Can you recommend an install option for me and my ubuntu NVR?

Installation
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Hello HA peeps, Im an old insteon guy (about 20 years on x-10 and a defunct insteon) trying to move over to HA. I installed HA Portable on my windows 10 machine just to see if I liked it, and I do!! It found all of my insteon devices and Im ready to make the full switch over!

Its very satisfying to watch HA talk to Insteon now

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I would prefer to run HA on my Ubiquiti Networks UVC-NVR, as its my “always on” device and does a decent job with my home camera system.

its an Intel D2550 Processor with 4GB of RAM
Running ubuntu 16.04 Server w/gui
The NVR software was pre-installed along with ubuntu 16.04 back in 2016. Ubiquiti no longer supports the device or the NVR software, so Im a bit reluctant to upgrade (or switch) the OS on this device. If there’s a decent NVR solution under HA–Im in!

After looking at all the install options, and looking over HA ubuntu youtube installs, I was looking into
Home assistant (supervised) as a virtual machine using the KVM Hypervisor.

After reading some of the comments in that video, Alot of people were having difficulty making HA accessible to other computers on their home network, the IP table commands, Port forwarding, or their NAT configurations we’re road blocks for inexperienced users (like me :flushed: ).

Im new to both ubuntu and HA , please be kind. Without watching a video, or having copy/paste command line code to work from, Im afraid I’ll get myself into trouble.

I do believe I need a Supervised option, as I definitely would like easy access to Add-ons. The HA Portable version Im playing with on my win 10 box does not support Add-ons.

Thanks for sticking with me on this… so the questions are:

:point_right: What is the best beginners install option for me and this NVR?
(I got no slots for usb or SD cards)
Understand that the HDMI, VGA, USB, SD slot, and audio input/output ports come factory disabled. They may be activated at future times via firmware updates.* :rofl: yea right, they discontinued it!

:point_right: Best method of install on ubuntu 16.04
Snaps? Virtual Manager?

:point_right: Best method to move /configuration from win 10 to NVR?
Windows Portable does not have a backup function

Many thanks for your guidance and support. I really hope to contribute and support HA and the forum over the next 20 years!

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A supervised install is not supported on Ubuntu. Only Debian.

A VM install of HAOS would be your best option.

If you can copy a full backup off your portable install you can load this to your VM install during onboarding, or afterwards.

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Thanks so much Tom!

I was starting on a VM install of HAOS. While I was installing Virtual Manager on Ubuntu 16.04 I started reading more about the bios/firmware changes needed for an OS install.

It says here "the installation of KVM becomes a lot easier, we only need a Linux-based system such as Ubuntu and a processor with intel-v / VT-x or AMD-v support. "

My device has an Intel D2550 Processor, and Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) is not supported.

So I looked into Virtualbox and Generic x86-64 install, and both want “Enable EFI”.
I looked at the bios on this device and I didnt see any option to “Enable EFI” or Update Firmware.

I can only assume this is why the manufacturer dropped all support and Discontinued this device. Is there any other path forward for me with this device?

Thanks again for your input.

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You can install supervised on Ubuntu, it’s just not supported and may break at any time and there will be no support from the developers to fix it. Only the community. I wouldn’t recommend it.

If you are familiar with Docker you could install the Container version. This is fully supported but you will be responsible for managing your own containerised applications (no Home Assistant add-ons) and OS updates.

The other option may be HAOS using Proxmux but I know nothing about that type of install.

Alternatively, find a cheap second hand laptop to run Home Assistant OS on. It will have a built in UPS (battery).

Sorry I missed this:

So your backup and restore option is to copy the entire /config folder (including the hidden .storage sub directory) from the old to the new system. This will not restore add-ons, but you don’t have any yet so no issue there.

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