Headless Installation of Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi 5 with NVMe SSD

Prerequisites

Install Raspberry Pi Imager

Download and install the Raspberry Pi Imager from https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/.

Create a Bootable SD Card

  1. Connect a SD Card to the computer, open Raspberry Pi Imager.
  2. Under "Raspberry Pi Device" select "RASPBERRY PI 5", under "Operating System" select "RASPBERRY PI OS LITE (64-BIT)" and under "Storage" select your SD card. Click "NEXT".
  3. Click "EDIT SETTINGS". Set a username and password. Under "Services" active "Enable SSH" and select "Use password authentication". If the setup is done over wireless LAN, also configure these settings. Click "SAVE", "YES" and "YES" again to write the microSD card.

Boot the Raspberry Pi from the microSD Card

  1. Insert the microSD card into the Raspberry Pi 5.
  2. Connect a network cable if using a wired network connection.
  3. Power on the Raspberry Pi.
  4. Once the Rasperry Pi appears on the network, SSH into the device using the credentials set in the previous step.

Configure the Raspberry Pi for the Installation

  1. Ensure that your Raspberry Pi runs the latest software. sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
  2. Ensure that your Raspberry Pi firmware is up-to-date. sudo rpi-eeprom-update If the firmware is from December 6, 2023, or a later date, continue. If not, update the firmware as described under https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/accessories/m2-hat-plus.html.
  3. Install the Raspberry Pi Imager on the Raspberry Pi. sudo apt install rpi-imager

Install Home Assistant on the NVMe SSD

  1. Download the current Home Assistant image. wget https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases/download/14.2/haos_rpi5-64-14.2.img.xz The URL of the current version is available at https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/raspberrypi#downloading-the-home-assistant-image.
  2. Use lsblk to check if the SSD is installed correctly. lsblk -f The SSD should usually show up as nvme0n1.
  3. Write the Home Assistant image to the SSD. sudo rpi-imager --cli haos_rpi5-64-14.2.img.xz /dev/nvme0n1 Make sure the name of the image in the command is the same as the file downloaded.
  4. Restart the Raspberry Pi. sudo shutdown now After a while, Home Assistant should appear on the network and be accessible under homeassistant.local:8123. Continue with the onboarding instructions at https://www.home-assistant.io/getting-started/onboarding/.