Installing Home Assistant Core in an LXD Container (Part 1)

I've been running HomeAssistant Core reliably in an LXD container for almost two years now, so it's probably time to start detailing how to do it.

This is a step-by-step example of how to do it for folks who aren't very familiar with LXD containers and their features.

Installing LXD (documentation)

If you haven't used LXD before, you need to install it (it's a Snap) and initialize it (tell it where the storage is located). The initialization defaults are sane, so you should not have problems.

   sudo snap install lxd
   sudo lxd init

Container Profile: Macvlan Networking (optional)

A macvlan profile is one easy way for the container to get it's IP address from the router instead of the host. This means you can use a MAC Address filter to issue a permanent IP address. This works on ethernet, but often not on wifi. You only need to set up this profile ONCE, and it's easiest to do BEFORE creating the container. Since the container doesn't exist yet, all of these commands are done on the Host.

   # Get the real ethernet device (enp3s5 or some such)
   ip route show default 0.0.0.0/0

   # Make mistakes on a copy
   lxc profile copy default lanprofile

   # Change nictype field to macvlan
   #  'eth0' is a virtual device, not a real eth device
   lxc profile device set lanprofile eth0 nictype macvlan

   # Change parent field to real eth interface
   lxc profile device set lanprofile eth0 parent enp3s5

Create the Container

Create a new container named 'ha'. This command is done on the Host.

   # Create the container named "ha"
   lxc launch -p lanprofile ubuntu:focal ha

   # Learn the container's IP address. Need this for the web browser. 
   lxc list | grep ha

   # Get a root shell prompt inside the container
   lxc shell ha

Initial Setup in the Container

Let's get a shell set up timezone and apt. These commands are done on the Container root prompt.

   // This is one way to set the timezone
   dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

   // Reduce apt sources to Main and Universe only
   cat <<EOF > /etc/apt/sources.list
   deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal main universe
   deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-updates main universe
   deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security main universe
   EOF

   // Tweak: Remove openssh-server
   apt autoremove openssh-server

   // Populate the apt package database and bring the container packages up-to-date
   apt update
   apt upgrade
   
   // Install the python packages needed for HomeAssistant
   apt install python3-pip python3-venv

   # Setup the homeassistant venv in the root home dir (/root)
   # --system-site-packages allows the venv to use the many deb packages that are already
   #    installed as dependencies instead of donwnloading pip duplicates 
   python3 -m venv --system-site-packages /root

Install and Run HomeAssistant

Now we move into a virtual environment inside the container, build HomeAssistant, and give it a first run. If you try to build or run HomeAssistant outside the venv, it will fail with cryptic errors.

   // Activate the installed venv. Notice how the prompt changes.
   root@ha:~# source bin/activate
   (root) root@ha:~#
   
   // Initial build of HomeAssistant. This takes a few minutes.
   (root) root@ha:~# python3 -m pip install homeassistant

   // Instead of first build, this is where you would upgrade
   (root) root@ha:~# python3 -m pip install --upgrade homeassistant

   // Initial run to set up and test.
   (root) root@ha:~# hass

   // After a minute or two, open the IP Address (port 8123). Example: http://192.168.1.18:8123
   // Use the Web UI to shut down the application. Or use CTRL+C.

   // Exit the venv
   (root) root@ha:~# deactivate

   // Exit the container and return to the Host shell.
   root@ha:~# exit
   Host:~$

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There's a lot more to talk about in future posts:

• The systemd service that starts HomeAssistant at container startup.
• Creating an LXD disk device to keep the HomeAssistant data in. If I rebuild the container for some reason, I can simply connect it to the data.
• Adding a USBIP client. The Z-Wave controller is elsewhere in the building, and USBIP lets me control it like it's attached to the host. That also means adding a USB device to the container.
• Collecting Host hearbeat statistics for the HomeAssistant dashboard, and pushing those into the container regularly.
• Backing up and restoring HomeAssistant data and configurations.