Compiled from the official documentation as at October 2026. Corrections and local experience very welcome.
1. Pick an install type
HA has four main install types. The docs recommend Home Assistant OS for most people.
- Home Assistant OS (HAOS) - a minimal appliance OS that includes Home Assistant Core, the Supervisor and support for apps (these used to be called "add-ons"; the docs now say "apps"). Runs on a Raspberry Pi 4/5, Home Assistant Green/Yellow, ODROID, or a VM. Updates are handled for you.
- Virtual machine - HAOS image under VirtualBox/KVM/Unraid etc. Minimum per the docs: 2 GB RAM, 2 vCPUs, and UEFI boot enabled. Use a bridged network adapter so HA can see your LAN.
- Home Assistant Container - HA Core in Docker/Podman that you manage yourself. The docs are clear that this type has no access to apps, so you run things like Mosquitto and Zigbee2MQTT as your own containers. Needs Docker Engine 23.0.0 or later (Docker Desktop will not work).
Code: Select all
docker run -d \
--name homeassistant \
--privileged \
--restart=unless-stopped \
-e TZ=Australia/Sydney \
-v /PATH_TO_YOUR_CONFIG:/config \
-v /run/dbus:/run/dbus:ro \
--network=host \
ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable2. Hardware
- Host: the Raspberry Pi guide suggests a Raspberry Pi 5 or 4 with at least 2 GB RAM, a quality power supply, wired Ethernet for install, and (if using an SD card) a 32 GB+ Application Class 2 (A2) card. Many people prefer an SSD or eMMC for longevity - that part is my opinion, not the docs.
- Plug-and-play option: Home Assistant Green (official hardware from Nabu Casa). Check local Australian pricing and stock yourself; I have not verified it.
- Zigbee: you need a coordinator (usually a USB stick). The ZHA docs list the Home Assistant Connect ZBT-2 as the recommended choice, and there is a list of other tested adapters. If you plan to use Zigbee2MQTT instead, check its supported adapters page first.
- Z-Wave (Australia/NZ): Z-Wave radios are region-locked. For reference, Aeotec lists their ANZ hub frequency as 921.4 MHz (vs 868.4 MHz EU and 908.4 MHz US), so make sure any stick or device you buy is the ANZ variant.
- Thread/Matter: see below.
- MQTT - install an MQTT broker (Mosquitto is the usual choice) and add the MQTT integration. A lot of other tools (Zigbee2MQTT, Tasmota, ESPHome-style devices, DIY sensors) talk to HA this way via MQTT discovery. A full Zigbee2MQTT walkthrough is in the project thread in this forum.
- Zigbee - either the built-in ZHA integration (auto-discovered when a coordinator is plugged in) or Zigbee2MQTT. Pick one per coordinator.
- ONVIF cameras - the ONVIF integration supports ONVIF Profile S devices. Notes from the docs: it needs the ffmpeg integration configured, it can be auto-discovered, it only adds entities for profiles using H.264, and the docs recommend creating a dedicated (standard) user on the camera for HA. There are options for RTSP transport (tcp/udp/etc.) and extra ffmpeg arguments if you have stream problems.
- Tasmota - the Tasmota integration needs the MQTT integration, Tasmota 9.2 or later (not the tasmota-lite build) and native discovery enabled with SetOption19 0. The docs suggest leaving the fulltopic at its default.
- Matter/Thread - the Matter integration runs a Matter Server app (formerly add-on) as the controller. Commissioning on a phone needs the Home Assistant Companion app, and Thread devices need a Thread border router.
- Strengths: huge integration list, very active community, local-first, flexible automations (UI editor plus YAML), good mobile apps.
- Things to plan for: monthly releases mean you should read the release notes before updating; keep regular backups (HAOS has built-in backups, copy them off the box); give the host a DHCP reservation/static IP; Container installs lose the app store so you manage companion services yourself.
Over to you: what are you running Home Assistant on (Pi, mini PC, VM, Green), and what was the first integration that made it "click" for you? If you have gone back and forth between HAOS and Container, tell us why.