Home Assistant Backup with Google Drive

SETUP HOME ASSISTANT GOOGLE DRIVE BACKUPS

Intro

Home Assistant, the popular open-source home automation platform, allows users to take control of all their smart home devices. A crucial aspect of managing such a system is ensuring that all configurations and data are safely backed up. This is where the Google Drive Backup add-on comes into play, offering a convenient way to regularly back up your Home Assistant configuration to Google Drive. This article will guide you through the process of installing and configuring this invaluable tool.

What you’ll need

  1. A running Home Assistant installation.
  2. An active Google account for Google Drive access.

How to do it

Step 1 – Add The Home Assistant Google Drive Backup Repository

  1. In Home Assistant, Go to Settings – Addons and click the Add-On Store link in the bottom Right.

  2. Click the 3 dots at the top right and choose “Repositories” 

  3. In the Manage add-on repositories dialog, paste in the URL for the Hassio Google Drive Backup Github Repository. https://github.com/sabeechen/hassio-google-drive-backup

  4. Click “Add” and you’ll see it show up in the dialog.

  5. Then restart HA by going to developer tools.

 

Step 2 – Install Home Assistant Google Drive Backup

  1. Now that the repository is added and you have restarted Home Assistant, head back to the add-on store and you should see Home Assistant Google Drive Backup listed under it’s repository.

  2. Open it up and Install the google drive backup add on.  Wait a minute for the install to finish and refresh the page until you see it has been installed.

  3. Enable the watchdog which restarts it if it crashes and show in sidebar which makes the UI show in the left pane.  Then click “Start”.  Once started, open the web UI.

  4. Click “Authenticate With Google Drive” and login, to link it to your Google account. Grant permission for the Addon to access your Google Drive and Copy the generated authorization string. Paste it into the addon “Get Started” page, and click Save.

 

Step 3 – Configure Home Assistant Google Drive Backup and Make Your First Backup

  1. Now your Home Assistant backups are all setup with the default settings.  It will now make automatic backups based on these settings so feel free to click settings in the top right and modify it to fit your needs.

    You can configure: 

    • – Frequency of backups
    • – Number of backups to keep
    • – What to include in backups (e.g., Home Assistant configuration, add-ons, etc.)
    •  
  3. Make sure to save any changes.

  4. To make a back up immediately, click “actions” and click “Backup Now”.  It will be named automatically but you can specify a name if you wish.  You can also choose to have a backup saved forever if you want a baseline backup you can always revert to. 

Depending on your configuration and database size, it will take from a few seconds to a few hours.  It will create the backup, save it in Home Assistant and Google Drive and keep both locations synchronized.  With this addon, nobody should ever lose their Home Assistant setup.

 

Step 4 – Monitor Backups

Although the addon is pretty good at notifying you if there’s a problem, It’s good practice to check your Google Drive to ensure files are being created and that your backups were successful.  

Go to drive.google.com and you should see a folder under “My Drive” called “Home Assistant Backups”.  Check the dates and file sizes to make sure everything lines up.

 

Conclusion

Backing up your Home Assistant configuration and data is crucial for ensuring the safety and stability of your smart home setup. By installing and configuring the Google Drive Backup add-on, you can rest easy knowing that your data is securely stored and easily recoverable. This process not only safeguards your configuration but also brings peace of mind, making it an essential task for any Home Assistant user.

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