Common tasks - Container

Backup

To learn how to back up the system or how to restore a system from a backup, refer to the backup documentation under common tasks.

Update

Best practice for updating Home Assistant Core:

1. Back up your installation and store the backup and the backup emergency kit somewhere safe.
   • This ensures that you can restore your installation from backup if needed.
2. Check the release notes for backward-incompatible changes on Home Assistant release notes. Be sure to check all release notes between the version you are running and the one you are upgrading to. Use the search function in your browser (CTRL + f / CMD + f) and search for Backward-incompatible changes.
3. Update Home Assistant.
4. Review persistent notifications and log to see if there are any issues with your configuration that need to be addressed.

docker pull ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable

docker compose pull homeassistant
docker compose up -d

Running a specific version

To see which version your system is running, go to Settings > About.

In the event that a Home Assistant Core version doesn’t play well with your hardware setup, you can downgrade to a previous release. In this example 2025.1.4 is used as the target version but you can choose the version you desire to run.

docker pull ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:2025.1.4

You then need to recreate the container with the new image.

Running a beta version

If you would like to test next release before anyone else, you can install the beta version.

docker pull ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:beta

You then need to recreate the container with the new image.

Running a development version

If you want to stay on the bleeding-edge Home Assistant Core development branch, you can upgrade to dev.

docker pull ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:dev

You then need to recreate the container with the new image.

Configuration check

After changing configuration files, check if the configuration is valid before restarting Home Assistant Core.

If your container name is something other than homeassistant, change that part in the examples below.

Run the full check:

docker exec homeassistant python -m homeassistant --script check_config --config /config

Listing all loaded files:

docker exec homeassistant python -m homeassistant --script check_config --files

Viewing an integration’s configuration (light in this example):

docker exec homeassistant python -m homeassistant --script check_config --info light

Or all integrations’ configuration

docker exec homeassistant python -m homeassistant --script check_config --info all

You can get help from the command line using:

docker exec homeassistant python -m homeassistant --script check_config --help