8fa0b5e0a8 · cmc/cleberg.net

1

#+date: <2025-12-20 Sat 20:27:08>

2

#+title: Self-Hosting Guide: Home Assistant

3

#+description: A guide to configuring and customizing Home Assistant.

4

#+slug: self-hosting-home-assistant

5

6

* Overview

7

8

I've used [[https://www.home-assistant.io][Home Assistant]] off and on for years, but I've never written a guide on

9

it because it always felt like a half-baked solution with my combinations of

10

products and my Home Assistant configuration.

11

12

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

13

Protect]] support, so I decided to switch back to using it full time and writing

14

up a proper guide to installing, configuring, and customizing the software.

15

16

* Installation

17

18

I happened to have a spare Raspberry Pi 4 sitting around I wasn't using, so I

19

opted for the [[https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/raspberrypi][Raspberry Pi]] installation tutorial from Home Assistant. This

20

tutorial guides you through the flashing of Home Assistant OS to an SD card and

21

initialization of the software.

22

23

This process is seamless and will result in a ready-to-use device with Home

24

Assistant.

25

26

* Configuration

27

28

Once the device is ready, all you need to do is create your account and complete

29

the initial setup wizard within the Home Assistant page (e.g.,

30

=homeassistant.local:8123=).

31

32

At this point, you will have a functioning Home Assistant deployment. However, I

33

want to go further and configure the service to use my personal devices and

34

display information via customized interfaces.

35

36

To start with our configuration, we will visit the =Settings= > =Devices &

37

services= page. This page will display all currently configured integrations, as

38

well as automatically discovered integrations that you can configure.

39

40

[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/integrations.webp]]

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#+caption: Integrations

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43

** HACS

44

45

Another integration of note is the [[https://hacs.xyz][Home Assistnat Community Store (HACS)]], which

46

provides a familiar integration into the Home Assistant UI that allows you to

47

manage custom elements.

48

49

If you installed Home Assistant like I did using the OS method, you will need to

50

install the Get-HACS integration to install HACS and then restart Home Assistant

51

to start utilizing these custom elements.

52

53

Personally, I am using HACS in order to utilize the [[https://github.com/dahlb/ha_hatch][Hatch Rest]] integration for

54

my Hatch Rest Mini, Rest+, and Restore.

55

56

You can see it here in my =Media= dashboard:

57

58

[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/media.webp]]

59

#+caption: Media Dashboard

60

61

Once you have installed all relevant integrations and synced your devices to

62

Home Assistant, you are ready to build your dashboards.

63

64

** External Access

65

66

If you want to be able to external your instance externally, you will need to

67

expose the service to the internet somehow. One option is a reverse proxy, such

68

as Nginx, which I have covered in numerous self-hosting posts. Another option is

69

Cloudflare Tunnels, which I will cover here.

70

71

Configuring a tunnel to Home Assistant OS takes a few more steps than a normal

72

reverse proxy, but I currently find the security benefits worthwhile.

73

74

To start, install the [[https://github.com/homeassistant-apps/app-cloudflared][app-cloudflared]] app in the Add-ons menu within Home

75

Assistant.

76

77

Once installed, follow the instructions to configure the =External Home

78

Assistant Hostname=, =Cloudflare Tunnel Name=, and the =Cloudflare Tunnel Token=

79

within the Configuration tab of the installed add-on. Once configured, I

80

restarted Home Assistant to start fresh.

81

82

Next, I opened Cloudflare and configured the tunnel to expore the

83

=ha.example.com= domain to the =homeassistant.local:8123= address in

84

Cloudflare's Zero Trust dashboard.

85

86

From here, I can access Home Assistant anywhere I go from the =ha.example.com=

87

domain.

88

89

* Customization

90

91

Finally, let's customize our dashboards. The view below is my standard view when

92

greeted by my dashboard.

93

94

As you can see, I choose to keep general information in the main tab, such as

95

weather, time, and location. Instead of jamming every widget into a single tab,

96

I separate my tabs by function:

97

98

- Media: TVs, Speakers, and other playable entities

99

- Cameras: UniFi Protect cameras

100

- Lights: Hue bulbs and other lighting systems

101

- IoT: Other miscellaneous devices, such as printers, my Litter Robot, Roomba,

102

etc.

103

104

[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/dashboard.webp]]

105

#+caption: Dashboard

106

107

When editing a dashboard, you're presented with a myriad of options. First, you

108

can choose to use a number of layout options (sections, masonry, sidebar, and

109

single card). Next, each element you add to the dashboard any number of

110

entities, names, themes, states, and more to configure.

111

112

Honestly, I had forgotten how customizable these dashboards were and I will

113

absolutely spend a lot of time customizing for very specific needs.

114

115

See below for some examples of editing and IoT elements:

116

117

[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/edit.webp]]

118

#+caption: Editing Interface

119

120

[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/iot.webp]]

121

#+caption: IoT Dashboard

122

123

Once you have configured and customized your dashboards to your heart's content,

124

you're reading to start automating and more! I highly suggest browsing the web

125

and Home Assistant forums for ideas and solutions that fit your needs. There are

126

more possibilities to this platform than you'll likely ever be able to use.

127

128

** Mobile View

129

130

Before I finish this post, I wanted to show how reliable the mobile view of the

131

platform displays. These screenshots were captured on the iOS Home Assistant

132

app, using the remote URL for my instance.

