Every day we aim to bring you the most practical and effective tips, especially when it comes to safeguarding your digital life. Today, we’re focusing on how to secure your Home Assistant setup by backing up your data to a NAS server using the SMB/CIFS protocol.
This method ensures that you can swiftly recover from any system failures without hassle.
Setting Up Network Storage for Home Assistant Backups
To get started, the first step in safeguarding your Home Assistant setup is to establish a network storage solution where backups can be stored. Navigate to the “Settings / System” section and select the “Storage” option. Here, you can either continue using the existing disk or choose to set up a new network storage.
Click on “Add network storage” to proceed. You will need to configure the following settings:
- Name: Choose a name like ‘NAS’ for easy identification.
- Usage: Set this to ‘backup’ to specify the storage’s use.
- Server: Enter the IP address or local domain name of your NAS.
- Protocol: Select ‘Samba/Windows (CIFS)’, though NFS is also an option if your NAS supports it.
- Remote Share: Specify the path of the folder on your NAS designated for backups. Ensure that the user configured here has read and write permissions.
Complete the setup by entering the username and password for network storage access. It’s advisable to use a user account with limited privileges but sufficient rights to manage files in the specified directory.
Automating Home Assistant Backups to Your NAS
Once your network storage is visible under “Network Storage,” the next step is to automate the backup process to save directly to your NAS, bypassing local storage. This strategy is crucial because it ensures that backups remain accessible even if the local system or VM hosting Home Assistant fails.
Go to the “Settings / System” menu and select “Backups.” Here, you can see all your backups, which should now automatically save to the NAS server. By selecting “Change the default backup location” in the menu with three vertical dots, you can ensure that all future backups automatically save to the newly configured network drive.
While Home Assistant allows for multiple network drives to be registered, remember that only one can be set as the default backup location. Therefore, choose wisely where you want your backups to be saved.
Additional Tips and Security Measures
- Snapshots: If using a NAS like QNAP, consider enabling Snapshots for an additional layer of data protection against issues like ransomware.
- Regular Backups: Schedule daily backups to minimize data loss. This frequency ensures that you can restore the most recent data after any system failure.
- Cloud and Redundancy: Enhance your backup strategy by uploading backups from the NAS to the cloud or syncing them to another NAS using tools like Rsync for extra redundancy.
Conclusions
Relying solely on local backups is a common oversight that can lead to significant data loss if the system hosting Home Assistant fails. By setting up and automating backups to a NAS server, you secure your data against hardware failures and software issues. This method not only provides a reliable recovery solution but also integrates seamlessly with your existing home network setup, making it a smart choice for any Home Assistant user.