Install Home Assistant

The goal of this getting started guide is to get Home Assistant running on a Raspberry Pi. The easiest way to do this is by using Hass.io, which is our own all in one solution that turns Raspberry Pi’s and another devices into the ultimate home automation hubs.

Follow this guide if you want to get started with Home Assistant easily, or if you have no or little Linux experience. For advanced users or if you don’t have a device that is supported by this guide, check our alternative installation methods. Once you finish your alternative installation, you can continue at the next step.

Suggested hardware

We will need a few things to get started with installing Home Assistant. The latest Raspberry Pi model makes a good and affordable starting point for your home automation journey. Links below are linking to Amazon US. If you’re not in the US, you should be able to find these items in web stores in your country.

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ + Power Supply (at least 2.5A)
• Micro SD Card. Get one that is Class 10 as they are more reliable. Size 32 GB or bigger recommended.
• SD Card reader. Part of most laptops, and also available as standalone USB sticks (the brand doesn’t matter, just pick the cheapest)
• Ethernet cable (optional, Hass.io can work with WiFi as well)

Software requirements

• Download the Hass.io image for your device
• Download balenaEtcher to write the image to an SD card

Installing Hass.io

1. Put the SD card in your SD card reader.
2. Open balenaEtcher, select the Hass.io image and flash it to the SD card.
3. Unmount the SD card and remove it from your SD card reader.
4. Only if you want to configure WiFi or a Static IP (requires USB stick):
   • Format a USB-Stick to FAT32 with volume-name CONFIG.
   • Create a folder named network in the root of the newly formatted USB-stick.
   • Within that folder create a file named my-network without extension.
   • Copy one of the examples to the my-network file and adjust accordingly.
   • Plug the USB-stick into the Raspberry Pi 3.
5. Insert the SD card into your Raspberry Pi 3. If you are going to use an Ethernet cable, connect that too.
6. Connect your Raspberry Pi to the power supply, so it turns on.
7. The Raspberry Pi will now boot up, connect to the Internet and download the latest version of Home Assistant, which will take about 20 minutes.
8. Home Assistant will be available at http://hassio.local:8123. If you are running an older Windows or have stricter network configuration, you might need to access Home Assistant at http://hassio:8123.

Next step: Onboarding »