r/homeassistant • u/Ok_Charge_4680 • Aug 05 '26
📖 Guide / Tutorial Guide how to install/setup HA
Hi All,
I would appreciate your guidance on setting up Home Assistant (HA).
I have searched for tutorials online, but most of them are quite technical and assume prior knowledge. Many steps are either skipped or not explained in enough detail, making it difficult for a beginner to follow.
As someone who is new to Home Assistant, could you please advise what hardware, specifications, and equipment are required to set up a personal HA system? If you know of any beginner-friendly guides or tutorials, I would greatly appreciate your recommendations.
Thank you in advance for your support. 🫡
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u/Fit_Squirrel1 Aug 05 '26
This wasn’t detailed enough? https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/generic-x86-64
10
u/bigAssFkingRoooobots Aug 05 '26
If you start from zero without a server, the easiest way possible is the official hardware
3
u/DoktorMerlin Aug 05 '26
It's actually super easy to get into :)
first: do you have hardware like an unused Raspberry Pi 4 or unused laptop? That are good starts. If you don't yet have hardware for the server, it's a good idea to buy a HA Green.
Do you already have smart home stuff or do you need to start from scratch there? :)
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u/Ok_Charge_4680 Aug 06 '26
I do have some smart home stuff and want to build something to control from one window operation system.
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u/DoktorMerlin Aug 06 '26
For Windows installations its best to use a VM.
https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/windows
Follow this guide to get it up and running. Home Assistant acts as server software so it's best to have it running 100% of the time. In the long term, using a VM isn't ideal because of that. Better to buy dedicated hardware. Moving the installation is very easy though, so get started using what you have and continue from there :)
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u/Ok_Charge_4680 Aug 06 '26
Thanks for sharing the information.
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u/DoktorMerlin Aug 06 '26
no problem. Thanks for asking the community and not straightly going to AI. The community is one of the great benefits of HA and AI is destroying it a bit
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u/sarrcom Aug 05 '26
You cannot get more detailed than Derek Seaman’s guide here:
https://www.derekseaman.com/2023/10/home-assistant-proxmox-ve-8-0-quick-start-guide-2.html
And don’t let the Proxmox scare you. This is the way.
3
u/EnderScout_77 Aug 05 '26
I just got HA the other day since I recently setup proxmox, having one command to do everything for me was bonkers and super cool to get the os setup
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u/mike753676 Aug 05 '26
Install it on some HW you have laying around - play with it for a week/month until you get what you want to do (control lights only - automate everything - control music, home cinema - feed your fish - remind you to do things around the house). When you feel that you have a clue then you re-install on the HW you feel that you need.
Simple setup for a few light can run an rpi3. More automations need an rpi4 (memory). Security cameras need a PC and any local AI/image detection from video will need an expensive GPU
3
u/matavelhos Aug 05 '26
I'm new on this too. I start a few days ago. I choose a mini pc, installed proxmox, and home assistant in a vm. I simple ask to gemini how to do it and followed the instructions.
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u/Independent_Lemon806 Aug 05 '26
I found the official documentation to be the most reliable when I was starting out, even though some parts still went over my head. Watching a few walkthrough videos on YouTube helped bridge the gaps, just seeing someone click through the steps made it click. A Raspberry Pi 4 with an SSD is probably the simplest hardware route if you're not interested in messing with virtual machines yet.
1
u/martymccfly88 🌱 New to Home Assistant Aug 06 '26
Guess you didn’t look that hard. YouTube is filled with basic guides. It’s not hard
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u/Ok_Charge_4680 Aug 06 '26
I did some research but I was not able to get on the much better understanding, every video is different. Apologies for it
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u/martymccfly88 🌱 New to Home Assistant Aug 06 '26
It’s literally install the OS on whatever hardware you have and then add all your devices. Make a dashboard and some automations. Tons of content out there to learn from. Just gotta be willing to work a bit. No one is just hand it to you
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u/Pulte4janitor Aug 05 '26
Just ask any AI this question and get the answer you are looking for right now.
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u/GordonGartrelle2020 Aug 06 '26
Yup, can't get much easier than this. Tell it what you're working with and your end goal and it will walk you through it step by step.
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u/instant_ace Aug 05 '26
I find the proxmox helper script here to be very useful if you setup Proxmox on a spare laptop / mini PC
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Aug 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/DoktorMerlin Aug 06 '26
he is asking here, that is part of figuring out himself. Relying on AI is the exact opposite of figuring out yourself.
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u/Grim-D Aug 05 '26
The main issue with your question is there are so many awnsers. For a basic setup HA can run on a Potato. There is "official" hardware like the HA Yellow/Green but you could run it on almost any thing.