Core install document available

Installation
1

Ubuntu 24.04, 64 bit, Intel

Can someone recommend a document or onlne instructions for installing HA core? I realize that core install is a community only support, but I have had good luck with core installs on two generations of computers and quite a number of OS installs and upgrades. (Ubuntu). Almost in all cases the usage time has been 1+ years as I don’t upgrade unless there is a real need to do so.
I did find a few installation examples, but I thought I would check here to see if there was an official or unofficial document.

Thanks for any help.
Mark

2 Likes
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I think I heard there was one on Reddit or Facebook, don’t remember for sure.
Or you could use the wayback machine.
Still a REALLY bad idea in any case.

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No, it’s not a bad idea, just not a solution for everyone. After all it was one of the main ways of installing HA years ago. I just wish the instructions was kept but with a big desclaimer.
I do have a few cryptic notes but I was hoping to find something a little more up to date.

1 Like
4

There is always Google, And Youtube instructions you can combine with your years of experince

5

You’re smarter than the devs?
If I recall, it was depreciated because few used core install and continued support only took resources from other development.

Since you proudly don’t upgrade, just restore from a year-old backup.

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Oh now funny. No I am not smarter than the developers. I am a retired software developer. I have the upmost respect for what they go through having to maintain a myriad of operating systems, hardware and installation methods and why the decision was made. As I mentioned it is not for everyone, but is a good solution for me.

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7

I’m still using Core even if it is unsupported.
You’ll not get much more help here for this reason.
But the wayback machine on the installation documentation will help you

I’m on Core because, well, when I started my Home Assistant Journey, in 2018, it was pretty much the way to go and I’m happy with my setup, tweaked over many years. (And also because my NUC is used for a zillion of other things, I don’t like containers that create borders that I don’t want and HAOS is a no go for me)

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Thank you Oliver and Sir_Goodenough for suggesting using the wayback machine.

9

I have been running Home Assistant Core in a VM for over 5 years after following the original Core install instructions. The Vmware host is currently running Mint 21.3 and the Home Assistant VM is running Mint 22.
Running it this way means I can use the host pc for other VM’s and for daily use. I have various Docker containers installed Mosquitto, Esphome etc for use with Home Assistant. Various posts in the Deprecation thread say that Core is used by developers and will still be available, just not recommended or supported, so I’m happy to keep running Core this way as long as possible.
If you are happy to look after the Linux os yourself then I don’t see the problem in keep using it.

If it helps you or others I’ve just made a new clean install of Home Assistant Core 2025-12-5 in a new clean VM running Mint 22 using notes I made to confirm it still installs and runs.

These are the steps I used :-

Prerequisites

This guide assumes that you already have an operating system setup and have installed Python 3.13 (including the package python3-dev) or newer.

Install dependencies
Before you start, make sure your system is fully updated, all packages in this guide are installed with apt, if your OS does not have that, look for alternatives.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Verify if python 13 is installed :-
python3.13 -V
Which will return python 3.13.XX showing the version if it is installed
If it isn’t installed follow the instructions below.

If python 3.13 isn’t installed and Update Manager doesn’t offer it install it using these instructions :-

If Python 3.13 wasn’t available by just running :-
sudo apt-get update
Then :-
sudo apt-get install python3.13

Follow these instructions :-
sudo apt-get update

Add the deadsnakes PPA to the sources list:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3.13

Then to verify it has been installed :-
python3.13 -V
Which should return python 3.13.xxx

Once python 3.13.xxx is installed :-

Install the dependencies:
sudo apt-get install -y python3.13 python3.13-dev python3.13-venv python3-pip bluez libffi-dev libssl-dev libjpeg-dev zlib1g-dev autoconf build-essential libopenjp2-7 libtiff6 libturbojpeg0-dev tzdata ffmpeg liblapack3 liblapack-dev libatlas-base-dev

Then :-
1 Create a virtual environment in your current directory:
python3.13 -m venv homeassistant (NOTE the version number 3.13 must match the version installed)

2 Open the virtual environment:
cd homeassistant

3 Activate the virtual environment:
source bin/activate

3A Install wheel
python3.13 -m pip install wheel

4 Install Home Assistant :-
python3.13 -m pip install homeassistant

5 Run Home Assistant :-
hass --open-ui
NOTE
By running the above command you can see any error messages but it keeps the terminal window open.
Once you are happy it’s ok you need to stop HA and then restart it using a Startup command or a desktop shortcut so you don’t have a terminal window open all the time.

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So why is it a problem for HA to be one too?

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It may not be. I haven’t tried it. I initially used the supported Core install, which is still working perfectly and I’m familiar with, so I don’t see the point in wasting time changing to a method I don’t know.
If Core becomes a problem to use and keep up to date then I’ll have to look at changing to Docker or another type. But until that actually happens why would I bother to change?

