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Home Assistant (Docker Container)

The Container installation method for Home Assistant — running just Home Assistant Core as a Docker container on an existing Linux server, alongside other services, instead of dedicating a whole machine to Home Assistant OS.

Target: Any Docker hosthome-automationsmart-homeDockerOfficial homepage ↗Official docs ↗
This guide is synthesized from Home Assistant (Docker Container)'s own official documentation, linked above — always cross-check exact package/version names there before running these commands on a production server, since distro and project versions move over time.

  1. 1Run the official container

    Host networking is recommended so Home Assistant can auto-discover devices on your local network (mDNS/SSDP) the same way it would on bare metal.

    docker run -d \ --name homeassistant \ --privileged \ --restart unless-stopped \ -e TZ=Etc/UTC \ -v ./homeassistant/config:/config \ --network host \ ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable

  2. 2Complete the onboarding wizard

    Home Assistant listens on port 8123 by default; the first visit walks through creating an admin account and naming your home.

    http://your-server-ip:8123

  3. 3Add integrations

    Settings > Devices & Services > Add Integration connects Home Assistant to your actual smart-home ecosystems (Zigbee/Z-Wave hubs, Google/Amazon accounts, individual device brands).

    Unlike Home Assistant OS, the Container method doesn't include the Supervisor, so you can't install HA Add-ons (like the Zigbee2MQTT or Mosquitto add-ons) through the HA UI -- run those as separate containers instead.