What is the BIGGEST Drawback of Running Home Assistant on Windows using Docker?

This video will be complication of super easy,  step-by-step instructions on how to start Home   Assistant on Windows machine using Docker or in  other words how to run Home Assistant Container,   but there is more. I will show you how to update  your Home Assistant when there is a new release   and how to implement an automatic health check  mechanism. If you don’t have Home Assistant yet   this is a great way to finally get one and join  in one of the fastest growing communities in the   Smart Home world. On the other hand, if you  already have Home Assistant, you can use this   method to quickly spin a new test installation  where you can start experimenting safely.  I will also share which is the one and only  drawback of this method in my humble opinion.   Just to mention that everything is free and  it should work on any Windows version that   is still in support and on any recent Intel or  AMD Processor from the last 5 to even 10 years   that support virtualization instructions.  Without further ado let’s start this video.  First thing that is needed is a working Docker  application. For that, I will go to to docker.com   website where I can download Docker application.  I’m using a standard Docker installation and I’m   accepting everything that is recommended.  Basically, I’m just clicking on the Next   button until the installation is finished. After  that, I will click on the Windows start button I   will search for Docker and I will click on it to  start it. This is what I wanted to see at the end,   a green whale saying that Docker engine  is running. This means that everything is   fine with the Docker installation. By the way If  you get any warnings about WSL2 that is Windows   Subsystem for Linux that Docker is using just  follow the official Microsoft instructions to   resolve the issue and you can find the link to  these instructions in the video description.  Next, I will create a new empty folder named  homeassistant in my C drive on my Windows   machine. I’m going to use this folder for the Home  Assistant configuration. Be careful here if you   want to replicate the steps that follows without  any modification. Make the same folder inside   your C drive and name it homeassistant exactly  the same way all lowercase character without   space or other special characters. After that, I go to this GitHub link that   is available in the video description and either  download the file as ZIP and unzip it or copy its   contents and paste it in an empty notepad.  Then name that file docker-compose.yml and   save it in your homeassistant folder in drive C. Then click on the Windows start button and type   cmd to run the Windows command prompt.  Enter inside the homeassistant folder   that we created earlier and in which we saved the  docker-compose.yml file and type docker-compose up   This command will read the docker-compose.yml file  and will execute the instructions inside, it will   download Home Assistant Image it will create a  Docker container, it will map the Home Assistant   config folder to the C:\homeassistant folder, it  will set the time zone, it will expose the port   8123 where Home Assistant is running and it will  implement the health check mechanism, so at the   end you will have a fully working Home Assistant. To check that everything is working you can open   the docker app where you can see  that homeassistant container is   running and you can open the web interface After 90 seconds because we set that time   in our docker-compose file you can open a  new command prompt and you can type docker   container ls command and you will see that that  our automatic health check is running and the   Home Assistant container is healthy. If for some  reason localhost on port 8123 is not accessible   this healthy status will not be shown here. One quick remark don’t delete the   docker-compose.yml file as we are  going to use it for the future updates.  Another quick remark, instead of using  docker-compose.yml file you can achieve   the same result, but without the health check  by using a docker run command. You can get this   command from the video description and you  just have to paste it in the command prompt   instead of docker-compose up command. So this  is another method which may be even easier.  To demonstrate you that I will stop & delete the  ha container that docker-compose up created from   the Docker app. Of course this can be done from  the command prompt but using the Docker app is   more visual friendly. Then I will open a new  command prompt and I will paste the docker run   command that I copied from the video description. So far so good, we now know two ways to start Home   Assistant on Windows. And when Home Assistant  is started it is time for onboarding which is   super easy process. You just have to type  a Username and password, you can then name   your Home Assistant installation, set a location,  country, language, currency and stuff like that,   then you can optionally opt-in for the  anonymous Home Assistant statistics. The   system will also try to auto-discover some  devices and integrations nearby and finally   you are in. You can start using Home Assistant. But what if you want to update it? Every month   there is one major new release and during that  month usually more than 5 minor versions are   released. So, updating your Home Assistant  is an important and regular task. With Home   Assistant running on Docker or Home Assistant  Container which is the official name of this kind   of installation, the update process is easy. The Home Assistant Container installation on   Windows that we just did can be executed almost  the same way on Mac and Linux Operating systems.   Just few minor modifications in the config folder  mapping are needed. This type of installation have   almost everything and it is suitable for everyone  from just testing type of installation to serious   production environment where you can loose money  if Home Assistant is down. The only thing that   is missing here is the Home Assistant Add-on  store from where you can install some useful   add-ons with just 1 click. Most of these add-ons  are coming preconfigured and ready to use, so they   are great if you are looking for convenience  and functionality. On the other hand you may   never need these Apps in the Home Assistant  Add-ons store or you can manually install them.   So that can be considered as a plus or  minus depending of the point of view.  To understand more about the different  installation types of Home Assistant, you can   register for my Webinar where I’m talking exactly  about that. Which Home Assistant installation   types have Add-ons store, and what are their other  pros and cons. It will help you find a method to   start Home Assistant that is best for you. The  webinar is completely free and you can register   from the link that is shown on the screen. I  will also add the link in the video description.  Back to the current Home Assistant installation  type. If for some reason Home Assistant Container   is not your thing and you want to remove  and clean everything. That can be easily   done just delete the Home Assistant container  from the Docker Application, then delete the   Home Assistant Image and you can even remove  Docker from the Windows add/remove programs.  With Home Assistant Container or not you can  download my Smart Home Glossary if some of   the Smart Home terms and abbreviations  are not so clear to you. It will help   you because it is full of simple but useful  explanations of these terms. The glossary is   completely free and it is in a form of a  PDF document so you can use it offline on   any device you wish. Link can be found in the  video description as well as on the screen.  Thank you for watching, I’m  Kiril see you next week. Bye!

Channel: KPeyanski

Views: 5,929

Keywords: Home Assistant container, Windows, Docker, Smart Home, configuration, tutorial, installation, update, health check, virtualization, WSL2, GitHub, docker-compose.yml, command prompt, web interface, onboarding, username, Mac, Linux, production environment, add-on store, KPeyanski, Kiril Peyanski, Peyanski

Id: ewdNCb8NbiM

Length: 8min 0sec (480 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 26 2023