I currently run the newest Home Assistant OS (Core 2026.1.1, Supervisor 2026.01.0 Operating System 16.3, Frontend 20260107.1) on a virtual machine (Oracle VirtualBox) on a windows machine. The HOS itself has been bulletproof. My issue is that there are constant issues with my USB dongles (bluetoot…

I’ve been running bare-metal hypervisors hosting my HA for many years, just recently switched over from ESXi to Proxmox. Paired with a network Zigbee coordinator you get a lot of flexibility.

If the machine needs to be windows to serve another purpose it’s not fit to be a ha server imho. My suggestion would be to get HA of the desktop windows box and put it on prox. I’ve seen nothing but problems on the forum form virtual box and virtual USB. No way am I running this in a desktop os a…

Not what I want to hear! lol I have had decades of experience running other servers in a similar way, without any issue, but I didn’t have the same hardware constraints. I’m sad to hear that you’ve heard such problems with virtual USB. sigh. Thanks for the reply

Been doing this for 27 years my friend, and part of that workin for the man themselves… Microsoft doesn’t even support virtual USB on HyperV on desktop windows. Just sayin.

Here’s another vote to consider ProxMox. Doing so would let you change from this: HA Other Things |------|------| VM | Windows | Hardware to this: HA Other Things |------|------| Pro…

I’ve been dodging moving to a type-1 setup, but I guess this is the catalyst. Thanks everyone, off to do some reading.

If you decide to go that route, this is an excellent guide: [image] Installing Home Assistant OS using Proxmox 8 Community Guides Installing Home Assistant OS using Proxmox 8 (Previously Installing Home Assistant OS using Proxmox 7) This guide will assist in i…

[image] ha-teo: My issue is that there are constant issues with my USB dongles (bluetooth/zigbee) dropping and being not found. I have them configured in VirtualBox, and in general, the work. Sometimes they work for months, others for days. But eventually, they stop working (Home Assistant says …

To further expand on the flexibility using an ethernet based Zigbee coordinator (assuming this is your only USB device you use for HA) - You get more flexible placement (stick the coordinator somewhere central in your house and stow the servers away somewhere else) and you could also down the line s…

Personally I ran both my development and production Home Assistant servers on Windows/Virtualbox for over a year without any real issues. That said, my controllers were all connected to a Raspberry Pi and connected via TCP/IP instead of pass-through USB for most of that time. I did run USB for a whi…

Re-thinking my install, virtualization thoughts?

Installation

PecosKidd January 12, 2026, 5:13pm 8

If you decide to go that route, this is an excellent guide: