yaml. Is there way of editing these? Should I change the group on all these to docker since the $USER (me in this case) has been added to the docker group? Or did I do something wrong in my setup. I will go back and review your blog post in the mean time. Any help is appreciated. Thank you for such an awesome series. [EDIT] - Again, I should have ready your blogpost. I gave myself owenership of the /opt directory and those below. Although, wouldn't it be better to use the group rather than the ower? Sorry for being such a pain mate. Joe

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

@@MyHeap I usually just recursively chown all the files to myself.. I have no idea if that is a good idea or not, but it seemed to work! I have some info on this at the bottom of my blog post about VS Code: www.homeautomationguy.io/home-assistant-tips/using-visual-studio-to-edit-your-home-assistant-configuration-yaml-file-over-ssh/

[@allinclusive5762]

time to do it again - without

[@BbB-vr9uh]

What is it and why do you not recommend it?

[@MrCWoodhouse]

Wait a minute. I have ha running in docker with the supervisor that spawns like 8 total containers. I can add any official or unofficial add-on no prob, including HACS. each add-on is in its own container. Couple of years with no problems. Portainer did me everything. I do update each add-on individually. I have pihole running in another container. Try it.

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Yep, it seems a lot of people run this and have great success with it. I don't mention this method in my video because it's not technically a supported Home Assistant installation method

[@MrCWoodhouse]

@@HomeAutomationGuy It should be supported officially because it works great. I wonder why it is not official. Home assistant hardly ever takes more than a few percent of my CPU, and I have the pi-4 running on an SSD, so there are plenty of clock cycles and storage space left to run other containers like node red, mqtt, z=wave, pihole, wireguard, and anything else I want to put on that machine. Since the apps are containerized, I can mess around with less chance of breaking my HA installation.

[@pabll0]

can you make a tutorial ...how to install usb coral tpu on virtual machine and working with Frigate in home assistant?

[@Matrix21rms]

I followed the exact steps, but when I try to connect to Portainer, it asks for a username and password. I'm using the same credentials to log in to Portainer, but it doesn't work. Error: Unable to retrieve user details: Unauthorized.

[@patrickvanieperen3592]

Hi, Iam using a Z wave dongle I have added it to the dockercompose file like you showed, but when I open de Z wave I just can enter a websocket address not an usb port.

[@JustThinkingAboutIt-i5k]

Can you still use Docker Swarm in a container install? how does that affect dongles and etc?

[@mikifarinics6149]

In your other video comparing zigbee vs mqtt you said to have both container and os version is cool to have the best of both worlds, how would you run them?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I used to use the container version, and have now switched to the OS version. I'm happy with the OS version and would probably stick with this in future

[@MrTeleclovek]

Hi. when i type command "ls -l /dev/serial/by-id" i get "ls: cannot access '/dev/serial/by-id': No such file or directory". What should i do?

[@markvk42]

Hi, thanks for the video, still trying to decide about docker, but i saw another video from everything smart home where he had managed to install supervisor onto the docker version of HA, would there be any drawbacks to installing in this way?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I'm sure it will work, but it is not a supported or recommended installation method

[@markvk42]

@@HomeAutomationGuy Hi Alan, Thanks for taking the time to actually reply, most dont. From what ive read Ubuntu isnt supported any more either (silly move) The installation method provided by everything smart home for supervised containers no longer works and so im trying to find a way to do it. I personally think the supervised contained method makes a lot of sense because it gives you best of both worlds, easy quick installation of supported addons and also able to use non supported addons via container. Im very new to linux and HA but ive been using Hubitats for many years. although im certain that your container installation is the way forward, its a lot to ask from a novice and could be made much easier for said novice by offering supervised container installation. I notice a few of your other subscribers are also interested in a supervised container installation, if i ever suss it out ill do a vid and add it to my channel, or maybe you could make one ;) . youd certainly do it better than i could! keep up the good work, i know how long it takes to produce content like this!

[@vigneshks6649]

Thank you for your video, this is more helpful for who all are using home assistant in container. How to change dashboards and theme like lavelace minimalist theme in home assistant container?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

The way to customize Dashboards should be the same in all Home Assistant installations.

[@MarkChaney]

I am confused. I run home assistant in a docker container on my ubuntu server and still use the home assistant addons tool to install/launch additional docker containers for home assistant as well.

[@rbolden]

Alan, Quick question on the use of the panel_s. I can get Portainer to display using http but I can't get Uptime-Kuma to display. They are on the same server. Any immediate thoughts?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Some UIs don't allow themselves to be embedded into an iFrame. I'm not familiar with that particular service, but it might be worth asking on their github page or forums.

[@andrewshen926]

Hey, im a big fan! i have a question, i dont have add ons, how do i control devices such as my govee lights?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

They should still connect to HA using Wifi without any add ons.

[@jimmywoody6962]

Thanks Alan, top video again! Can anyone help me with setting plex media up? I have plex running in a docker container but I can't access my media that is currently sat on an external USB hhd plugged into my server. I guess I need to mount the hhd and map the drive to the container but I can't for the life of me work out how to do it

[@SKotekar]

This has been a very helpful video series. Thank you. Can we do this with Node-Red container? Even if we did, how can we make it work with homeassistant?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

Yes, Node-Red is supported! github.com/node-red/node-red-docker

[@SKotekar]

@@HomeAutomationGuy what I meant was, if I install node red in a separate container, will I still have access to all home assistant nodes, services and events

[@brianhansen9578]

@@SKotekar Yes, HA and Node-Red just have to link over the "normal" network instead of internal docker network, but once thats done, there's no difference in usecase

[@unlock-er]

thanks, how about other add ons such as samba backup?

[@fredarmstrong6418]

This is very helpful video, Thanks! Looking forward to the next one as well. I have a question that is not directly related, but I was wondering if you can point me in the right direction I am just getting started with HA - so forgive me if this is a dumb question... Currently I have Home Assistant OS running on a RPi for testing. Ultimately I want to run it in a container as you have described here. Due to my house layout, though, my server is in the basement and I have had many challenges with the Zigbee hub being too far away from the rest of the network (even with a few Zigbee outlets as repeaters the mesh performance was sub-optimal), so I have put my RPi with Zigbee dongle in the family room. Ultimately though, I would like to know if it's possible for the Zigbee hub to be on a different device from the one running HA?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

That's a great question, and one that I do not unfortunately have an answer for just yet. I was going to test if I could run Zigbee2MQTT, with the USB dongle plugged into it, on the Raspberry pi and place it in the middle of the house. Then I would install Home Assistant and the Mosquitto MQTT server on a Docker container on my server in the basement. Zigbee2MQTT could listen for the Zigbee signals and send the MQTT messages over the Wifi or Network to the basement server. Unfortunately I've not had time to test that yet, but it's on my to do list!

[@brianhansen9578]

That is very doable, there's no problem with a remote zigbee dongle. you ofc have to have something to attatch the dongle to (Pi most likely), but HA running on server in the basement can use dongle just as easily as if directly attached, and should auto-discover it, i have personally used ZHA and DeConz in this configuration

[@fredarmstrong6418]

@@brianhansen9578 Thanks Brian, appreciate your response!

[@viggyprabhu]

Is there a particular reason you run both portainer and home assistant are in the same docker compose file? Also for additional add-ons should they be in same docker compose for it work properly?

[@HomeAutomationGuy]

I put them all into the same file so it's easier for me to manage. I'm not sure it's the right or only way, but it works for me