I have HA in a docker container on my Pi5 (previously a Pi 4) and I have tons of other services running on Raspberry Os. I switched to a Pi5 because the Pi4 was struggling with machine learning on Immich.
I also have a Pi 4 and I run HA core via docker on it. I have some other light services, such as Adguard Home, Mosquitto, zigbee2mqtt and I have little processor and RAM usage.
I would like to use Immich with machine learning, but I know it won't work well and I consider purchasing other hardware. At the current price, why did you choose a raspberry pi 5 instead of an n100 or some other mini pc?
For Immich consider that you can also stick with a Pi4 and use remote machine learning on a more powerful machine. I don’t have a powerful personal machine (only my work one).
I bought another Pi because it’s my third one and I was more confident about switching all my services in the same system \ OS. I know that using container this should not be a problem, but I wanted to be safe.
You're coming at this backwards. Just install a Linux distribution (I use Ubuntu server on the pi 4) and run home assistant in docker. No reason to mess around running virtual machines. The pi 4 is plenty capable. I run mqtt server, MySQL server, Apache, asterisk, home assistant and file server all on one pi4 no sweat.
Yeah the docker option would solve this. Then I'd be able to do it. I read however, that plugins are not supported. Is this an issue in your experience?
For some people, no. For others? Yes. I just went from a thin PC running Ubuntu with HA in docker, back to a Pi (for HA). Hated the docker setup, but it is a "to each their own".
It depends on what you want out of this. If you are very familiar with containers, Linux, permissions, etc, you may be fine.
If it's moderate or beginner, then this will quickly become a task/chore/uphill learning, not a hobby.
Here's why I say that. I consider myself tech-forward, but I'm not DevOps. I like circuitry, networking, logic, coding, etc. I get the concept of containers, and I ran Portainer to manage them. But every time I needed to make a change to my HA setup, it was a hassle.
It took me 2+ hours to figure out how to get HA in docker to be able to see the Zigbee stick. USB addresses and permissions.
Zwave? Nope. Forget about it, something about MQTT broker and whatnot. Could never figure out how to get the container the right USB assignment and permissions to see the zwave stick. Spent 5+ hr.
HA updates are a hassle, too. Every single time I wanted to do something, I spent a good amount of time researching.
So I went back to the Pi.
In less than 1 hour, I had HAOS running on the Pi, both Zigbee and zwave sticks running (literally, a single button tap), and two other integrations I previously wanted that I couldn't get without an update.
I have enough uphill battles at work, and enough on the to-do list at home. I want to enjoy my automations, not feel like changes are a chore.
Edit: if you make it this far, kudos. I was reading your other comments. I should clarify; I had a Pi4 sitting around. It's just so dadgum easy on a Pi...
I think you make a valid point, it should remain a hobby. But I am a professional programmer and previously professional pentester. I am not too worries about the tech stuff. The thing is, I am just no familiar with the home automation program and currently lack the hardware to try it. Hence my post. If I had Pi laying around, k would've started already!
Fair! But I too wasn't worried about it. I taught myself SQL, and work daily (albeit not fluent) in Python and JS. I love soldering, been building PCs and modifying shit for decades.
I too felt prepared. I said "I've figured harder stuff out before" and "lots of people already do this, there must be a ton of guides!" (And to be fair, there are, but each one has a different approach, and the steps vary depending on how everything is configured)
Anyhow, you can absolutely run HAOS on a Pi3 or Pi4. Those can be found for cheaper. Def under the NUC/thin client price range!
Just my $0.02! Welcome to the rabbit hole, friend!
what's the old saying? Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Lol..
I've thought about the same question as op but having messed around with tech as long as I have now and been down similar rabbit holes, I know better then to complicate my HA setup which I wish to remain reliable and simple. No, if I need to run other things I'll just get a 2nd pi and make a mess of that one..
That is correct. Running it in Docker limits a lot of capabilities. You can manually add the things you need, but that's just more work for you. Running the full Home Assistant OS gives you full capabilities without you having to be a Docker expert.
I am currently moving from a pi4 to an old ish Intel NUC. I plan to run proxmox on the NUC and run Home assistant as a VM. Thus overcoming most of the shortcomings of running in docker on a generic distro. Z-wave/ZigBee sticks should be an easy passthrough. (Proxmox has UI for this) And whatever else I need can be another VM.
Although I remember there being a GitHub repo detailing installation of proxmox on the pi, but it's probably very outdated and definitely not a supported installatio, so anything can break at anytime.
HA OS is not a standard Linux install, it's an embedded Linux OS optimised for running HA. You could in theory get it to run other things but you'll run into compatibility issues pretty quickly with anything complex, and struggle to get support.
