Apologies for the novice question. I have been running HA in a Docker container on a Raspberry Pi and have decided to switch to HAOS. I have a backup from HA container as a .tar file. What is the best and simple way to migrate my setup to a fresh install of HAOS? I have tried to search for answers and it seems most suggest copying the entire configuration folder from my existing container installation. This presents an issue since it seems those config files are in a directory on my Pi that is hidden or locked to me. Can I use the .tar backup file? I am trying to learn quickly but am still very new to this (I’m sure it is obvious).
Yes you can restore from backup. You will have an option during the set up of HAOS to specify the backup file or you can use a dummy account to do the initial setup and restore the file after.
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Thank you! I am waiting for a second Pi to dedicate to HAOS but as soon as I find one I shall give it a try.
Thanks for that. I considered going the NUC route but the Pi is a very slick device and uses a tiny amount of electricity so I don’t feel wasteful running it 24/7. Electricity prices are getting very painful.
In the grand scheme of things a NUC running HA won’t consume much more that give or take twice the power of a Pi. Relative to how you run the box. Max wattage should land somewhere around 4x the Pi… (with tons more performance) the price of a NUC may also make up for the first year energy cost difference in some cases. I do totally understand that energy prices (especially outside the US) are going up… But you won’t save nearly as much as you think you will. It’s worth a look.
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Thanks and I do appreciate it. Being a total novice I was thinking staying with a Pi might also remove one variable from the learning curve. That said I should heed your advice and at least consider options. Do you have any recommendations for what NUCs I should look out for?
It depends on your pain threshold for spending money.
My first NUC was purchased new. An i5, “tall” kit box.
The tall kit has space for a 2.5" SSD. The “kit” means you add your own memory and M2 storage.
But, any NUC that has an X-86 processor will also work. I have purchased three on eBay from various sources for less than $100 each. By the time I add power supply (it’s a mystery why the power supplies are never included in an eBay listing), RAM (if needed) and an SSD, my total cost is about $150-$200.
I will never wear out an SD card.
I have a 2TB M.2 SSD so my log file has lots of room to grow,
The NUC is in a nice case. Mine are mounted (using the VESA mount) in my “server room” (under the stairs in my basement). My wife appreciates that she never has to see all the wires.
I haven’t run any benchmarks to compare the Raspberry Pi 4 with a NUC (yet). Any i3, i5 or i7 will work. Before that the processor is a Celeron which I find to be a bit slow for Ubuntu Desktop. If the used NUC comes with Windows, I would save the SSD and install a new one- just to save the Windows license.
Yes, I could do everything on one i7 NUC. I just don’t want to. I have Home Assistant OS installed on my Home Assistant NUC. That’s all it runs. I don’t want to mess with or learn to use VM’s or containers. My Home Assistant NUC just runs Home Assistant. (Yes, I know it’s in a container, but I don’t have to set it up or manage it). The other NUCS all run Ubuntu. One is a Plex server and the other has my Mediawiki server. (The Raspberry Pi3 in the corner is my MQTT broker).
So, pick your price pain. Find any NUC with an x-86 processor and uEFI BIOS. (Honestly, I haven’t seen an Intel NUC without uEFI). Flash the HAOS to the SSD using Balena Etcher. (You may need to buy an M2 to USB adapter). Install the M2 and the RAM and you should be good to go.
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