What is the best term for my install

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1

I feel like I should know this, I’ve been running the same install for nearly a year now. Whenever someone asks me about my install I always say somthing similiar to this

I’m running HA on Ubuntu in a VENV.

I’m sure that’s enough for the people asking the question. But I always think to myself, what is the “official” term for this?

It’s not hass.io (that’s the image with add ons, and usually running in a rasbery pi)
Its not Hassbian, that’s also an image right? Customized OS for HA, also usually on a PI
Also not a docker image. Never been sure what version of HA is running in the docker image, but I’m not using it so it really did not matter

I installed using this guide

It was under the advanced install. I like it, works well, just dont know if there is a “short name” for my install, or have I been using the right term all along?

I’m running HA on Ubuntu in a VENV.

2

I just call it a “venv install”, underlying OS isn’t super important as you can venv install on windows as well :wink:

3

You’re just running Home-Assistant. The installation, specifically, is inside a Python Virtual Environment.

To get into what each flavor really is:

Most installs that run on a Raspberry Pi (using the SD Card Disk image provided) are running
HassOS.

HassOS is a minimal linux install which has Docker on it, with HassIO preinstalled. It runs headless, which is to say that that computer running it has no GUI (if you attach your RasPi to a monitor, it won’t give you an interface to use.

HassIO is a way of installing Home-Assistant inside docker. It includes a supervisor container and a container running Home Assistant. It allows you to install AddOns which are separate docker containers. The supervisor container of HassIO takes care of managing the other containers used for home assistant.
You can also add your own containers to Docker without HassIO caring about them.
You can run HassIO on a linux install that has a GUI, or one that is headless; in either case you can still use this computer to do other things, with docker running in the background.

Home-Assistant is the specific python program. This is what’s actually running at the core of every HA install.

Hassbian is a SD card disk image which is a Raspbian installation with home Assistant in Virtual Environment, pre-installed.

So, to summarize, the most popular install on a RasPi is HassOS, which is:
HassOS->Docker->HassIO->Home-Assistant+AddOns

On other devices (such as desktops, laptops, servers, NUCs), HassIO is the popular choice, which is:
LinuxOS(usually)->Docker->HassIO->Home-Assistant+AddOns

If you’re using Hassbian, that’s:
RaspianOS->PyVENV->Home-Assistant

In your case it’s just:
LinuxOS->PyVENV->Home-Assistant

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4

I think I would only make one small change in your otherwise excellent summary.

I think should be:

LinuxOS(usually)->Docker->HassIO->Home-Assistant+AddOns

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5

:+1: Fair enough. I added docker to both instanced that HassIO was part of the software stack.

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6

No matter what installation method you use, it’s all running the same home assistant.

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