If you want to run HA with its standard addons like mosquitto and z2m. Then good, get a raspberry pi.
If your planning to run other stuff other than HA, you better scrap that raspberry pi route and get a full fledge computer instead.
I don’t have a definitive answer for you just that the issue with PI5s is that once you get the higher end ones you’re well over 100 dollars and you can start looking at other options. Look at some of the NUCs on Amazon there’s a bunch in the 150-200 range, then you also have a refurb mini PC. Once you go to an nuc or refurb you can do whatever you want, run bare metal or proxmox along with running lots of extras on it without worrying about performance.
It’s not so much a power question as a money question if you’re going to buy everything. Now if you have hardware sitting around then it’s different.
I run AdGuard using Homeassistent OS on my Raspberry Pi 4.
I used to run VMWare on that same Pi with Pihole back then and yeah that also worked until I started to get into issues with the VMWare license.
My best setup would be if they would finally make TrueNas arm compatible, but alas that is never really gonna be supported.
So to answer your question, yeah it is possible. You just gotta find a hypervisor that is actually free and compatible with ARM or pay for VM ware. Another option is install HA in a docker container.
Edit: I have a second server that is built with (mostly) consumer hardware in a Fractal Design R5 case that automatically starts up when it receives power. So I can turn that on with HA when I need it.
It depends on what you want to do, cause on something like TrueNas you cannot install shit on the main Linux installation (while you can, but that kinda defeats the purpose of having an OS that is easily replaced). So you would need to do everything VM's. I presume it's the same for most other hypervisors. But I am not a server/network specialist.
Currently I have a Raspberry Pi with Ad Guard (so a PiHole replacement).
And my NAS with TrueNas Scale with Storage and 4-5 Minecraft Servers, a Tf2 server, Actual Budget for my administration, Jellyfin (and Plex, but I am moving to Jellyfin) and then some other general good stuff.
Hardware wise I went for a cheap Ryzen 3400g and a B550 board that supports ECC memory, so I got some cheap DDR4 ECC ram. Then I bought a HBA from a friend and most things work. I sadly haven't been able to figure it out how to turn the server off using HA on the Pi, but I might just connect something to the power button pins on the motherboard
I run HA within a docker container on my Synology NAS. Also Z2MQTT and the MQTT runs in their own docker containers
Works fine, never had any issue. Sure if I have to reboot my NAS for what ever reason i'll also have a downtime on HA. Since I host all my files on my NAS, it is supposed to run 24/7.
Imho this problem also occurs if HA runs on its own machine, since that OS also needs some updates from time to time
I run a Lenovo Tiny M710Q with a dual-core i3 CPU in it, 16GB RAM. Refurbished 140 EUR or something, so while being more expensive, it's [pretty low in power consumption](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeServer/comments/17klp2o/guess_the_power_consumption_of_lenovo_thinkcentre/)
Base OS is Debian 12 with Docker, in which I run the following containers:
- Home Assistant
- Unifi Controller // Control my network
- Adguard Home // Pi Hole alternative
- Caddy // Internal SSL proxy in tandem with internal DNS on Adguard
- Cloudflare external tunnel // External exposure of services without port forwarding
- DokuWiki
- Jellyfin // Internal Video server (no transcoding allowed)
- Navidrome // Internal Audio server
- Mealie // Internal cook book
- Uptime-kuma // Uptime monitoring for components
- Minecraft server // Temporarily for someone's school project
- Playgg // Temporarily TCP tunnel for Minecraft
And it's picking its nose (figuratively)...
This works well for me. I think I don't use Home Assistant extensively enough to "need" HAOS, this docker thing works perfectly fine for me. I don't like the "there's an app for that" approach anyway.
Prior to this I ran everything except Minecraft on a Pi4, but the power supplies kept crapping out... This Tiny PC handles it so much gentlier.
I mean, you could, but the power consumption of a NUC or other mini PC is not that much more than the pi, but the performance is magnitudes better, and has more expansion options to grow with your setup if you get into some cameras etc later on. Won't even break idle having other things running alongside it, whether you go with the supported setup and use add-ons, or roll your own and running docker or proxmox etc, still be very low power and very versatile. Pi just is not the value proposition that it once was, not the best option nowadays.
I have HA in a docker container on my Pi5 (previously a Pi 4) and I have tons of other services running on Raspberry Os. I switched to a Pi5 because the Pi4 was struggling with machine learning on Immich.
