How to Set Up a Mini PC with Proxmox and Home Assistant OS

A mini PC is the perfect device to run a home lab: low power consumption, silent, and compact. In this guide we will install Proxmox VE as the hypervisor and then spin up Home Assistant OS (HAOS) as a virtual machine using the popular community helper scripts.

New to this? Don’t worry — you don’t need to know anything about Linux or virtualization. Just follow the steps in order and you’ll have a working Home Assistant in about 30 minutes.

Choosing the Right Mini PC

Not all mini PCs are equal. Here are the minimum and recommended specs to run Proxmox + HAOS comfortably:

Why these specs?

• CPU cores: Proxmox itself uses very little. HAOS needs at least 2 virtual cores, and if you plan to add more VMs or containers later (e.g. a media server, AdGuard, etc.) 4 real cores give you room to grow.
• RAM: HAOS + add-ons use ~2–4 GB. The remaining RAM is free for other containers you might add later.
• SSD: Hard drives (HDD) are too slow for a hypervisor. An NVMe SSD makes a noticeable difference in boot time and overall responsiveness.

Tested mini PCs that work great

• Beelink EQ12 / S12 Pro (Intel N100) — great value, ~€130–150, fanless
• Minisforum UN100 / UM350 — slightly more powerful, good for multi-VM setups
• Intel NUC (any generation) — reliable and well-supported

What You Need

• A mini PC (x86-64 architecture — ARM devices like Raspberry Pi are not supported)
• A USB drive ≥ 8 GB (it will be fully erased)
• A second computer (Windows, macOS, or Linux) to create the bootable USB
• An Ethernet cable — Wi-Fi is not supported during Proxmox installation
• A monitor and keyboard for the initial setup (only needed once)

Step 1 – Download Proxmox VE

1. Go to https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads.
2. Download the latest Proxmox VE ISO Installer (e.g. proxmox-ve_8.x-x.iso).

Step 2 – Flash the ISO to a USB Drive

Use Rufus (Windows) or Balena Etcher (macOS / Linux / Windows) to write the ISO to your USB drive.

With Balena Etcher

1. Open Etcher and click Flash from file → select the Proxmox ISO.
2. Click Select target → choose your USB drive.
3. Click Flash! and wait for it to finish.

⚠️ All data on the USB drive will be erased.

Step 3 – Boot the Mini PC from the USB Drive

1. Plug the USB drive into the mini PC and power it on.
2. Enter the BIOS / UEFI by pressing the key shown on the boot screen (usually Del, F2, or F7 depending on the manufacturer).
3. In the BIOS:
   • Disable Secure Boot (usually under Security or Boot tab).
   • Set the Boot Order so that the USB drive comes first, or use the one-time boot menu (often F11 or F12).
4. Save and exit. The mini PC will restart and boot from the USB.

Step 4 – Install Proxmox VE

1. At the Proxmox boot menu select Install Proxmox VE (Graphical).
2. Accept the EULA and click Next.
3. Select the Target Harddisk (the internal SSD/HDD of the mini PC) and click Next.
4. Set your Country, Time zone, and Keyboard layout, then click Next.
5. Set a strong root password and a valid email address, then click Next.
6. Configure the network:
   • Select the network interface connected to your LAN (the one with the Ethernet cable plugged in).
   • Set a static IP address for the Proxmox host — pick an address outside your router’s DHCP range to avoid conflicts. A common choice is 192.168.1.10/24.
   • Gateway: your router’s IP, usually 192.168.1.1.
   • DNS server: you can use your router IP again, or a public DNS like 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 8.8.8.8 (Google).
7. Review the summary and click Install.
8. When the installation finishes, remove the USB drive and click Reboot.

What is a static IP? It’s a fixed address that never changes. We assign one to Proxmox so you can always reach it at the same address from your browser, even after a power cut.

Step 5 – Access the Proxmox Web UI

After the reboot, open a browser on any device in your network and navigate to:

https://<proxmox-ip>:8006

Log in with user root and the password you set during installation.

The browser will warn about a self-signed certificate — click Advanced → Proceed to continue.

Step 6 – Install Home Assistant OS via Helper Scripts

The Proxmox VE Helper Scripts project provides a one-liner to create a fully configured HAOS virtual machine automatically.

1. In the Proxmox web UI, click on your node name in the left sidebar, then open the Shell tab (or use SSH).
2. Run the official HAOS helper script:

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE/main/vm/haos-vm.sh)"

3. The script will ask a few questions. Here are the recommended values for a typical setup:

   Setting	Default	Recommended
   RAM	2048 MB	4096 MB (4 GB)
   CPU cores	2	2–4
   Disk size	32 GB	32–64 GB
   Machine type	i440fx	leave default
   Bridge	vmbr0	leave default

   Press Enter to accept defaults, or type a new value before pressing Enter.

   If your mini PC has 8 GB RAM and you only plan to run HAOS, the defaults are fine. With 16 GB you can comfortably give HAOS 4 GB and still have plenty for other services.

4. Wait for the script to download the latest HAOS image and create the VM. It takes a few minutes (the HAOS image is ~1 GB).

5. Once done, the VM (usually numbered 100) will appear in the Proxmox left sidebar. Click Start if it is not already running.

Step 7 – Access Home Assistant

1. Wait ~2 minutes for HAOS to boot for the first time.
2. Open a browser and navigate to:

http://homeassistant.local:8123

If the hostname does not resolve, find the IP from the Proxmox console (click the VM → Console tab and look for a line like homeassistant login: — the IP is shown just above it) or check your router’s DHCP leases.

3. Follow the Home Assistant onboarding wizard to create your account and set up your home.

First boot is slow. HAOS needs to expand the filesystem and download the latest updates — this can take 3–5 minutes. If the page isn’t ready yet, just wait and refresh.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Tips

• Autostart on boot: In Proxmox, select the HAOS VM → Options → set Start at boot to Yes so it starts automatically when the mini PC powers on.
• Assign a static IP to HAOS: Do it from your router’s DHCP reservation by binding the VM’s MAC address to a fixed IP. This way the HAOS address never changes.
• Snapshots: Use Proxmox snapshots before major Home Assistant updates — a rollback takes seconds. Go to VM → Snapshots → Take Snapshot.
• Add-ons: Once inside Home Assistant, explore the Add-on Store to install Mosquitto (MQTT broker), Node-RED (automation flows), and other integrations.
• USB pass-through: If you have a Zigbee/Z-Wave USB dongle, you can pass it directly to the HAOS VM via Proxmox → VM → Hardware → Add → USB Device.