Mac Mini M4 HA OS

Installation
1

Hey together!
For some reasons i want to install HA OS on my Mac Mini M4 in a VM. I would like to use VMware Fusion 13 as it is free for private now.

Can somebody help me? I tried different things but nothing works at the moment.

Thank you!

1 Like
2

I highly recommend a proxmox os setup. This is free also and allows for a lot of cool things but you’d need a system you’re willing to put on a server os.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to installing Home Assistant on a Mac Mini using VMware Fusion 13:

Prerequisites

  1. Mac Mini Requirements:
  • Ensure your Mac Mini supports virtualization (Intel-based or Apple Silicon).
  • Sufficient hardware resources:
    • 4GB+ RAM and 20GB+ free disk space for the Home Assistant VM.
  1. Software Required:
  • VMware Fusion 13: Download VMware Fusion.
  • Home Assistant VMDK image: Download from Home Assistant OS.
  1. Preparation:
  • Install VMware Fusion 13 on your Mac.
  • Download the Home Assistant VMDK image to your Mac.

Step 1: Create a New Virtual Machine

  1. Open VMware Fusion 13.
  2. Click on File > New to create a new virtual machine.
  3. Select Create a custom virtual machine and click Continue.

Step 2: Configure the Virtual Machine

  1. Operating System:
  • Select Other > Other 64-bit as the operating system.
  • Click Continue.
  1. Hardware Settings:
  • Assign 2 CPU cores and 2GB+ RAM (4GB recommended for larger setups).
  • Set disk space to 32GB (default is sufficient, but you can increase based on your needs).
  1. Custom Disk:
  • Choose Use an existing virtual disk.
  • Point it to the downloaded Home Assistant VMDK file.

Step 3: Adjust VM Settings

  1. After creating the VM, select the Virtual Machine > Settings menu.
  2. Configure the following settings:
  • Processors & Memory:
    • Ensure Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT is checked (on Intel Mac).
  • Network Adapter:
    • Set it to Bridged Networking for direct access to your network.
  • Display:
    • Allocate sufficient graphics memory (256MB is sufficient).

Step 4: Start the Virtual Machine

  1. Power on the virtual machine by clicking Start.
  2. Home Assistant OS will boot up automatically.
  3. Wait for the initialization to complete. This may take a few minutes.

Step 5: Access Home Assistant

  1. Once Home Assistant finishes booting, it will display the IP address on the console.

Open a web browser on your Mac and go to:

http://<VM_IP_ADDRESS>:8123

  1. Follow the on-screen prompts to set up Home Assistant.

Step 6: Configure the VM for Better Performance

  1. Enable autostart:
  • Go to VMware Fusion > Virtual Machine Settings > General > Start automatically when VMware Fusion starts.
  1. Adjust resources as needed:
  • Increase CPU or RAM if Home Assistant performance is slow.

Optional Step: Update Home Assistant

After setting up the Home Assistant OS, you may want to update to the latest version:

  1. Go to Settings > System > Update in the Home Assistant interface.
  2. Follow the prompts to update to the latest version.

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Networking Issues:
    • Ensure that Bridged Networking is enabled for the VM and your Mac’s firewall isn’t blocking the connection.
  • Performance Issues:
    • Increase the RAM or CPU assigned to the VM.
  • Access Issues:

Let me know if you run into any challenges or need further assistance!

3

Yes, i know that proxmox is a good solution and i thought about it. But i need some software only running on macos (FindMySync for example) so i have to run a macos the complete time. Thats the reason why i don´t want to have two machines running also when the Mac Mini M4 is highly overpowered :wink:

Thank you for the setup process. Which VMDK file should i donwload? can you recommend a direkt URL?

4

I was successfull with the Aarch vmdk - my error on my first tries was to use the wrong vmdk file. Its starting at the moment. Thank you for your help!

1 Like
5

Id have to imagine
https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases/download/14.0/haos_ova-14.0.vmdk.zip
or
https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases/download/14.0/haos_ova-14.0.ova

.vmdk might be an issue with mac for some reason, and .ova might be designed for ESXi use EFI boot firmware, so maybe enable in the VM settings…

Alternatively, I wonder how many people have put proxmox on a mac and then put osx back in proxmox(is that a hackintosh APPLE?)

6

I installed it on MacOs 15.2 with fusion 13.6.1. Use haos genric aarch64 vmdk. 32 GB SSD, 2 GB RAM, Network Bridges Ethernet.
I can’t access the haos webpage. The HAOS ist up i can ping it.
Can anyone help.

7
  1. Check the IP Address: Double-check the IP address displayed in the Home Assistant OS console. Make sure you’re using the correct one (e.g., http://<IP_ADDRESS>:8123) in your browser.
  2. Use homeassistant.local: If the IP doesn’t work, try accessing it via http://homeassistant.local:8123 in case your network supports mDNS.
  3. Verify Network Settings:
  • Ensure the VM’s network is set to Bridged Networking in VMware Fusion settings.
  • Confirm that your Mac’s network allows communication with the VM.
  1. Firewall Configuration: Check if your Mac’s firewall is blocking connections to the VM. Temporarily disable it to test.
  2. Browser Cache: Try clearing your browser cache or using a different browser.
  3. Reboot the VM: Restart the VM and see if the issue resolves.
  4. Logs: Check the logs in the Home Assistant OS console for any errors that might indicate why the webpage isn’t loading.

Also just so yall know