I was hopefully proving a helpful answer to the original poster, and anyone else who also wants to continue using Core.

12

Hi fellow ‘core users’: were you able to install latest (2026.4.x) release?
Did it go smooth as ever or…

I’m stuck and for the first time my HA didn’t start anymore.
Luckily restoring from backup is just a few clicks.

These are the steps I have saved from back then and other then installing Python 3.14.2 instead of 3.9, this has worked for me, until now.
Note: I’m not running on a RPi but in a container.

Summary

Changing the default password is encouraged.
passwd

Update the system.
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Install the dependencies.
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-dev python3-venv python3-pip libffi-dev libssl-dev libjpeg-dev zlib1g-dev autoconf build-essential libopenjp2-7 libtiff6 libtiff5

Create a homeassistant user
useradd -rm homeassistant -G dialout

Next we will create a directory for the installation of Home Assistant Core and change the owner to the homeassistant account.
cd /srv sudo mkdir homeassistant sudo chown homeassistant:homeassistant homeassistant

Next up is to create and change to a virtual environment for Home Assistant Core.
sudo -u homeassistant -H -s cd /srv/homeassistant python3.9 -m venv . source bin/activate

Once you have activated the virtual environment (notice the prompt change to (homeassistant) homeassistant@raspberrypi:/srv/homeassistant $) you will need to run the following command to install a required Python package.
python3 -m pip install wheel

Once you have installed the required Python package it is now time to install Home Assistant Core!
pip3 install homeassistant

Start Home Assistant Core for the first time. This will complete the installation for you, automatically creating the .homeassistant configuration directory in the /home/homeassistant directory, and installing any basic dependencies.
hass

You can now reach your installation on your Raspberry Pi over the web interface on
http://ipaddress:8123

Of course I know this method is deprecated and not officially supported anymore.
My system is at it’s max and

Any idea where it’s going wrong?

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I’ve just updated from 2026-2-3 to 2026-3-4 without a problem. I’m running Core in a Linux Mint VM so it’s not exactly the same as your method. But when I updated to Python 3.14 I had to specify 3.14 in the commands, you have only specified 3. Not sure if this applies when running on a RPi.

sudo apt-get install python3.14

Then to verify it has been installed :-
python3.14 -V
Which should return python 3.14.xxx

Install the dependencies:
sudo apt-get install -y python3.14 python3.14-dev python3.14-venv python3-pip bluez libffi-dev libssl-dev libjpeg-dev zlib1g-dev autoconf build-essential libopenjp2-7 libtiff6 libturbojpeg0-dev tzdata ffmpeg liblapack3 liblapack-dev libatlas-base-dev

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Hi, thanks for replying. :+1:

FYI: latest release is 2026.4.1

Until 2024.3.3, everything was OK, it’s with this month’s release that things went south…

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That’s what happens when you do a quick reply. You don’t fully read the post!
I missed the “latest (2026.4.x) release”.

You’re brave! I personally never update until the end of the month, just after the next beta has been released. So hopefully all the missed problems will have been sorted by then.
The only time I have updated earlier was when there was some feature added that I really needed.

I doubt that it will help, but have you tried updating to 2024.3.4 to confirm that works ok for you?

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Until now I never had issues because of the update completely messing my HA and I’m using it since 2020.
I almost always have installed new releases immediately and minor things might have been broken due to changes but always got fixed.

This issue will most likely not go away by waiting.
I guess something has changed fundamentally.

17

Not sure this helps you but. I’ve just taken a snapshot of the VM running my Home Assistant 2026.3.4 and then updated it to 2026.4.1
It started up normally and appears to be running normally with no additional errors in the log. CPU and memory usage all look similar to before. I do have quite a few Integrations installed but they are probably different to the ones you have installed.

Have you tried starting Home Assistant in Safe Mode in case it’s an Integration, Add On or a custom setting that’s causing the problem. That’s the advice that is often given by much more knowledgeable people than me.

Good luck!

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Thanks for these suggestions! :bowing_man:

My instance just doesn’t start up at all so I cannot start in Safe Mode.
I also tried a new install and that didn’t go smoothless either but since it was very late I might have made a mistake so coming days I will try that path again if no other solutions are found.

That’s also why I shared my installatin notes to compare and if possible keep this method of running HA viable as long as possible.

19

Again I’m not sure if this applies to you as you’re using a RPi.
After doing an update I start Home Assistant from a terminal so I can see the commands / log / error messages etc.
My procedure for updating is -
Stop Home Assistant service then
In a terminal run :-
cd homeassistant
source bin/activate
python3 -m pip install --upgrade homeassistant

Once the update has finished start Home Assistant in the terminal with :-
hass --open-ui

Other than that I’m afraid I have no more suggestions.