Which version should I install

Installation
1

Hi All,

I’m very new to HA, I tested what I want to do on a Virtual Machine, and it worked.

Now it’s the time to install the “real” server.
I want to add HA to an existing Linux server (Debian 12), and I want to install the absolute minimal installation (I only need 1-2 automations at the moment).

However, I do need Matter integration (which, afaik, comes as an add-on).

I saw the different installation options here:

HA
HA965×539 33.5 KB

Is that mean that in order to have Matter support I MUST install the Supervised option?
Am I reading it correctly?

Thank you for your help.

2

Minimal software, or minimal hassle? Minimal hassle, go with HAOS. That would be my advice for two automations. Minimal software would be core or container, and maximum hassle.You can run Matter server separately, but you’ll need to do and understand more yourself. The below tells you how, but also advises you to go for minimum hasle:

If you only ever want two automations, Home Assistant might be overkill for the purpose to begin with. But then again, I dare you to leave it at two :slight_smile:

3

Thank you for the detailed answer and the link.
I don’t mind hassle, I actually wrote most of my smart home code myself (including an Android app) based on IKEA smart home products, most of the server code is python.
For a long time, it was impossible to control the sensor events (like motion sensor), even with the IKEA API.
Now that the sensors are exposed as Matter endpoints, I\d like to create my own automations.

Minimal installation is the key. I will take a look at the GitHub project you’ve attached.

Thanks again.

4

If you have your own Home Automation, then Matter Server without Home Assistant is your minimum.

1 Like
5

I started with one three years ago, today I have over a hundred.

Define “real”.
I am running HAOS on an Intel NUC micro-PC. I do NOT complicate the server with anything else. No virtualization, no containers*, nothing but HAOS on bare metal. This is my recommendation. I can’t recall the last time I rebooted the server, or why. It was many months ago. It just runs- and that is how I like my servers to operate.

I have a second Intel NUC running other Linux stuff like Plex, for example, and a 2Tb SSD is mounted here and shared as a poor-man’s NAS. If my wife and I need to share files between our PCs, we just put them on “Drive Z”.

  • For the purists who think containers and virtualization are the end-all, I know that HAOS is a container on a minimal Linux base. The difference is that I do not need to learn to manage containers.