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diff --git a/content/blog/2025-12-20-self-hosting-home-assistant.org b/content/blog/2025-12-20-self-hosting-home-assistant.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4067d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2025-12-20-self-hosting-home-assistant.org @@ -0,0 +1,136 @@ +#+date: <2025-12-20 Sat 20:27:08> +#+title: Self-Hosting Guide: Home Assistant +#+description: A guide to configuring and customizing Home Assistant. +#+slug: self-hosting-home-assistant + +* Overview + +I've used [[https://www.home-assistant.io][Home Assistant]] off and on for years, but I've never written a guide on +it because it always felt like a half-baked solution with my combinations of +products and my Home Assistant configuration. + +However, Home Assistant looks much better these days and now has native [[https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/27878858632599-Getting-Started-with-UniFi-Protect][UniFi +Protect]] support, so I decided to switch back to using it full time and writing +up a proper guide to installing, configuring, and customizing the software. + +* Installation + +I happened to have a spare Raspberry Pi 4 sitting around I wasn't using, so I +opted for the [[https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/raspberrypi][Raspberry Pi]] installation tutorial from Home Assistant. This +tutorial guides you through the flashing of Home Assistant OS to an SD card and +initialization of the software. + +This process is seamless and will result in a ready-to-use device with Home +Assistant. + +* Configuration + +Once the device is ready, all you need to do is create your account and complete +the initial setup wizard within the Home Assistant page (e.g., +=homeassistant.local:8123=). + +At this point, you will have a functioning Home Assistant deployment. However, I +want to go further and configure the service to use my personal devices and +display information via customized interfaces. + +To start with our configuration, we will visit the =Settings= > =Devices & +services= page. This page will display all currently configured integrations, as +well as automatically discovered integrations that you can configure. + +[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/integrations.webp]] +#+caption: Integrations + +** HACS + +Another integration of note is the [[https://hacs.xyz][Home Assistnat Community Store (HACS)]], which +provides a familiar integration into the Home Assistant UI that allows you to +manage custom elements. + +If you installed Home Assistant like I did using the OS method, you will need to +install the Get-HACS integration to install HACS and then restart Home Assistant +to start utilizing these custom elements. + +Personally, I am using HACS in order to utilize the [[https://github.com/dahlb/ha_hatch][Hatch Rest]] integration for +my Hatch Rest Mini, Rest+, and Restore. + +You can see it here in my =Media= dashboard: + +[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/media.webp]] +#+caption: Media Dashboard + +Once you have installed all relevant integrations and synced your devices to +Home Assistant, you are ready to build your dashboards. + +** External Access + +If you want to be able to external your instance externally, you will need to +expose the service to the internet somehow. One option is a reverse proxy, such +as Nginx, which I have covered in numerous self-hosting posts. Another option is +Cloudflare Tunnels, which I will cover here. + +Configuring a tunnel to Home Assistant OS takes a few more steps than a normal +reverse proxy, but I currently find the security benefits worthwhile. + +To start, install the [[https://github.com/homeassistant-apps/app-cloudflared][app-cloudflared]] app in the Add-ons menu within Home +Assistant. + +Once installed, follow the instructions to configure the =External Home +Assistant Hostname=, =Cloudflare Tunnel Name=, and the =Cloudflare Tunnel Token= +within the Configuration tab of the installed add-on. Once configured, I +restarted Home Assistant to start fresh. + +Next, I opened Cloudflare and configured the tunnel to expore the +=ha.example.com= domain to the =homeassistant.local:8123= address in +Cloudflare's Zero Trust dashboard. + +From here, I can access Home Assistant anywhere I go from the =ha.example.com= +domain. + +* Customization + +Finally, let's customize our dashboards. The view below is my standard view when +greeted by my dashboard. + +As you can see, I choose to keep general information in the main tab, such as +weather, time, and location. Instead of jamming every widget into a single tab, +I separate my tabs by function: + +- Media: TVs, Speakers, and other playable entities +- Cameras: UniFi Protect cameras +- Lights: Hue bulbs and other lighting systems +- IoT: Other miscellaneous devices, such as printers, my Litter Robot, Roomba, + etc. + +[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/dashboard.webp]] +#+caption: Dashboard + +When editing a dashboard, you're presented with a myriad of options. First, you +can choose to use a number of layout options (sections, masonry, sidebar, and +single card). Next, each element you add to the dashboard any number of +entities, names, themes, states, and more to configure. + +Honestly, I had forgotten how customizable these dashboards were and I will +absolutely spend a lot of time customizing for very specific needs. + +See below for some examples of editing and IoT elements: + +[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/edit.webp]] +#+caption: Editing Interface + +[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/iot.webp]] +#+caption: IoT Dashboard + +Once you have configured and customized your dashboards to your heart's content, +you're reading to start automating and more! I highly suggest browsing the web +and Home Assistant forums for ideas and solutions that fit your needs. There are +more possibilities to this platform than you'll likely ever be able to use. + +** Mobile View + +Before I finish this post, I wanted to show how reliable the mobile view of the +platform displays. These screenshots were captured on the iOS Home Assistant +app, using the remote URL for my instance. + +| Dashboard | Entity | +|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| +| [[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/mobile_dashboard.webp]] | [[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/roomba.webp]] | |