Run Full Home Assistant with Add-ons on ZimaOS

If you want the “full” Home Assistant experience with Supervisor, apps/add-ons, backups, and Home Assistant-managed updates, the key choice is the Home Assistant installation type, not a particular ZimaOS version. That was the central answer in the January 2026 IceWhale Community thread.

Home Assistant Container can run normally as a Docker application on ZimaOS, but the current Home Assistant documentation explicitly says the Container installation does not have access to Home Assistant apps. If you want to keep ZimaOS and still get the full HAOS experience, the strongest source-supported compromise is to run Home Assistant Operating System as a virtual machine. A community user confirmed doing this inside ZVM and reported access to HACS and Add-ons.

The Three Practical Home Assistant Options

Option 1: Home Assistant Container on ZimaOS

If you install Home Assistant through Docker on ZimaOS, you are running Home Assistant Container. It provides Home Assistant Core in a container and is an officially supported Home Assistant installation type.

Current Home Assistant documentation is explicit:

• Home Assistant Container runs in Docker or another OCI-compatible runtime.
• It does not include the Home Assistant Supervisor.
• It does not provide Home Assistant apps/add-ons.
• You manage supporting services and updates yourself.

Current reference: Home Assistant Generic x86-64 installation guide.

“No Add-ons” Does Not Mean You Cannot Run MQTT, ESPHome, or Other Services

Many Home Assistant add-ons are wrappers around software that also exists as normal Docker containers. With Home Assistant Container on ZimaOS, you can often run services such as MQTT brokers, ESPHome, Node-RED, or databases as separate containers.

The difference is management: Home Assistant Supervisor will not install, update, monitor, back up, or integrate those containers as Home Assistant add-ons. You become responsible for their Docker lifecycle.

Option 2: Run Home Assistant OS as a VM in ZVM

A later reply in the source thread gave the most useful ZimaOS-specific answer. Community member ZimaRat said they downloaded a Home Assistant virtual-machine image, copied it to ZimaOS, opened ZVM, selected Custom Install, chose the image from ZimaOS Files, and booted Home Assistant OS as a VM.

They reported that after HAOS initialized they could install HACS and Add-ons. Another experienced community member agreed that this was a valid way to keep ZimaOS while getting the full HAOS experience.

Why the VM Method Provides the Full Home Assistant Experience

Home Assistant OS is a complete appliance operating system. When it runs inside a hardware virtual machine, it still controls its own virtual disk and Home Assistant Supervisor environment.

That is fundamentally different from launching only the Home Assistant application as a Docker container inside ZimaOS.

Current Home Assistant documentation officially supports HAOS as a virtual machine on supported hypervisors and provides images such as:

• VirtualBox .vdi;
• KVM/Proxmox .qcow2;
• VMware .ova.

Official reference: Home Assistant OS virtual machine installation guide.

The Source User Used a VirtualBox Image in ZVM

The community reply specifically said they used the VirtualBox image from Home Assistant's Alternative installation page, unzipped it, copied it to ZimaOS, and selected it from ZVM.

That is a confirmed community result for their 2026 ZVM version. It should not be generalized into a claim that every future ZVM build supports every Home Assistant image format unchanged. When creating a new VM, use an image format accepted by your current ZVM interface.

VM Resource Requirements

Home Assistant's current VM guide lists a minimum of:

2 GB RAM
2 vCPUs

Allocate more resources if you plan to use heavier add-ons, voice processing, databases, cameras, or large automation workloads.

Keep enough CPU and memory available for ZimaOS and its other applications rather than assigning all host resources to the HAOS VM.

Zigbee, Z-Wave, and USB Radios Need Passthrough

The source replies correctly noted one trade-off of HAOS in ZVM: physical USB devices such as Zigbee or Z-Wave coordinators must be passed through to the VM.

If the radio is not visible inside HAOS, Home Assistant cannot use it even though ZimaOS detects the USB device on the host.

Before committing to the VM design, confirm that your current ZVM release supports the USB passthrough required by your automation hardware.

Option 3: Replace ZimaOS with Home Assistant OS

If the mini PC is dedicated entirely to Home Assistant, installing HAOS directly on the hardware provides the simplest full Home Assistant environment.

