Hi,
I am testing some shell_commands and rest_commands. I need to make changes frequently to get the syntax right. My question is: Since I am making these changes directly in configuration.yaml file, do I need to restart HA every time I make a change? If not, then what is the right way to reload it?
Right now (mostly out of doubt and uncertainty), I am restarting HA every time after making a change and it disrupts all running automations and scripts. HA version 2023.6.3, running on VM.
No you do not. Reboot and restart are two very different things. Do not use the words interchangeably.
The only time you need to reboot the host machine is when making changes to or upgrades of the host operating system. i.e. very rarely.
A restart of Home Assistant is required when adding never before used yaml integrations. i.e. this is the first time you have used a particular yaml configured integration.
If you have already got an instance of a yaml integration and you add another (or you are editing an existing one), then a yaml reloadshould do. Personally I’ve had issues with this in the past and as my Home Assistant can restart in about a minute I usually do a restart just to be on the safe side. As well as my mistrust of the reload option, there’s also a bit of historical momentum as that was the way it was done for a long time before the reload option became available.
My actual experience varies; most times a yaml reload or a reload of an integration works, then there are those rare occasions it does not and a reboot is needed.
Please read what I just wrote about misusing the word “reboot”. You mean “home assistant restart”. You do not need to reboot the host to get integrations loaded. Only restart home assistant, and then only if it is the first time you have used an integration. If you’ve used the integration before a reload should do.
No, I meant a full reboot (Advance Options > Reboot System). Like I said restarting HA sometimes does not do it. I always try to use what is prompted, but then need to take the next level, until a true system reboot fixes the issue. Current on HA-Yellow, had network dropping occasionally, but router said it never did. HA restarts did not fix, so finally did system reboot. Been stable since then.
Just depends at what level/layer the issue is truly occurring. Logs say it happens, but not much more than that.
Networking issues could be a problem with the host system, but are not changes to an integration in configuration.yaml, which is what this topic is about.
Not all integrations can be reloaded individually. Those integrations need a restart of HA to pick up the changes.
The only ones that support an individual integration reload (vs a full HA restart) are the ones listed under developer tools->yaml. All the rest require a restart.
But never a reboot. If you need to reboot for HA to pick up changes in your yaml configured integrations then you are doing something wrong.