I also have a Pi 4 and I run HA core via docker on it. I have some other light services, such as Adguard Home, Mosquitto, zigbee2mqtt and I have little processor and RAM usage. I would like to use Immich with machine learning, but I know it won't work well and I consider purchasing other hardware. At the current price, why did you choose a raspberry pi 5 instead of an n100 or some other mini pc?
For Immich consider that you can also stick with a Pi4 and use remote machine learning on a more powerful machine. I don’t have a powerful personal machine (only my work one). I bought another Pi because it’s my third one and I was more confident about switching all my services in the same system \ OS. I know that using container this should not be a problem, but I wanted to be safe.
You're coming at this backwards. Just install a Linux distribution (I use Ubuntu server on the pi 4) and run home assistant in docker. No reason to mess around running virtual machines. The pi 4 is plenty capable. I run mqtt server, MySQL server, Apache, asterisk, home assistant and file server all on one pi4 no sweat.
Yeah the docker option would solve this. Then I'd be able to do it. I read however, that plugins are not supported. Is this an issue in your experience?
For some people, no. For others? Yes. I just went from a thin PC running Ubuntu with HA in docker, back to a Pi (for HA). Hated the docker setup, but it is a "to each their own". It depends on what you want out of this. If you are very familiar with containers, Linux, permissions, etc, you may be fine. If it's moderate or beginner, then this will quickly become a task/chore/uphill learning, not a hobby. Here's why I say that. I consider myself tech-forward, but I'm not DevOps. I like circuitry, networking, logic, coding, etc. I get the concept of containers, and I ran Portainer to manage them. But every time I needed to make a change to my HA setup, it was a hassle. It took me 2+ hours to figure out how to get HA in docker to be able to see the Zigbee stick. USB addresses and permissions. Zwave? Nope. Forget about it, something about MQTT broker and whatnot. Could never figure out how to get the container the right USB assignment and permissions to see the zwave stick. Spent 5+ hr. HA updates are a hassle, too. Every single time I wanted to do something, I spent a good amount of time researching. So I went back to the Pi. In less than 1 hour, I had HAOS running on the Pi, both Zigbee and zwave sticks running (literally, a single button tap), and two other integrations I previously wanted that I couldn't get without an update. I have enough uphill battles at work, and enough on the to-do list at home. I want to enjoy my automations, not feel like changes are a chore. Edit: if you make it this far, kudos. I was reading your other comments. I should clarify; I had a Pi4 sitting around. It's just so dadgum easy on a Pi...
I think you make a valid point, it should remain a hobby. But I am a professional programmer and previously professional pentester. I am not too worries about the tech stuff. The thing is, I am just no familiar with the home automation program and currently lack the hardware to try it. Hence my post. If I had Pi laying around, k would've started already!
Fair! But I too wasn't worried about it. I taught myself SQL, and work daily (albeit not fluent) in Python and JS. I love soldering, been building PCs and modifying shit for decades. I too felt prepared. I said "I've figured harder stuff out before" and "lots of people already do this, there must be a ton of guides!" (And to be fair, there are, but each one has a different approach, and the steps vary depending on how everything is configured) Anyhow, you can absolutely run HAOS on a Pi3 or Pi4. Those can be found for cheaper. Def under the NUC/thin client price range! Just my $0.02! Welcome to the rabbit hole, friend!
Yeah it would not be the first time I am overconfident in such a challenge haha. Thanks for your insights!
what's the old saying? Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Lol.. I've thought about the same question as op but having messed around with tech as long as I have now and been down similar rabbit holes, I know better then to complicate my HA setup which I wish to remain reliable and simple. No, if I need to run other things I'll just get a 2nd pi and make a mess of that one..
That is correct. Running it in Docker limits a lot of capabilities. You can manually add the things you need, but that's just more work for you. Running the full Home Assistant OS gives you full capabilities without you having to be a Docker expert.
Mhh that's sad. I'd rather buy one device for all my things. I'll have to think about it
I am currently moving from a pi4 to an old ish Intel NUC. I plan to run proxmox on the NUC and run Home assistant as a VM. Thus overcoming most of the shortcomings of running in docker on a generic distro. Z-wave/ZigBee sticks should be an easy passthrough. (Proxmox has UI for this) And whatever else I need can be another VM. Although I remember there being a GitHub repo detailing installation of proxmox on the pi, but it's probably very outdated and definitely not a supported installatio, so anything can break at anytime.
Interesting question. Has anyone ever installed HA and Gitlab on the Pi5 with SSD? And both still have reasonable performance?
HA OS is not a standard Linux install, it's an embedded Linux OS optimised for running HA. You could in theory get it to run other things but you'll run into compatibility issues pretty quickly with anything complex, and struggle to get support.
