EDIT no answer required, it is not there by default and needs to be created.
Should that file (daemon.json) be there by default? I don’t have it (debian).
Thanks for that. Docker in Debian is installed on var/lib/docker not etc/docker so should I need to create daemon.jason in var/lib/docker folder instead of etc where there is no docker folder?
Thanks
Been under a rock Nick?
Check the debian install guide down the bottom or check the installation script. That creates the file. There’s also another line you need to add as well.
Failing that I did make a script to set that up I can post.
Then you do need to create a /etc/docker folder. That is where docker keeps it’s (non default) settings.
Sort of, I was putting up with the red notice, and had seen that logging might be the problem, but hadn’t implemented it. And then couldn’t find it again.
Worked for me now 
2 Likes
Hi all,
I’m having a first go at installing HA. Using a Debian on a NUC.
Does the “Home Assistant Supervised” method described here also install docker (or require docker)?
Keen to get it up and running, but also retain control of my OS.
KP
Yes, all installations except for Home Assistant Core use docker.
The steps are listed. They include
curl -fsSL get.docker.com | sh
Pretty obvious really.
1 Like
Guess it’s no surprise that I have been puzzled too with the different names/rebranding & install methods.
In the meantime it has become more clear. 
What about adding the overview from this thread: Home Assistant Installation Methods
I have been reading for an hour and I still don’t understand the rationale for omitting Addons (i.e. backup/restore) a la Supervisor from Docker. I am at a total loss. The post just says Docker installs won’t have supervisor. But why??? I just migrated to a new Pi, and I have a backup zip I need to restore. It’s a Docker install (since my Pi does other stuff). How can I restore this backup?
You have 3 options.
-
Install HA Supervised (and restore your backup) and risk running an unsupported installation if you add additional software to the Pi.
-
Install HA OS (and restore your backup) and make the Pi a dedicated HA machine, try and use the available add-ons to do the others things you need.
-
Stay running HA Container and extract all of your
.yamlfiles from the .tar backup you have and copy them into the config directory and run whatever else you want on the Pi.
Because the Supervisor is a Docker manager, and there’s already two install methods that have that (and add-ons). If you want that, you use one of those methods and don’t use the Pi for other stuff.
With all respect. You didn’t say why Docker installs must miss out on add-ons, or more specifically, the supported backup/restore method (I need to restore from my backup as I’m migrating to a Pi4).
Fully appreciate there are two install options that DO. But why remove critical functionality from ANY of the three install methods? That alienates people invested in Docker installs, and the (probably) good reasons they chose that method.
You have 3 options.
Thanks this is useful info. Though, still not clear on the restriction rationale. I’m sure there’s a good reason. Just want to raise that it’s a massive PITA for me right now. I literally purchased an Argon case and Pi 4 for this setup (which includes Pihole and Kodi). Docker is the obvious HASS solution. BUt now I find out it’s been completely gutted.
- Stay running HA Container and extract all of your
.yamlfiles from the .tar backup you have and copy them into the config directory and run whatever else you want on the Pi.
Any tips on how to do this, or where are the up to date instructions for this? Googling and forum search is a cognitive overload of out dated or incomplete instructions.
I’m guessing it’s been a while since you last did an install, so I’d assume that all that has happened since you last did an install is a naming change (about 12-18mths ago). You probably used to use a version called Hass.io.
- HA OS - Has the Supervisor, uses docker and it’s own OS
- HA Supervised - Has the Supervisor, uses docker and only approved to run on Debian OS and a strict set of install parameters
- HA Container - No Supervisor, uses docker and can be installed on any OS you like
- HA Core - No Supervisor, runs in a venv
It seems like you may have just installed Container, I might be wrong. If you are running docker and have no Supervisor, that’s the version you are running. Add-ons and the Supervisor have not been omitted from this install type, they were never apart of it.
If you open your .tar backup file with a program like WinRar, you will see a folder inside called homeassistant.tar.gz. Open that file and you will see all of you config /.yaml files. You can extract that folder and have access to all of your previously used .yaml files.
1 Like
Addon’s aren’t typical docker containers. When supervisor starts an addon it does a lot of setup work including putting them in the right network, mounting the correct folders, exposing and mapping the right ports, injecting credential and connection info as envs, etc.
Take a look here to get an idea of all the options supervisor understands. All this is provided in a yaml file by the addon developer and supervisor uses it all to get a container up and running and in a working state and keep it there.
So in short, you can’t restore your backup without supervisor because none of those addons will actually work without supervisor. You’ll need to find your own images for the services you want to run (since ones the addons use won’t work without supervisor) and follow whatever instructions the developers of those images provide to make a docker compose file.
I’m sure this is all essential bureaucracy and complexity. But I just want to move my existing (happy) HA docker, with the ability to backup and utilise other addons, to a new Pi host.
You know what I’m gonna do. I’m a grab the SD card from my old Pi, and jam it in my new Pi. Done.
There goes a few days I’m never going to get back.
If you had a previously “happy” HA running in docker that had backups and add-ons and now you don’t then you installed the wrong version of HA thus time.
Do another install and use the supervised install method and you will be “happy” again…hopefully…
You have been told a few times now that what you think you had installed before isn’t what you actually had before.
HA running in a container without a supervisor NEVER EVER EVER had the ability to use add-ons or create backups…EVER. I have been running it like that in docker without a supervisor for 3 years now. It has never been that way.
It’s not a beaurocratic decision. It’s just a functional distinction between the two install methods.
1 Like
Are you sure you aren’t running supervised install? How did you do this backup?
EDIT: started my post before @finity but got distracted. He said it far more thoroughly.