Home Assistant gives you a high level of control over how you run your smart home. In your rush to add devices, integrations, and automations, you might overlook some basic customization options.

Here are some settings you should at least know about, if not change immediately.

Turn on backups

Make sure they’re accessible

Home Assistant does not enable backups by default; you need to do it manually. Head to Settings > System > Backups to rectify this. I’d recommend backing up every day, at a time when you’re usually asleep, and nothing important is happening. You can choose how many backups to keep, just in case something goes wrong and you need to roll your server back.

You can change what is included under the Backup settings menu. By default, all of your paired devices, mesh network settings, personal customizations, core integrations, automations, scripts, dashboards, and so on will be included. You might also want to enable History to make sure that your sensor data is safe (this can be handy if you want to create a vacation mode, for example).

Simply turning on backups isn’t enough if they never leave your server. You’ll want to copy those backups elsewhere, either to cloud storage (which we’ll get to in a second) or a remote drive somewhere else on your network. I expose my Home Assistant server’s backups to the network and run a script to copy them elsewhere.

Make your server accessible remotely

Home Assistant Cloud makes it easy

Credit: Nabu Casa

One of Home Assistant’s core selling points is that it’s an entirely offline smart home platform. It doesn’t need the internet to function, and that means your smart home won’t be exposed to the internet without your say. In its default state, you can only access Home Assistant while you’re on the same network as your server.

For some, this is enough. For others, being able to check in on your server from anywhere is vital. To do this, you’ll need to enable some form of remote access on your Home Assistant server. The simplest option is to subscribe to Home Assistant Cloud for $6.50 per month (you’ll get a month-long trial).

Home Assistant Cloud gives you remote access and cloud backup, plus you can feel good about supporting the project. Alternatively, you can use a reverse proxy or VPN to access your server from anywhere. One last option for Apple users is to bypass Home Assistant remote access and use Apple Home as a remote mirror instead.

Assign different modes to your automations

Different automations have different modes of operation

Did you know that there are four different “modes” to choose from when you build a Home Assistant automation? These are single mode, restart mode, queued mode, and parallel mode. Which mode you choose decides how and when the automation is triggered again.

This is useful for doing things like triggering automations before the current sequence of events has finished. This is ideal if you have a motion-sensing light, which switches off automatically after a set period of time has passed. Switching to “restart mode” will reset the timer each time the motion sensor is triggered.

Parallel mode is good for ensuring that every sequence of events is followed, like an announcement you wouldn’t want to miss. Queued mode ensures that one sequence completes entirely before the actions are run again. Single mode is the default mode that you’re probably already using. Read more about using different automation modes in Home Assistant.

Give everyone their own login

And appropriate “clearance”

Home Assistant asks you to pick a username and password when you first set it up. It can be tempting to treat this like a master login that anyone and everyone uses, like how you probably treat your router login.

Unlike a router, Home Assistant is a lot more personal. Different people need different levels of access; some may want specific dashboard views, or specific themes. As such, it’s prudent to create as many accounts as necessary for your household under Settings > People and define privileges for each.

Once everyone has their own login, you can even create people-specific automations. For example, you can use Home Assistant’s companion mobile apps to detect presence (or use your router as a presence sensor by monitoring for IP addresses).

Turn on multi-factor authentication

Lock it down

You can further secure your login by adding multi-factor authentication (MFA) to your account. This is especially important if you’re the “owner” account since you have absolute control of your smart home, and your account being compromised could lead to security and privacy issues.

To do this, log into your account and click or tap on your name from the main dashboard view. Now use the Security tab to find “Multi-factor authentication modules” and follow the instructions to enable MFA using your choice of authenticator app.

You might want to insist anyone else with admin-level privileges do this if you’re concerned about server security. This is especially important if you have Home Assistant Cloud, since a lost device could be used to access your smart home, find your address, see your cameras, and worse.

Dimensions (exterior)

4.41″L x 4.41″W x 1.26″H

Weight

12 Ounces

Home Assistant Green is a pre-built hub directly from the Home Assistant team. It’s a plug-and-play solution that comes with everything you need to set up Home Assistant in your home without needing to install the software yourself. 

Just getting started with Home Assistant? Make sure you understand what is expected of you in terms of smart home maintenance.