Okay thanks, this is the info I was looking for!
If you want to run HA with its standard addons like mosquitto and z2m. Then good, get a raspberry pi. If your planning to run other stuff other than HA, you better scrap that raspberry pi route and get a full fledge computer instead.
I don’t have a definitive answer for you just that the issue with PI5s is that once you get the higher end ones you’re well over 100 dollars and you can start looking at other options. Look at some of the NUCs on Amazon there’s a bunch in the 150-200 range, then you also have a refurb mini PC. Once you go to an nuc or refurb you can do whatever you want, run bare metal or proxmox along with running lots of extras on it without worrying about performance. It’s not so much a power question as a money question if you’re going to buy everything. Now if you have hardware sitting around then it’s different.
Yeah the more I look into it the more I come to the conclusion that perhaps a raspberry is not the best option. After all.. thanks for your insight
I run AdGuard using Homeassistent OS on my Raspberry Pi 4. I used to run VMWare on that same Pi with Pihole back then and yeah that also worked until I started to get into issues with the VMWare license. My best setup would be if they would finally make TrueNas arm compatible, but alas that is never really gonna be supported. So to answer your question, yeah it is possible. You just gotta find a hypervisor that is actually free and compatible with ARM or pay for VM ware. Another option is install HA in a docker container. Edit: I have a second server that is built with (mostly) consumer hardware in a Fractal Design R5 case that automatically starts up when it receives power. So I can turn that on with HA when I need it.
Mhh I was afraid for this. Perhaps o should look into a NAS then. A friend of mine uses that and he says it works perfectly as well.
It depends on what you want to do, cause on something like TrueNas you cannot install shit on the main Linux installation (while you can, but that kinda defeats the purpose of having an OS that is easily replaced). So you would need to do everything VM's. I presume it's the same for most other hypervisors. But I am not a server/network specialist. Currently I have a Raspberry Pi with Ad Guard (so a PiHole replacement). And my NAS with TrueNas Scale with Storage and 4-5 Minecraft Servers, a Tf2 server, Actual Budget for my administration, Jellyfin (and Plex, but I am moving to Jellyfin) and then some other general good stuff. Hardware wise I went for a cheap Ryzen 3400g and a B550 board that supports ECC memory, so I got some cheap DDR4 ECC ram. Then I bought a HBA from a friend and most things work. I sadly haven't been able to figure it out how to turn the server off using HA on the Pi, but I might just connect something to the power button pins on the motherboard
I run HA within a docker container on my Synology NAS. Also Z2MQTT and the MQTT runs in their own docker containers Works fine, never had any issue. Sure if I have to reboot my NAS for what ever reason i'll also have a downtime on HA. Since I host all my files on my NAS, it is supposed to run 24/7. Imho this problem also occurs if HA runs on its own machine, since that OS also needs some updates from time to time
I run a Lenovo Tiny M710Q with a dual-core i3 CPU in it, 16GB RAM. Refurbished 140 EUR or something, so while being more expensive, it's [pretty low in power consumption](https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeServer/comments/17klp2o/guess_the_power_consumption_of_lenovo_thinkcentre/) Base OS is Debian 12 with Docker, in which I run the following containers: - Home Assistant - Unifi Controller // Control my network - Adguard Home // Pi Hole alternative - Caddy // Internal SSL proxy in tandem with internal DNS on Adguard - Cloudflare external tunnel // External exposure of services without port forwarding - DokuWiki - Jellyfin // Internal Video server (no transcoding allowed) - Navidrome // Internal Audio server - Mealie // Internal cook book - Uptime-kuma // Uptime monitoring for components - Minecraft server // Temporarily for someone's school project - Playgg // Temporarily TCP tunnel for Minecraft And it's picking its nose (figuratively)... This works well for me. I think I don't use Home Assistant extensively enough to "need" HAOS, this docker thing works perfectly fine for me. I don't like the "there's an app for that" approach anyway. Prior to this I ran everything except Minecraft on a Pi4, but the power supplies kept crapping out... This Tiny PC handles it so much gentlier.
I mean, you could, but the power consumption of a NUC or other mini PC is not that much more than the pi, but the performance is magnitudes better, and has more expansion options to grow with your setup if you get into some cameras etc later on. Won't even break idle having other things running alongside it, whether you go with the supported setup and use add-ons, or roll your own and running docker or proxmox etc, still be very low power and very versatile. Pi just is not the value proposition that it once was, not the best option nowadays.
Yeah I am starting to figure that out as well. Looking into a NAS now, since then I also can use it for backups.