@petro - As noob to python and linux but with alot of patience, time and (what I think is a somewhat) good aptitude, how do I migrate RPI that has two host processes running as well as a few cron jobs, and also HAS, from “Raspbian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)” to “Debian 11 (Bullseye)”?
I have a suggestion but not sure how to do it. Given that within HA I have full configuration backups so I can restore all of the HA settings with no issue (and have done so in the past) using the add-on “Home Assistant Google Drive Backup” - my question ultimately comes down to:
What backup system/software (preferably with a UI) can I use that will allow me to restore specific files and configurations on the host (just two processes and some cron jobs) after I have blown one OS away and installed the second OS from scratch?
I just back up the configuration folder for HA to source control. I’m currently using GIT, but I did use mercurial for a while. Both have steep learning curves, but it’s really easy to move between versions once you learn the CLI. You can also use both of those backup systems with interfaces. For mercurial I used TortiouseHG. For Git I use GitKraken or VSCode. GitKraken doesn’t let you use private repos. Both VSCode and TortiousHG are “harder” to use than GitKraken.
Thank you but what about the last paragraph - the items on the host is my main concern - weewx is a VERY process involved with huge number of moving pieces and add-ons - (note the below link and then the images on the right side of that web page)
@petro Thank you! Seems like I have alot to learn… So haos uses containers as well and I would have this (weewx) in one of them, managed by HA? So confused lol
If you see aboive I tried “=0” and it caused me all manner of issues, but the core issue is the wrong OS… I am doing some research tro see if weewx can run on Debian instead of Raspbian - and if it can, then I am going to bite the bulket and reinstall everything from scratch… UGH!
Since I am doing some research tro see if weewx can run on Debian instead of Raspbian - and if it can, then I am going to bite the bulket and reinstall everything from scratch…
Just thinking aloud…since HA is not a commercial product, what does ‘unsupported’ actually mean?
People with questions normally end up here at the forum, and normally get answers quick enough.
So far I have heard nobody say ‘hey, I know the answer, but your system is not supported, so i’m not going to tell’
So, what is the relevance of running an ‘unsupported’ HA???
@Tinkerer Hmm… so you mean to say there is no difference between Unsupported and UnHealthy??
I know for sure unhealthy makes things stop (tried it) but unsupported should not…
must be something different in your install than mine. I also got the same error for system-resolved, but I enabled it anyway and the error went away. In the end I had to re-install the supervisor since other issues popped up. Right now the only remaining issue is that I get a supervisor error when I attempt a backup, and there is nothing in the log. I may end of with a complete re-install too if any other issues develop. I updated the OS (apt-get upgrade) and HA to 11.0. Should have done one at a time, not sure which one was the case of all my errors.
I decided to set it up from scratch on the RPI, the below will get you up and running on debian headless - the below notes are as much as for me as for others but why not share
So, hope this is useful - worked FLAWLESSLY (see proof at the bottom!)
Prep:
-4. Disable all automations in HA
-3. Disable manual DNS in the router
-2. Change ethernet settings on the PC to DNS (I was pointing everything to adguard on the rpi)
-1. reboot the pc
-0. Gracefully just shut down the PI from the VNC menu.
Then -
Cannot Get the RPI headless yet, that is down the road, work with the bare metal:
A. Use RPI (super tiny hdmi) cable to plug in a monitor
B. Wired (USB) Mouse
C. Wired (USB) Keyboard
Get the 64 bit linux image here, put it on the PC: Tested images
On that web site, I selected this one:
Build Date: Release Family Tested Hardware File Links*:
2022.01.21 11 (Bullseye) 4 4 (4GB) xz-compressed image 378.82 MB, 2022-01-21 10:41:-0600
Type “root” and press enter (root has no password yet).
Linux configuration (with lightweight desktop):
Update the OS:
apt update
apt upgrade
Install sudo:
apt install sudo
Install grep:
apt install grep
Add the first user
adduser pi (answer prompts to put in the password (""), then “”, just press enter for the rest of the prompts)
Grant that user the rights to use sudo
su root
/sbin/usermod -aG sudo pi
Then to prove the user “pi” has access to sudo:
su pi
sudo reboot
Give the root user a password:
sudo passwd root
reboot
Set up the desktop environment (note that gnome does not work with wireless keyboards if the USB stub is plugged into the RPI directly)
tasksel
LXDE is the one that the Raspberry Pi OS is based on (most familiar),
so use the space bar to select that (ONLY) and tab over to Ok and press enter.
It then asks for a keyboard, just select the default -
You can install multiple desktops but I am not doing that as this has to be as lightweight and fast as
possible, on bootup in a previous attempt using gnome the desktop was a little sluggish so I
uninstalled it and then afterwards at bootup
It leaves some directories behind and also there were alot of error messages at bootup from that point… ugh
reboot
As it is a struggle to get to the command prompt - right click on any icon on the bottom left
of the screen other than the first one, and select:
“Application Launch Bar” Settings
and there under shell you can add BASH to the launch bar.
Let’s go headless!
A. Server setup on the RPI:
The VNC viewer is only free if you are using what came with raspbian I believe - and I also had
some problems instaling it. Therefore I decided upon rxdp on the RPI, which we will access
through windows RDP (and Android somehow later!):
sudo apt install xrdp
Then to check status to make sure it is running:
sudo systemctl status xrdp
To make sure it is always running at startup:
sudo systemctl enable xrdp
Check this again to make sure it is still running:
sudo systemctl status xrdp
To get and verify the IP address of the RPI:
ip addr
B. Set up the RDP access from Windows:
Click start, search and run “Remote Desktop”
Use the above ip address (from “ip addr”)
Save it to the desktop for convenience
Test it.
Then gracefully shut down and unplug the PI, then remove the bare metal keyboard and mouse,
and plug the power back in the pi again -
Test reconnecting to it from the RDP only!
That results in this squeaky clean puppy that runs with a much lower cpu and 20 degrees lower temperatures - totally supported:
System Information
version
core-2022.11.1
installation_type
Home Assistant Supervised
dev
false
hassio
true
docker
true
user
root
virtualenv
false
python_version
3.10.7
os_name
Linux
os_version
5.10.0-19-arm64
arch
aarch64
timezone
America/New_York
config_dir
/config
Home Assistant Community Store
GitHub API
ok
GitHub Content
ok
GitHub Web
ok
GitHub API Calls Remaining
4423
Installed Version
1.28.3
Stage
running
Available Repositories
1200
Downloaded Repositories
22
AccuWeather
can_reach_server
ok
remaining_requests
41
Home Assistant Cloud
logged_in
false
can_reach_cert_server
ok
can_reach_cloud_auth
ok
can_reach_cloud
ok
Home Assistant Supervisor
host_os
Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)
update_channel
stable
supervisor_version
supervisor-2022.11.dev0401
agent_version
1.4.1
docker_version
20.10.21
disk_total
917.0 GB
disk_used
10.4 GB
healthy
true
supported
true
supervisor_api
ok
version_api
ok
installed_addons
Log Viewer (0.14.0), Samba share (10.0.0), Home Assistant Google Drive Backup (0.108.4), File editor (5.4.1), Duck DNS (1.15.0), AdGuard Home (4.7.4), Terminal & SSH (9.6.1), Core DNS Override (0.1.1), Mosquitto broker (6.1.3), AppDaemon (0.9.3)