However, the source thread initially oversimplified the installation as “flash HAOS to USB and install it.” A later user correctly pointed out that HAOS does not provide a traditional installer that boots from USB and writes itself to the internal disk.

Current Home Assistant documentation states:

HAOS has no integrated installer that writes the image automatically.

For generic x86-64 hardware, the recommended method is to boot a live Ubuntu USB and use the Disks utility to restore the HAOS disk image to the target internal disk. Another method is to write the HAOS disk image directly to the target boot medium from another computer.

Installing HAOS on the ZimaOS Disk Erases ZimaOS

Home Assistant OS is itself an operating system. If you write the HAOS image onto the physical drive currently containing Windows or ZimaOS, the old operating system and data on that target drive are overwritten.

Back up data first. A “Home Assistant app install” and a “Home Assistant OS install” are completely different operations.

Can You Keep Both on Separate Physical Disks?

The community replies also mentioned using one disk for ZimaOS and another for Home Assistant OS, then selecting the boot device in firmware. That avoids overwriting the other OS, but it is not the same as having both environments active simultaneously.

If you want both ZimaOS and full Home Assistant running at the same time on one machine, the HAOS-in-ZVM approach is more practical.

Bare-Metal HAOS Can Have Hardware/Firmware Compatibility Differences

A later participant reported writing HAOS to an external NVMe for a ZimaBoard but receiving a kernel-offset/boot error on that hardware even though the same NVMe booted on another system.

The thread did not establish a confirmed universal fix. That result is another reason not to describe bare-metal HAOS as guaranteed on every x86 Zima device. UEFI, Secure Boot, storage controller, and firmware behavior matter.

Current Generic x86-64 HAOS Requirements

Home Assistant's current guide requires:

• a 64-bit Intel/AMD system;
• UEFI boot mode;
• Secure Boot disabled;
• a dedicated boot disk or boot medium;
• network/internet access for initial setup.

After HAOS starts, Home Assistant is normally available at:

http://homeassistant.local:8123

or through the VM/device IP address on port 8123.

Which Method Should You Choose?

Choose Home Assistant Container on ZimaOS if:

• you already manage Docker comfortably;
• you do not need Supervisor-managed add-ons;
• you want Home Assistant alongside many ordinary ZimaOS apps with minimal VM overhead.

Choose Home Assistant OS in ZVM if:

• you want Supervisor and the Home Assistant add-on/app ecosystem;
• you want to keep ZimaOS running on the same machine;
• you are comfortable allocating VM resources and passing through USB devices.

Choose bare-metal Home Assistant OS if:

• the machine will be dedicated to Home Assistant;
• you do not need ZimaOS on that machine;
• you want the simplest officially recommended Home Assistant appliance model.

Full Home Assistant on ZimaOS Checklist

1. Decide whether you actually need Supervisor/add-ons.
2. If not, Home Assistant Container in ZimaOS may be sufficient.
3. If yes and you want to keep ZimaOS, create a HAOS VM in ZVM.
4. Use a current Home Assistant OS VM image supported by your VM workflow.
5. Allocate at least 2 GB RAM and 2 vCPUs, with more for heavier workloads.
6. Pass through Zigbee/Z-Wave/USB devices if Home Assistant needs them.
7. Use HAOS's own backup functionality inside the VM.
8. If installing HAOS bare metal, understand that writing the image replaces the OS on the target disk.

Full Home Assistant on ZimaOS FAQ

Which ZimaOS version enables Home Assistant add-ons?

No specific ZimaOS version does. Add-on availability depends on running Home Assistant OS/Supervisor rather than Home Assistant Container.

Can the Home Assistant Docker app on ZimaOS install add-ons?

No. Current Home Assistant documentation says the Container installation does not have access to Home Assistant apps/add-ons.

Can ZVM run full Home Assistant?

The source thread includes a user-confirmed HAOS-in-ZVM setup with HACS and Add-ons. Treat it as a community-confirmed ZimaOS workflow and verify current ZVM image and USB-passthrough support.

Will installing Home Assistant OS erase ZimaOS?

Yes if you write HAOS onto the same physical disk that currently contains ZimaOS. Running HAOS in a VM avoids that replacement.