133

134

| Dashboard                                                                               | Entity                                                                        |

135

|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

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| [[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]] |

@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
	1	#+date: <2025-12-20 Sat 20:27:08>
	2	#+title: Self-Hosting Guide: Home Assistant
	3	#+description: A guide to configuring and customizing Home Assistant.
	4	#+slug: self-hosting-home-assistant
	5
	6	* Overview
	7
	8	I've used [[https://www.home-assistant.io][Home Assistant]] off and on for years, but I've never written a guide on
	9	it because it always felt like a half-baked solution with my combinations of
	10	products and my Home Assistant configuration.
	11
	12	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
	13	Protect]] support, so I decided to switch back to using it full time and writing
	14	up a proper guide to installing, configuring, and customizing the software.
	15
	16	* Installation
	17
	18	I happened to have a spare Raspberry Pi 4 sitting around I wasn't using, so I
	19	opted for the [[https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/raspberrypi][Raspberry Pi]] installation tutorial from Home Assistant. This
	20	tutorial guides you through the flashing of Home Assistant OS to an SD card and
	21	initialization of the software.
	22
	23	This process is seamless and will result in a ready-to-use device with Home
	24	Assistant.
	25
	26	* Configuration
	27
	28	Once the device is ready, all you need to do is create your account and complete
	29	the initial setup wizard within the Home Assistant page (e.g.,
	30	=homeassistant.local:8123=).
	31
	32	At this point, you will have a functioning Home Assistant deployment. However, I
	33	want to go further and configure the service to use my personal devices and
	34	display information via customized interfaces.
	35
	36	To start with our configuration, we will visit the =Settings= > =Devices &
	37	services= page. This page will display all currently configured integrations, as
	38	well as automatically discovered integrations that you can configure.
	39
	40	[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/integrations.webp]]
	41	#+caption: Integrations
	42
	43	** HACS
	44
	45	Another integration of note is the [[https://hacs.xyz][Home Assistnat Community Store (HACS)]], which
	46	provides a familiar integration into the Home Assistant UI that allows you to
	47	manage custom elements.
	48
	49	If you installed Home Assistant like I did using the OS method, you will need to
	50	install the Get-HACS integration to install HACS and then restart Home Assistant
	51	to start utilizing these custom elements.
	52
	53	Personally, I am using HACS in order to utilize the [[https://github.com/dahlb/ha_hatch][Hatch Rest]] integration for
	54	my Hatch Rest Mini, Rest+, and Restore.
	55
	56	You can see it here in my =Media= dashboard:
	57
	58	[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/media.webp]]
	59	#+caption: Media Dashboard
	60
	61	Once you have installed all relevant integrations and synced your devices to
	62	Home Assistant, you are ready to build your dashboards.
	63
	64	** External Access
	65
	66	If you want to be able to external your instance externally, you will need to
	67	expose the service to the internet somehow. One option is a reverse proxy, such
	68	as Nginx, which I have covered in numerous self-hosting posts. Another option is
	69	Cloudflare Tunnels, which I will cover here.
	70
	71	Configuring a tunnel to Home Assistant OS takes a few more steps than a normal
	72	reverse proxy, but I currently find the security benefits worthwhile.
	73
	74	To start, install the [[https://github.com/homeassistant-apps/app-cloudflared][app-cloudflared]] app in the Add-ons menu within Home
	75	Assistant.
	76
	77	Once installed, follow the instructions to configure the =External Home
	78	Assistant Hostname=, =Cloudflare Tunnel Name=, and the =Cloudflare Tunnel Token=
	79	within the Configuration tab of the installed add-on. Once configured, I
	80	restarted Home Assistant to start fresh.
	81
	82	Next, I opened Cloudflare and configured the tunnel to expore the
	83	=ha.example.com= domain to the =homeassistant.local:8123= address in
	84	Cloudflare's Zero Trust dashboard.
	85
	86	From here, I can access Home Assistant anywhere I go from the =ha.example.com=
	87	domain.
	88
	89	* Customization
	90
	91	Finally, let's customize our dashboards. The view below is my standard view when
	92	greeted by my dashboard.
	93
	94	As you can see, I choose to keep general information in the main tab, such as
	95	weather, time, and location. Instead of jamming every widget into a single tab,
	96	I separate my tabs by function:
	97
	98	- Media: TVs, Speakers, and other playable entities
	99	- Cameras: UniFi Protect cameras
	100	- Lights: Hue bulbs and other lighting systems
	101	- IoT: Other miscellaneous devices, such as printers, my Litter Robot, Roomba,
	102	etc.
	103
	104	[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/dashboard.webp]]
	105	#+caption: Dashboard
	106
	107	When editing a dashboard, you're presented with a myriad of options. First, you
	108	can choose to use a number of layout options (sections, masonry, sidebar, and
	109	single card). Next, each element you add to the dashboard any number of
	110	entities, names, themes, states, and more to configure.
	111
	112	Honestly, I had forgotten how customizable these dashboards were and I will
	113	absolutely spend a lot of time customizing for very specific needs.
	114
	115	See below for some examples of editing and IoT elements:
	116
	117	[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/edit.webp]]
	118	#+caption: Editing Interface
	119
	120	[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251220-self-hosting-home-assistant/iot.webp]]
	121	#+caption: IoT Dashboard
	122
	123	Once you have configured and customized your dashboards to your heart's content,
	124	you're reading to start automating and more! I highly suggest browsing the web
	125	and Home Assistant forums for ideas and solutions that fit your needs. There are
	126	more possibilities to this platform than you'll likely ever be able to use.
	127
	128	** Mobile View
	129
	130	Before I finish this post, I wanted to show how reliable the mobile view of the
	131	platform displays. These screenshots were captured on the iOS Home Assistant
	132	app, using the remote URL for my instance.
	133
	134	\| Dashboard \| Entity \|
	135	\|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------\|
	136	\| [[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]] \|

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