Home Assistant with Docker Compose

Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. In the project's words: Home Assistant Core README checked 2026-09-23

Add Home Assistant to the builder to use your own domain and combine it with other apps in one file.

What Home Assistant needs

Only figures Home Assistant's own documentation publishes, each linked to the page it is on. Where the project gives no number, this page does not invent one.

Resource	Minimum	Recommended
RAM	2 GB	not stated
	Published as the minimum for a Home Assistant OS virtual machine. The Container instructions on the same page, which this compose file follows, give no separate figure. Source: Home Assistant: Linux install (Create and configure the virtual machine) checked 2026-09-23
CPU	2 vCPUs	not stated
	Published as the minimum for a Home Assistant OS virtual machine; none is given for Container. The Container install needs Docker Engine 23.0.0 or later (Docker Desktop will not work). Source: Home Assistant: Linux install (Create and configure the virtual machine) checked 2026-09-23
Disk	Not published by the project

On top of this, Caddy (the reverse proxy in the file) is a single small container.

docker-compose.yml

This is exactly what the builder writes for Home Assistant alone on example.org: the official definition with host networking kept as the docs require and Caddy added in front. The time zone is Etc/UTC here; the builder uses your browser's.

# docker-compose.yml built at dankhost.com for: Home Assistant
# Each app block is its official compose definition. Only the names were prefixed with
# the app slug (services, containers, volumes, bind folders, .env variables) so any set of
# apps can share one file; other differences are listed under "Changed:" in each block.
# Only Caddy publishes ports. Secrets live in .env next to this file.

services:
  # ---- Caddy: the one reverse proxy, HTTPS certificates from Let's Encrypt ----
  # Source: https://caddyserver.com/docs/running (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Source: https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Caddyfile goes in ./caddy/Caddyfile. Fixed address 172.30.0.2 so apps can trust it exactly.
  # extra_hosts lets Caddy reach host-network apps at host.docker.internal.
  caddy:
    image: "caddy:2"
    container_name: "caddy"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "443:443/udp"
    volumes:
      - "./caddy:/etc/caddy"
      - "caddy-data:/data"
      - "caddy-config:/config"
    networks:
      proxy:
        ipv4_address: "172.30.0.2"
    extra_hosts:
      - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"

  # ---- Home Assistant (home.example.org) ----
  # Source: https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/linux/ (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Source: https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/http/ (checked 2026-09-23)
  # Changed: The documented /PATH_TO_YOUR_CONFIG becomes ./home-assistant/config; TZ is your browser's time zone instead of the example Europe/Amsterdam.
  #          Kept network_mode: host as documented (device discovery needs it). Caddy therefore reaches it at host.docker.internal:8123 through an extra_hosts 'host-gateway' entry.
  home-assistant:
    image: "ghcr.io/home-assistant/home-assistant:stable"
    container_name: "home-assistant"
    volumes:
      - "./home-assistant/config:/config"
      - "/etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro"
      - "/run/dbus:/run/dbus:ro"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    stop_grace_period: "60s"
    privileged: true
    network_mode: "host"
    environment:
      TZ: "Etc/UTC"

networks:
  # Pinned so the trusted-proxy address given to each app (172.30.0.2) is exact.
  # If "docker compose up" reports "Pool overlaps", change 172.30.0 here, in Caddy's
  # ipv4_address and in every trusted-proxy value to a free 172.x.0 range.
  proxy:
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: "172.30.0.0/24"
          ip_range: "172.30.0.128/25"
          gateway: "172.30.0.1"

volumes:
  caddy-data:
  caddy-config:

Caddyfile save as caddy/Caddyfile

Caddy gets and renews the HTTPS certificate for home.example.org by itself once the DNS record points at your server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Caddyfile built at dankhost.com. Save it as ./caddy/Caddyfile next to docker-compose.yml.
# Caddy gets and renews a Let's Encrypt certificate for each name below by itself,
# once the DNS records point at this server and ports 80 and 443 reach it.

# Home Assistant
home.example.org {
	reverse_proxy host.docker.internal:8123
}

.env

Home Assistant needs no secret here; the builder adds nothing you have to fill in by hand.

# .env for Home Assistant, from dankhost.com/app/home-assistant/. Nothing here is secret.
# Keep this file private (chmod 600).
# None of the chosen apps needs a variable here.

Changes from the official file

Besides prefixing every service, container, volume, folder and variable with home-assistant (so any set of apps can share one file), these are all the differences from what the project documents:

The documented /PATH_TO_YOUR_CONFIG becomes ./home-assistant/config; TZ is your browser's time zone instead of the example Europe/Amsterdam.
Kept network_mode: host as documented (device discovery needs it). Caddy therefore reaches it at host.docker.internal:8123 through an extra_hosts 'host-gateway' entry.

Notes for Home Assistant behind the proxy

Home Assistant blocks requests from a reverse proxy until you trust it. Since Home Assistant 2026.8 this is set in the UI: open http://<server LAN IP>:8123 directly, finish onboarding, then Settings > System > Network > HTTP server: turn on 'Trust X-Forwarded-For' and add 172.30.0.2 to 'Trusted proxies'.
On Home Assistant older than 2026.8, put these lines in ./home-assistant/config/configuration.yaml instead and restart:
http:
use_x_forwarded_for: true
trusted_proxies:
- 172.30.0.2
If Home Assistant still logs 'A request from a reverse proxy was received from <address>', add that exact address to Trusted proxies as well.
Host networking means port 8123 is open on every interface of the server over plain HTTP. Block it at your router or firewall so the only way in from the internet is through Caddy.
host-gateway needs Docker Engine 20.10 or newer.

