HassIO on Virtualbox

[omararn]

Hi!

Hope this is posted in the right section of the forum.

I have used now HassIO on RPI in 2 years without any big problems (only corrupted SD cards).
And in the lately it has been many corrupted SD cards.
So I wanted to go for a more stabile and faster solution.

Ended up with Lenovo TinkCentre with Windows 10 PRO and VirtualBox.

But I´m experiencing problems. After about 12 hours the computer does not respond any more.
I do think that the computer is going to sleep.
And the Z-Wave components are not always updating when action is done.

Have turned off everything powersaving, even on the network card.

Any tips?

I’m quite new to using a computer as a server so there must be something that I have missed.

How do you run your HassIO except RPI?

[tom_l]

@omararn

Any tips?

Might sound flippant but don’t use Windows 10 as a server OS. Apart from the problems you are experiencing there is no reliable way to stop it restarting after automatic updates.

Plenty of other options. Are you tied to windows?

If not you could install Hassio on Ubuntu server in docker or virtualbox.

[omararn]

No, not tied to Windows.
It´s the only OS I “know”.

I really want it in Virtualbox or something else VM so i can easy duplicated and bring back a functional system if something breakes.

What do you recommend?

[tom_l]

I’m not the best person to ask as I’m still on a pi but I am planning on installing Hassio on Ubuntu Server LTS using the docker installation instructions.

It runs headless (no GUI, all command line) so it could be a bit daunting if you have no Linux experience.

I have a bit but am still expecting somewhat of a steep learning curve.

[anon34565116]

From my Virtual Box experience (I recently moved to a Pi) I do not recommend using the Hassio VM which contains their HassOS. I had issues, where the VM would lose network connectivity (no ping) & require a reboot.
If you wish to use Hassio, I would install on Debian or Ubuntu VM & follow the Linux install for Hassio. I found the Hassio Addons I used were available in HAS sso I am currently using a virtualenv install. Hassbian is another flexible option.
Due to my use of Alexa Media Player I needed flexibility not available in Hassio.

[omararn]

Ok, maybe I should go for Linux.

Lucky for me DrZzs have made a video tutorial for Proxmox (uploaded yesterday)

Basics of a Proxmox Installation + Tricks for Repo set up, Nag message, and USB Passthrough

[tom_l]

At first I thought that was a great solution but then I read this:

Howto: Installing HassIO in Docker on a Proxmox NUC server

If you run Proxmox as your base OS and you need Docker, you should run Docker inside of a VM (Debian or Ubuntu Server). I have tinkered with Docker installed directly on a test Proxmox host install and even in a Proxmox container with apparmor turned off, and I always seemed to have weird random problems. I don’t think Proxmox likes to share resources with other programs like this since it wants to be the main controller. If your only goal is to run Docker containers, then just install Ubuntu …

So if you have to run Docker in a full VM in Proxmox why add the extra layer of complexity? Why not just install Docker on an Ubuntu server system?

[gregg098]

I do because I run more than just Home Automation on my machine. I also want segregation and different VLANS. Management is very easy.

[omararn]

I’m thinking I will go for Proxmox HassOS VM. For the reasons I did go for virtualbox. Dont know enough about Dockers so not going there.

[a3a]

I think your best bet would be to use a high-endurance SD Card. The Samsung Pro Endurance cards are $18 for a 64GB.

With Windows 10 Pro you can use Hyper-V instead of Virtualbox for free. There is a Hyper-V image for HassOS. While Hyper-V is a bit more work than VirtualBox, I have found it to be much more reliable, Hyper-V will save/restore the VMs automatically whenever the host reboots so it really can run server loads under Windows somewhat reliably. Unfortunately, there is not a simple way of forwarding your ZWave dongle from host to guest using Hyper-V, so in your situation I’m not sure it would work.

Maybe using Docker for Windows CE (which is also free) and then sharing the Z-Wave’s COM port to the HassOS container using this https://withinrafael.com/2017/10/24/windows-container-app-compat-access-com-ports-from-windows-server-container/ – I am going to try this right now, I will follow up if I can get it working.

Update: my first attempt at linking the zwave dongle to docker for windows didn’t go very far. Will have to try again when I have more time.

[anon34565116]

@a3a

Unfortunately, there is not a simple way of forwarding your ZWave dongle from host to guest using Hyper-V, so in your situation I’m not sure it would work.

That reason is why I bought a Raspberry Pi for HA instead of using my son’s Hyper-V server, Tere is no way to get it to access the usb port.
When I used VirtualBox on my Windows 10 box I gad the Windows drivers for my card installed & just forwarded the COM ports to the VM.

[omararn]

Think I’m going back to the RPI until I have a functional Proxmox server. Thanks for the tip about the SD card. Ordered it now, thanks!

the WAF goes extremely down when HA and homekit doesn’t work

[anon34565116]

@omararn

the WAF goes extremely down when HA and homekit doesn’t work

I am currently gingerly approacing HA has a hobby. WAF has already gone down some when an Amazon “smart” plug bit the dust

Trying to get Amazon warranty on a gift is like “pulling teeth”.

[rpatterson (Ross Patterson)]

Here’s what I had to do to get HA working under VirtualBox

[nontijt]

I have a NAS with VirtualBox plugin. (NAS software open source / Open Media Vault)
I run a virtual instance of HASS.IO. I am pretty pleased with it.
In the beginning I had an issue with disconnecting / non-responsive HA, but this has been solved after some updates on HA side. long time ago.
pretty pleased with vm hassio now. All addons available etc.
Easy snapshot / clone of the entire setup, Test something and restore if some issue is there.
Also no issue with passing through USB devices. I have 3. Zwave, RFXTRX, USB P1.
IN this setup, NAS (and also hassio then) is running on ssd disk, so also no issue with sdcard wear. and running it on nas instead of rpi3+, is just a lot more responsive

[Georg (George)]

Have the same positive experience with running Home Assistant on VirtualBox where my host system is Win10 notebook.
No issues passing through my ZigBee USB stick, updating and so on. All the benefits of virtualization (like snapshots) are there.

[nontijt]

Hi, usefull info in the link.

Just to give more background on my setup.
I have a homebuild NAS. The OS I am running on it, is OpenMediaVault. Open source based on Debian.
This OMV has plugins, this is where I have installed a VirtualBox plugin on.
The USB passtrough of the ZWave stick is failry straight forward and working fine.

[mvana (Martin)]

I am approaching a head-less VirtualBox install and running hassos_ova-4.8.vdi hosted there. A description how to set-up existing VM (like the one above) leans on a presence of a corresponding XML file. Any pointers? I guess I will have to pretend I am creating a new VM and then “borrow” created XML, right? Thanks for suggestions.

[mvana (Martin)]

Did what I suggested above: Created a VM on an installation with GUI and then took the xxxxxx.vbox (xml) file, registered and started the machine (which I previously named “hass_io”

VBoxManage registervm <full_path/xxxxxx.vbox
VBoxHeadless --startvm "hass_io"

Works