Installed on 2 devices. Dashboard seems much faster. No problems so far.
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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Semi related and I don't want to start a whole new thread.
Why use HAOS over normal HA core in a container? I've been using a simple docker container and I'm not sure what I'm missing.
HAOS has more support for running additional add-ons/applications next to HA itself, on the same machine. In my case, that would be a Lenovo M710q Tiny loaded with an i7-7700T and 8GB RAM. Plenty of resources to spare for things like my Zigbee coordinator, NoLongerEvil (Nest thermostat), go2rtc (webcam shenanigans), Mosquitto broker (MQTT), Node-Red, Music Assistant, Aircast (for apple stuff), and other things.
TL;DR - It's mostly personal preference. If you already have a bunch of containers running for home stuff, then by all means, run HA in Docker. But if you prefer the "all in one box" approach, go for HAOS. I don't mind the "all in one box" approach, as long as it's related to the core function of HA.
If I don't mind managing the extra dockers like the Zigbee coordinator through Portainer, would this all still be a similar experience? Or does hoas have deeper integration that is not similar through some docker manager alone?
It's all in the UI basically. They have an app store of sorts where it's managing the separate containers for you. If you already ate comfortable spinning up containers you don't really gain much.
HAOS handles it a bit differently than standard Docker. Everything is managed within Home Assistant, including configuration (usually).
You can't access the HACS app store from HA core in docker. And it's bloody annoying because all those integration devs assume HACS and have no regular installation instructions anymore. Even basic themes are almost always HACS installed.
Yes, I'm old and salty about it.
I think I'm confused then. I'm definitely accessing HACS and it's definitely a docker container on Ubuntu (I know, I know).
How do I know that in running?
HACS works perfectly for me from a HA container in podman. I know that doesn't help by itself, but maybe you have a wrong config.
Can you tell me how? The HACS docs say you need a supported installation method. And HA itself says the container version does not support apps.
I would be interested in this too. Only reason I'm not running in container was being under the impression hacs wasn't supported.
You have to manually install it. Have a look at the HACS page. If I remember right, it is basically:
- download HACS and make sure, it is in the right folder inside the container
- restart HA
- add HACS as an integration
Ohhh, thank you. That's going to make things a lot easier for me!
I did it because I was tired of losing access to HA when my main server was down for maintenance.
@zackhow I was feeling brave, installed it an hour ago despite the .0 part. No problems at all, so far.
Wait, will it boot or not on an RPi5? The first part makes it sound like it won't, but then the last bullet of suggested fixes implies it will boot.
It will boot, the display will be frozen until you run the update.
@Scheisser @limelight79 So if I do not have a display connected, then it's not problem? Can I just use the terminal app?
What I don't get is that if the new HAOS should be able to do a bootloader update on its own, so why doesn't it just have a button for that?
I did the update and ran the recommended command. Seems to be working. I don't have a monitor and keyboard hooked up to know if it's really working.
@limelight79
You would know if it didn’t work, I can guarantee that as I was foolish enough to apply the update while being 700km away and not being back before August. Luckily most of my devices are Matter over Thread, so despite HA being offline I can still monitor our RV over Apple Home.
Sorry, I meant that I have no idea if the display is working, as I don't have one attached. The HA installation is definitely working!
Oh yeah. I would definitely not do a long distance update if I can avoid it. A few years ago we took a 28 day road trip, and the HA at home stayed completely un-updated during that time. (I actually have two setups, one is a virtual machine on my Linux server at home, and the RPi is in our rv.) I rarely have issues with updates, but I wasn't about to risk it.
For the rv setup, I struggle because the rv doesn't have a consistent wifi network. At home it uses the home network, but we'll often use campground wifi or phone hotspots while traveling. We have and used to use a Starlink setup (especially during that long trip) but I'm not giving that jackass a dime if I can avoid it. But Starlink really is the best solution.
And HA doesn't remember more than one wifi network at a time, so if I change it to a campground, then I have to change it back when I get home.
My understanding is that it will off you apply those changes