Home media server and Home Assistant OS: How to set up and configure? reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 13:25 **I'm intending to set up a home media server PC for streaming to my TV (Jellyfin or Plex)**, which can also serve as a Home Assistant box. Over the last few months, I've picked up decent parts on sale (e.g. i5-12400, 32gb RAM, 4x 18TB HDDs, 1TB SSD), and they are all here. Presently I have Home Assistant running on an old Intel NUC, so I want to set up my media server PC to be able to take over Home Assistant duties when the NUC dies. I'm a bit unsure here, so **I am asking for advice on how to set all of this up with minimal fuss.** A friend is encouraging me to just install Linux then Jellyfin/Sonarr/Radarr/SnapRAID/etc and simply buy a new NUC when the old Home Assistant box dies, and I'm inclined to go that route because frankly my work is mentally tiring and I don't have the willpower to fight a bunch of issues between software and systems I'm not familiar with. Having set up Home Assistant OS on the Intel NUC in the past, I have some limited experience with setting up Linux, using the terminal, etc, but frankly I really prefer a GUI and for things to be as simple as possible. I would *prefer* to have some VMs/containers so that I can run [Frigate](https://frigate.video/) and other processor intensive applications that the Home Assistant NUC can't handle, but worry that setting myself up to enable this in the future will be too much hassle in the short term. **My hope is that someone can help reassure me that my intended approach is solid, and point me toward useful resources to minimize the hassle of setting this up.** I believe that I want to set up Proxmox, with two VMs to start (I will need to learn how to install and use Proxmox). On one VM, I'll install [Home Assistant OS](https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/) to be sure that it works, and then will leave it only until my current Home Assistant NUC dies. One the other VM, I'll set up my media server. In the future, I'll likely spin up a third VM for running Frigate. On the media server VM, I'll install Jellyfin, Sonarr, Radarr, some kind of auto downloading/indexing software, and SnapRAID. Should these be installed directly on Linux, or should I be figuring out dockerized containers? With SnapRAID, I intend to keep one one of the four drives as the parity drive. Is there something I should be running that makes the remaining three drives look like one big drive and handles load balancing, or is that not necessary? Should the hard drive related things be on another VM for any reason? Are there good tutorials for setting up Proxmox to enable all of this without significant issues? As you can probably tell, here is where I start to get uncertain. **I'm intending to set up a home media server PC that will run Jellyfin/Sonarr/Radarr/SnapRAID/etc on one VM, and Home Assistant OS on another. I am seeking input and assistance from people who have similar setups who can advise on how to proceed with minimal hassle on my part.** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- syfr · 2023-10-25 14:13 I’ve got no experience with proxmox so your mileage may vary regarding that while install The only thing that is concerning with your situation is the mental energy as problems arise and not all will have an easy solution As long as your ok with the full setup taking months? to complete go for it. It took me 2 days to sort out a working service that got mistakenly rebooted. 1 1/2 days on not standard problem and the other 1/2 on me breaking stuff trying to fix the first half I recommend giving it a shot it’s great once it’s working ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EndlessHiway · 2023-10-25 14:26 There are 100's of videos on Youtube showing you how to do this. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 14:32 I'm familiar with the problem solving effort required. Home Assistant OS was a pain to set up due to some hardware issues in my first Intel NUC, so I can handle that. I appreciate you calling attention to it, as it can be daunting for someone unfamiliar with what they're about to face! That is, in part, why I'm seeking help here: I want to make a plan for avoiding as many issues as I can before venturing forth. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 14:36 Cool, I'll just check youtube for "Setting up a home media server PC that will run Jellyfin/Sonarr/Radarr/SnapRAID/etc on one VM, and Home Assistant OS on another even though HA isn't needed yet, and possibly another VM for Frigate, with full answers to multiple questions about how to configure the media server VM". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thekrautboy · 2023-10-25 14:36 You proceed by following the install documentation of each software. Start with Proxmox and ask /r/Proxmox if you run into specific issues. Thousands of tutorials about all these things exist already. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- flaming_m0e · 2023-10-25 14:58 Yes, that's it. You totally need a CUSTOMIZED-FOR-YOU install guide that someone else should waste their time creating...you know, just for you. Dude, you need to learn how to separate your needs and figure out how to piece it together. Nobody here is going to do that for you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- syfr · 2023-10-25 15:00 I'm glad to hear it. Docker compose can solve quite a bit of those issues I would go with that but I'm partial to containers ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 15:02 I'm not asking for step-by-step instructions for each step from anyone. I'm asking if the overall setup seems reasonable and whether or not there are any fundamental issues with it before I proceed to watch those 100s of YouTube videos. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 15:04 Understood. I already have a doc with what appear to be the best tutorials for each of the sub-steps and processes that I will be diving into. Right now, I'm just trying to get a sense of whether or not the overall plan seems reasonable, has fundamental flaws, etc. For example, for all I know, I shouldn't run SnapRAID on the same VM as Jellyfin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- flaming_m0e · 2023-10-25 15:06 > I'm not asking for step-by-step instructions for each step from anyone. That's what it sounded like with your smarmy-ass response to /u/EndlessHiway ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 15:21 I have added the following to the end of my post, as upon a reread, I feel I was not clear about my actual ask. > Edit: ***I am asking for a general sense of whether or not my plan makes sense or has any fundamental flaws. I can review individual tutorials as necessary, but I just need a sanity check before proceeding.*** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EndlessHiway · 2023-10-25 15:32 Your stupid post has nothing to do with this sub so eat shit, lazy ass. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- warlock2397 · 2023-10-25 17:27 Go for proxmox. It has a GUI and you can do most of the stuff using that. Plus you can run many VMs and Containers with decent performance. Lastly, you can easily find a lot of tutorials for it too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 17:34 Good to hear, thank you. My hope is that I can also get everything in a VM into a comfortable state, then back it up before making any changes so that its easy to revert when I screw something up :). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mrdenmark1 · 2023-10-25 18:09 I used this guide when I first set mine up- https://www.smarthomebeginner.com/docker-home-media-server-2018-basic/ There are some things in the guide which I now know aren’t best practice but it got me up and running and taught me a lot along the way. Theres an updated version now and heaps of other tutorials on there if you want something you can just follow blindly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 18:13 Thanks, that looks very useful, I'm adding it to my list. Thanks! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- warlock2397 · 2023-10-25 18:30 That's a good starting point. You can take a snapshot of a new system or before installing a new software. Snapshots make it really easy to roll back to a good known state after a screw up ;) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 18:57 I definitely want that capability! My wife will be upset if she can't watch her favorite shows after a long day of work because I decided I wanted to play with an unrelated feature and broke the whole thing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- indykoning · 2023-10-25 21:34 Exactly like most comments suggest, install Proxmox on the bare metal. Run HA OS in a VM https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/ even has a script for that Run a reverse proxy in a VM/LXC container run your media server in its own or the same place as your reverse proxy. (personally I have HA OS VM, Docker LXC container and everything else in that Docker LXC Container) Beauty of running HA inside of a VM instead of docker is you do not lose the add-on store, backups and easy update button ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 21:50 This sounds like exactly what I want to set up, and I really appreciate you explaining some of it. Thank you very much! If you get bored and want to brag more about your setup, please feel free, I'm sure it would be useful to me, lol. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- indykoning · 2023-10-25 22:26 I'm afraid I don't have the time to draw out a whole diagram but I'll do my best to explain my setup! I'm using Traefik as my reverse proxy, if you know it great! It has a bit of a learning curve but if you plan to run everything in docker it's great! Otherwise I can recommend Nginx Proxy Manager it has a simple to use web interface to set up everything. so a request to HA would be: http://ha.example.com -> Traefik/NPM -> http://192.168.x.x:8123 (this is a static IP you set in HA and or the VM network in Proxmox, each VM and container you make gets it's own IP. Not the same as the server itself) If you need to see the real IP of the person connecting you will need to add the IP running your reverse proxy to the trusted proxies https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/http/#trusted_proxies Then if you run your jellyfin, *arrs etc. in the same docker as your reverse proxy you can proxy without needing to open the ports in docker. You tell your reverse proxy to point to http://jellyfin:8096 (jellyfin refers to the container name so be sure to give it a clear name so it doesn't end up being jellyfin-1) You do need to make sure they share the same "network" in docker https://nginxproxymanager.com/advanced-config/#best-practice-use-a- docker-network ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-25 23:24 That's actually *really* helpful, thank you. At a first read, and without being familiar with the specific programs, I believe I understand what is going on in principle. I'll be working on all of this over the weekend (if time permits), so I really appreciate you helping to set me up for success! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- blinger44 · 2023-10-26 04:58 Proxmox. Ubuntu VM. Docker running in the VM. Run docker containers for Jellyfin, home assistant, a reverse proxy (with pihole for resolving the local domain names) and whatever other services you need. This is what I use and it’s been rock solid for a couple years now. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- djc_tech · 2023-10-26 09:51 This is great advice. I only thing I’d change is I’d run a VM for containers. For me I have nfs mounts and also run OMV on a VM with pass through for my disk dir ZFS. If you don’t need that just run a container. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-27 00:18 That sounds like what I'm planning to set up, but I wasn't aware of needing a reverse proxy or pihole. Thanks for making me feel more confident moving forward, and for giving me some tips on what else I need to look into! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- blinger44 · 2023-10-27 00:48 you don't necessarily NEED a reverse proxy but I find accessing services via a domain name is way easier than remembering a port. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-27 00:53 Thank you, I'll try that approach. I've tried using Docker before and felt like I understood what was happening, but it was for Home Assistant and I realized partway through setting it up that I needed HAOS to get the Supervisor, so I haven't used Docker since. I'll try to wrap my head around it again, THEN worry about a reverse proxy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- blinger44 · 2023-10-27 01:07 I originally installed HA on metal and found the supervisor to be a pain. Supervisor is nice for the managed add-ons but you can always just manually set them up (via docker). I find the config below to be very lean and works well. this is my docker config for HA if it helps you at all. version: '3' services: homeassistant: container_name: homeassistant image: "ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable" volumes: - ./config:/config - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro restart: unless-stopped privileged: true network_mode: host environment: - PUID=1000 - PGID=1000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lemtrees · 2023-10-27 01:15 Thanks! I'm familiar with HAOS as it runs on my Intel NUC, and I use the Supervisor for add-ons for a number of odd devices I have around my house, so I may stick with that route. However, you're not the first person to suggest considering just using Docker for HA and containers for the normal supervisor things, so I'll look into it some more. Thanks for digging up the config!