How to run it

At your DNS provider, add an A record named home on your domain pointing at the server's public IP address, and forward TCP 80, TCP 443 and UDP 443 to it.
Save the three files in one folder: docker-compose.yml and .env side by side, the Caddyfile at ./caddy/Caddyfile. Replace example.org with your domain in the Caddyfile, the compose file and the .env, or let the builder do it.
Nothing in .env needs filling in; chmod 600 .env all the same.

Start it:

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f caddy   # watch the certificate arrive

Open the new address (home. plus your domain) in a browser and follow the notes above.

Back it up

Home Assistant's documented backup is its own: Settings > System > Backups > Backup now, then download the file and keep the backup emergency kit, which holds the key to the backup's encryption. Home Assistant publishes no file-level procedure for a Container install; the folder copy below is Docker's generic method.

Below is the BACKUP.md the builder writes next to the compose file above: which of its folders and volumes hold data, what to copy with which container stopped, and a restore check. Pick more apps in the builder and it covers them all in one file.

# BACKUP.md built at dankhost.com for: Home Assistant

What to copy from the docker-compose.yml built with this file, the database dump each project documents (rewritten for the service names in that file), what to copy with which container stopped, and how to check the result. Run every command in the folder that holds docker-compose.yml.

The folders are owned by the containers' users: put sudo in front of tar if it says "Permission denied". Named volumes live under /var/lib/docker/volumes, not next to the compose file, so they are copied through a throwaway ubuntu container (Docker's documented --volumes-from method). tar makes a full copy each run; for large folders an incremental tool (restic, borg, rsync) saves time and space.

Never run "docker compose down -v" on this file: it deletes the named volumes of every app in it.

## Before you start

BACKUP=/mnt/backup/selfhost # change this: a disk or machine other than this server's system disk
mkdir -p "$BACKUP"

## Every time: the three stack files

tar czf "$BACKUP/stack-files.tar.gz" docker-compose.yml .env caddy

.env holds the database passwords and secret keys the apps were set up with; keep this archive as private as the data.

## Caddy (the reverse proxy)

Caddy's docs: 'The data directory must not be treated as a cache.' It holds the TLS certificates and their private keys; without it Caddy has to ask Let's Encrypt for every certificate again.

- caddy-data (named volume, /data in caddy)
BACK UP: TLS certificates, private keys, OCSP staples.
- caddy-config (named volume, /config in caddy)
SKIP: the last active configuration, kept for 'caddy run --resume', which this setup does not use: it starts from the Caddyfile.
- ./caddy (/etc/caddy in caddy)
IN stack-files.tar.gz: the Caddyfile, copied with the stack files above.

Copy (Caddy keeps serving while you copy):

docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu tar cvf /backup/caddy-data.tar /data

Restore check:

tar tf "$BACKUP/caddy-data.tar" > /dev/null && echo OK
docker run --rm --volumes-from caddy -v "$BACKUP":/backup ubuntu bash -c "cd /data && tar xvf /backup/caddy-data.tar --strip 1"

Sources:
- Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory: https://caddyserver.com/docs/conventions#data-directory (checked 2026-09-24)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-24)

## Home Assistant

What this compose mounts:
- ./home-assistant/config (/config in home-assistant)
BACK UP: everything Home Assistant keeps: configuration.yaml, automations, integrations, users and the history database. 'config' is the first directory in Home Assistant's full backup.

The documented way, which works while Home Assistant runs, and the one to use if you can: Settings > System > Backups > Backup now > Manual backup, then Show all backups > Download backup. Store the downloaded file and the emergency kit somewhere other than this server.

1. Stop home-assistant. Stopping it keeps the history database from changing mid-copy.

docker compose stop home-assistant

2. Copy while home-assistant is stopped:

tar czf "$BACKUP/home-assistant-config.tar.gz" ./home-assistant/config

3. Start it again:

docker compose start home-assistant

Restore check:

tar tzf "$BACKUP/home-assistant-config.tar.gz" > /dev/null && echo OK

Put a copy back (with home-assistant stopped):

tar xzf "$BACKUP/home-assistant-config.tar.gz" # recreates ./home-assistant/config; move the old folder aside first

Home Assistant restores its own backup files from Settings > System > Backups, or with 'Restore from backup' on the onboarding screen of a new install, which needs the emergency kit.

Sources:
- Home Assistant docs: Backups (common tasks): https://www.home-assistant.io/common-tasks/general/ (checked 2026-09-24)
- Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes: https://docs.docker.com/engine/storage/volumes/#back-up-restore-or-migrate-data-volumes (checked 2026-09-24)

Sources

Every page below was fetched on the date shown.

Home Assistant Core README checked 2026-09-23 (what it does)
Home Assistant: Linux install (Create and configure the virtual machine) checked 2026-09-23 (hardware requirements)
Home Assistant: Linux install, Docker Compose (Container) checked 2026-09-23 (compose definition and proxy settings)
Home Assistant: HTTP integration (reverse proxies, Trusted proxies, migrating from YAML) checked 2026-09-23 (compose definition and proxy settings)
Caddy docs: Keep Caddy running (Docker Compose section) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
Vaultwarden wiki: Caddy with HTTP challenge (uses the caddy:2 image) checked 2026-09-23 (Caddy)
Home Assistant docs: Backups (common tasks) checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
Docker docs: Volumes, Back up, restore, or migrate data volumes checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)
Caddy docs: Conventions, Data directory checked 2026-09-24 (backup plan)

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