Common tasks - Home Assistant 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

Prerequisites

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.

To update Home Assistant Core

To update Home Assistant Core, choose one of the following options.

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

docker compose pull homeassistant
docker compose up -d

After the update, check Settings > System > Repairs and Settings > System > Logs for issues with your configuration that you need to address.

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.

Running a specific version

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

You don’t have to run the latest version of Home Assistant Core. You can also run a specific version. For example, an update can cause a problem with an integration you use. You can then stay on the previous version until a fix is released. To go back to an earlier version, refer to Downgrading to an earlier version.

The example below uses version 2026.10.3. Replace it with the version you want to run.

docker pull ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:2026.10.3

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

Downgrading to an earlier version

To go back to an earlier version, restore a backup. Use a backup that you made while you were running that version. For the steps, refer to Restoring a backup.

You can also install an earlier version without a backup. But this doesn’t undo the changes that the newer version made to your data. For example, an update can convert your database to a new format. It can also convert the settings of some integrations. An earlier version can’t read the new format. Your history then stops recording, and some integrations don’t load.

For the default database, use a backup that includes both your Home Assistant settings and the database. If you use a database hosted on an external server, also restore a separate database backup made while you were running the earlier version. Restoring these backups brings the included data back to the time you made them. Any later changes to that data are lost.

Restoring a backup doesn’t change the version of your container. First, recreate the container with the image of the earlier version. Then, restore the backup. Until you restore the backup, Home Assistant can show errors, because your data is still in the newer format.

Lost password and password reset

If you forgot your password, refer to I’m locked out!.

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