SYSTEM: Home Assistant First Run

 HOME ASSISTANT FIRST RUN

As we have HA already up and running it is time to configure it. To start this process we need to get IP address of HA instance. With Qnap we can do it in Virtualization Station

So the IP address for my HA is 192.168.18.139. We can proceed, typing http://192.168.18.139:8123 into web-browser.

Do not worry if you see this message:

It simply means HA is still starting. There is a lot of errands to run inside so it might take a while.

Once done, web gui will ask to create new user. I do recommend to create admin user, for example adm-ha. Try to avoid obvious names like Admin, Administrator.Do not worry about regular users, we will create them later. This specific user will be used only for administrative purposes and won't login on daily basis.

Set some strong password (12 chars, numbers and special chars included).

Next step - set your location, altitude (you can check it in google maps) and local formats:

On next screen you will be asked to share some diagnostic data. As HA is kinda trusted, I usually share some info with them. Check below:

On next screen you will see devices already discovered in your network. Here is example of mine:

At this point you can skip this step, we will dd those later. Now, our firs setup is done. We should see following web-interface:

Do not forget to check next posts - we will start adding integrations!

SYSTEM: Home Assistant installation | QNAP

HOME ASSISTANT INSTALLATION ON QNAP

As we have all components ready it is time to install and configure Home Assistant. I am goin gto setup it as virtual machine on my QNAP NAS, so in general, this should work on any VM system. I will describe it later on how to do it on different platforms (I am waiting for my Raspberry Pi4 hardware).

PREREQUISITIES

1. QNAP NAS set up and Virtualization Station up and running;
2. Home Assistant VMDK image downloaded from [images] and converted to img file (you can use converter embedded into Virtualization Station). 
   
   
   

STEP 1: creating of the VM

1. Create folder to store your virtual hard drive and place converted image in it. I use separated resource on my QNAP (/VM) amd for this VM I have created ha folder. The VM share is mounted on my laptop as V: drive.

   

   
   
2. Navigate to Virtualization Station and press "Create" button

   
3. In new window choose settings as below. You need to adapt them depending on your hardware (mostly number of cores and RAM)

   

   
   
   

   
   
4. Setup VNC password (bottom of the dialog window) and unselect "Restrict VM console access"
5. VM is ready to create so press "OK".
6. Once the machine is created, go to its setting and modify:

   

   
   
7. Go to snapshots and delete (if any):

   

   
   
8. G oto Storage and set disk size to 150GB and interface to VirtIO

   

   
   
9. Connect USB devices

   

   

   
   

   
   
10. Now, the system is ready to start. Press "ON" button to do so.

    

    
    

    
    

    
    
11.  You can check IP address of your Home Assistant as shown below.

    

    
    

    
    

    
    
12. We will need this IP to access web-interface of Home Assistant. Check my next post soon!