Step-by-Step: Installing Home Assistant OS on VMware vSphere

This guide uses the official Home Assistant OS 12.3 VMDK image from GitHub and adapts it for vSphere environments.

Prerequisites

• VMware vSphere 7.0+ access
• Download haos_ova-12.3.vmdk.xz from GitHub Release 12.3
• 7-Zip or similar extraction tool

Installation Steps

1. Prepare the VMDK:
   • Extract the downloaded .xz file to get haos_ova-12.3.vmdk
   • Rename to home-assistant.vmdk
2. Create Virtual Machine:
   • Guest OS Family: Linux
   • Version: Other Linux 5.x kernel 64-bit
   • Hardware:
     • 2 vCPU minimum
     • 2 GB RAM minimum
     • Remove all default storage devices
3. Upload VMDK to Datastore:
   • Use Datastore Browser to upload home-assistant.vmdk
4. Convert Disk Format: (Required for vSphere compatibility)

   vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/[DATASTORE]/home-assistant.vmdk \ /home-assistant-converted.vmdk

5. Configure Virtual Hardware:
   • Add SCSI Controller: LSI Logic SAS
   • Attach converted VMDK as existing hard disk
   • Network: Bridged adapter
6. Enable UEFI Boot:
   • Edit VM Settings > VM Options > Boot Options
   • Firmware: EFI
   • Disable Secure Boot

First Boot Configuration

• Power on the VM
• Access via web browser:
  • http://homeassistant.local:8123
  • or use assigned IP address

Troubleshooting Tips

Issue	Solution
"Unsupported disk type" error	Re-run vmkfstools conversion
Boot failure	Verify EFI settings in VM options
Network unreachable	Check bridged network configuration

After successful installation, you can expand storage or add USB controllers for Zigbee/Z-Wave devices through vSphere's hardware settings.

Harvester Setup and Configuration

Harvester is an open-source hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) software that provides a powerful and easy-to-use platform for deploying and managing virtual machines (VMs). Built on Kubernetes, it simplifies the process of setting up and maintaining a virtualized environment. 

The following steps will guide you in setting up Harvester 

Download the Harvester ISO from the website.

Make a bootable USB from the ISO with any of the following tools

• https://etcher.balena.io/
• https://rufus.ie/en/

Once the machine has been booted from USB we will get the following Page

Once booted, follow the steps to complete the installatoon

1. Cluster Creation:
• Select "Create a new Harvester Cluster"
2. Disk Selection:
• Use the right arrow key to navigate and choose a disk for Harvester's system.
• Select a separate disk dedicated to storing virtual machine data.
3. Host Configuration:
• Enter a hostname for your Harvester node.
4. Network Setup:
• Use the right arrow key to select your network interface card (NIC).
• Choose between DHCP or static IP configuration.
• If using Static, provide the necessary network details (IP address, subnet mask, gateway).
• Configure DNS server addresses.
5. VIP Configuration:
• Use the right arrow key to navigate, Choose between DHCP or static IP for the Virtual IP (VIP) address.
• If using Static, enter the desired VIP.
6. Cluster Token:
• Set a cluster token. This is crucial for adding more nodes to your cluster later.
7. Password and SSH:
• Set a strong password for accessing the node (default SSH user is 'rancher').
8. NTP Servers:
• Configure NTP servers (defaults to 0.suse.pool.ntp.org) to ensure time synchronization across all nodes. Use commas to separate multiple server addresses.
9. Optional Configurations:
• HTTP Proxy: If needed, provide the proxy URL.
• SSH Keys: Import SSH keys by providing their HTTP URL (e.g., GitHub public keys).
• Harvester Configuration: If you have a specific configuration file, enter its HTTP URL.
10. Review and Install:
• Review all the settings you've configured.
• Confirm to start the installation process. This might take a few minutes.
11. Access Harvester:
• After the node restarts, the Harvester console will show the management URL and node status.
• Access the web interface using the provided URL (defaults to https://your-virtual-ip).
• Use F12 to switch to the shell if needed, and type exit to return to the console.

Latest Steps can be found @  https://github.com/harvester/harvester