New vs. Old installation image questions

Installation
1

I have an older version of HA on a spare Windows 10 machine using VirtualBox. I am not sure which version I am running, but I installed it about 2 years ago. I can not find where to look for the version # of HA inside the virtualbox. When I log in to HA on my browser using my duckdns address, it shows that I have the old supervisor tab and will not let me access it. On the info section of the configuration it say Home Assistant 2021.1.5. I’m not sure if that is the same on my virtualbox. I understand I need a newer version, according to the forums as that tab is no longer valid, but I am not sure how to do that. The guide says to download the latest .vdi file for virtualbox (9.4) and create a virtual machine. If I create a new one, will my old one still work? or will it overide it? Can I go back and forth in case there is an issue? Everything is stable except I can not get to supervisor tab for addons. I am trying to get my eufy cameras to work in HA.

Brian

2

2yrs ago. Start from scratch
Breaking changes will be a mess

3

Well, definitely not what I wanted to hear, but I do believe you. Are you able to answer any of the other questions, perhaps? Also, so on a virtual box, is it recommended to start from scratch every new version or just major ones?

Brian

4

Can tell you much about virtualbox. I dont use it.

2021.1.5 is HA version and yes, that is old (Jan 2021 version). This is unrelated to virtualbox version.

If you update virtualbox I expect previously created VMs to function. Doubt going back and forth is an option. Best to look at virtualbox docs on upgrading

I dont use eufy. Unless you have super complicated install going and functioning well, I would start from scratch and not spend time troubleshooting

5

Create a new vm in virtualbox. Log in and configure it.

The old vm will have all your old config and can still be run, as each vm has a different ip address. Once you have migrated, you can delete the old vm.

6

Thank you both for responding. I am at work now but plan on doing it the next couple of nights. I need to see if there is a way to backup my configuration file and at least attempt to get it to work. that would save a lot of work if it does. My setup is not too complicated but I would prefer not to redo work if I don’t have to.

Brian

7

What I’d suggest is you put aside a little time and:

  1. Take a backup and download it
  2. Snapshot the VM so you’ve got a trivial way of reverting
  3. Ensure you have the SSH add-on installed and configured so that you can SSH to the host
  4. Practice using SSH rather than the web terminal
  5. Try a big leap upgrade to 2022.3.1
  6. If it fails use SSH to run ha core check to see what the problems are and fix them
  7. If (6) feels overwhelming, revert to the snapshot you took in (2)

You can also use SSH to upgrade one version at a time which will make it easier to deal with a number of small fixes at a time.

8

Thank you Tinkerer. A lot to digest there. I will play with what I got first and do the “homework” you suggest and then use a day off to plan that out. I just started back and typically work 7 on and 7 off, so that gives me a few evenings to study up a bit.

Brian