Home Assistant: Going Bare Metal – The Hardcore Route – Step 2

Step 2: Going Bare Metal – The Hardcore Route

This is for those ready to go all-in. No virtual safety nets. No excuses. Just you, a machine, and the abyss of smart home automation.

What You’ll Need:

• An Old PC – Raspberry Pi, NUC, or a sacrificed old laptop  – I would recommend an Old business PC
• A USB drive
• Raspberry Pi Imager or Balena Etcher or Rufus  – Create a Rufus Boot Disk

How to Get Started:

1. Download Home Assistant OS – Choose the right version for your hardware.
2. Flash the Image – Use Balena Etcher or Rufus to write it to your USB drive.
3. Boot Your Device – Cross your fingers that it actually boots.
4. Access Home Assistant – http://homeassistant.local:8123. If it’s working, congratulations! If not… unplug it and try again (trust me, this fixes 90% of all tech problems).

see Installing Home Assistant on Bare Metal