Installing HAOS on Debian 12 into Docker

Installation
#1

Hello

I would like to test Home Assistant as an alternative to the used DomotiCZ. I am currently running a Debian 12 OS machine and there is a problem with the version.

I installed the standard version of Home Assistant, but it doesn’t include the option to add add-ons, so I need to install the supervised version. I can’t install HAOS by default because there are other services running on Debian, so I’m trying to install in Docker. I can’t follow the instructions because automatic installation is only supported for Debian up to version 11.

I am looking for more information and I understand that even in Debian it is possible to install HAOS in Docker, but I am not able to create the correct docker-compose.yml file and install it successfully.

May I ask for advice:

  • Can HAOS be installed on Debian 12 and Docker?
  • If so, what should the docker-compose.yml and subsequent command to run look like?

Thank you

#2

Addons are docker containers. If you’ve already got a Debian setup running other services in docker why do you need addons? I know there’s a convenience aspect to addons but really if you know how to use docker compose you don’t need addons. Just look up images for the addons you’re interested in on dockerhub and run them that way.

HAOS is an operating system so I’m not sure what you mean here. There’s no installation instructions for HAOS on any version of Debian because it’s an OS, you use it instead of Debian on a machine.

If you mean supervised then be aware supervised is also an appliance install. Having other containers running in docker which are not addons isn’t supported. It will also make significant changes to your system and docker since it expects to be the only thing on the machine. And yes it’s also only supported on Debian 11, not 12.

HAOS cannot be installed on any version of any OS as it is itself an OS. Putting it in a container is also not supported.

However putting HAOS in a VM is fully supported and there’s plenty of doc on that.

#3

WHich I ended up with eventually; having my Debian11 supervised rendered the OS unusable for me, as it is quite locked down, and I need to use it for other things as well :wink:

#4

Others have tried to use Debian 12, but it is in beta yet and you will probably fall into version incompatibility of libraries when trying to run HA supervised. Many of which will be cyclic in nature.

#5

Hello and thank you for your response.

First, let me clarify the information:
I’m using a Debian OS machine that performs multiple functions (NVR, NAS, Routing, etc.). Some services can be set up in Debian’s settings, but for some services it is better to use their operating system. Because I don’t want to use a separate machine for each service (now I have 4x Raspberry Pi), but I’m looking for a way to combine into one machine. I understand Docker to virtualize these operating systems for me, so I used Docker to create a virtual machine for home network routing (Docker Open WRT), cloud storage (Docker OpenCloud), data storage, recording device for the camera system. Now I’m trying to create a fifth virtualization OS, with Home Assistant.

I wouldn’t need an operating system directly for that, but during the standard installation I only ran the version without the possibility of adding add-ons. I searched for information and understood that I need to use the supervised version to install the addons, but I can only get this with the HA OS installation. I already have the standard version installed using Docker, but I have not been able to solve the HA OS installation, or the HA supervised version.

I can’t rule out that I misunderstood the whole issue, I struggle with not knowing the language and I’m over 60 years old, so technologies are a bit more complicated for me and I solve everything with the help of manuals and translators.

#6

Since you are using your machine to perform other tasks I would recommend using a virtual machine.

I have expirienced stability issues with VirtualBox, so my advice is to use VMware Player
Here a link with some tips for VMWare Player

#7

Docker is not virtualization. Everything in your containers is really running on the host system. Docker just cleverly uses Linux features to isolate them in container jail. But that is way different from virtualization where it carved up the CPU, memory and other physical assets and dedicates them to the VM. I’d suggest reading more about this, the terms are absolutely not interchangeable.

Stripped down os’s are installed in docker containers which are running as few processes as possible and have as small a footprint as possible. This is both to keep the images small and because there are some limits to what docker can isolate, the more things running the harder it becomes for it to do its job.

SystemD for example is a massive service that does not run well (or at all really) in a docker container. Docker itself is another. HAOS needs both of these among a host of other services.

You’re welcome to try but you would definitely have an unsupported setup. There also is no image available for you to do this to put in docker compose. You’d have to figure out how to build your own image with HAOS inside.