SEC.01

The playbook

The run starts read-only: the recon probes decide what happens next. The steps that follow are adapted to the distribution and state found — a real machine is rarely clean.

  1. 01recondistro and version: apt (Debian/Ubuntu) or dnf (RHEL/Fedora/Rocky/Alma)?
  2. 02reconDocker Engine + compose plugin present and service active? (podman-docker or snap Docker: report it, do not mix)
  3. 03reconhomeassistant already deployed (container, volumes, /opt/homeassistant)? healthy → verify and skip; never overwrite or delete
  4. 04reconport 8123 (fixed on the host network) already taken, and by what? empty = free; taken → ask for another port (ask_user)
  5. 05recon/run/dbus present (Bluetooth)? otherwise drop that mount from the compose
  6. 06recononly if a domain is provided: is a reverse proxy already on 80/443? (reuse it rather than installing a second one)
  7. 07reconis a firewall (ufw or firewalld) active?
  8. 08actInstall Docker Engine + Compose (only if missing)verify
  9. 09actWrite /opt/homeassistant/compose.yamlverify
  10. 10actStart the stackverify
  11. 11actResponds over HTTPverify
  12. 12actTrust the local reverse proxy (only if a domain is provided)verify
  13. 13actInstall Caddy (only if a domain is provided and no reverse proxy)verify
  14. 14actHTTPS reverse proxy (only if a domain is provided)verify
  15. 15actOpen 80/443 (only if a domain is provided and a firewall is active)verify

SEC.02

What it verifies

Each step ships its own check. The run only moves on when the check passes, so what the recipe reports as done is what is actually on the server.

  1. 01Install Docker Engine + Compose (only if missing)Verified bydocker compose version && systemctl is-active docker
  2. 02Write /opt/homeassistant/compose.yamlVerified bycd /opt/homeassistant && docker compose config --quiet && echo ok
  3. 03Start the stackVerified bydocker inspect -f '{{.State.Status}}' homeassistant
  4. 04Responds over HTTPVerified bycurl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' --retry 30 --retry-delay 5 --retry-connrefused http://127.0.0.1:8123/
  5. 05Trust the local reverse proxy (only if a domain is provided)Verified bygrep -c "use_x_forwarded_for: true" /opt/homeassistant/config/configuration.yaml
  6. 06Install Caddy (only if a domain is provided and no reverse proxy)Verified bycaddy version && systemctl is-active caddy
  7. 07HTTPS reverse proxy (only if a domain is provided)Verified bycurl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' --retry 6 --retry-delay 5 https://${domain}/
  8. 08Open 80/443 (only if a domain is provided and a firewall is active)Verified byufw status 2>/dev/null | grep ALLOW; firewall-cmd --list-ports 2>/dev/null; true

SEC.03

Guardrails

Non-negotiable instructions the run must respect, whatever it finds on the server.

Home Assistant already running → verify and report, recreate nothing. Host network and privileged mode are required by the official method (discovery, Bluetooth): warn the user. HA listens on 8123 on every interface: never open 8123 in the firewall; do the onboarding immediately (the first visitor becomes the owner). Never delete /opt/homeassistant/config.

SEC.04

Variables

What you choose before launching — the recipe fills in the rest.

NameMeaning
${domain}Domain (optional, enables HTTPS)
${tz}Time zone

SEC.05

How a recipe runs in Servor

Servor is zero-knowledge: the platform cannot execute anything on its own. When you launch this recipe, a run reads the reconnaissance, plans the steps and asks for your approval. Each approved command is signed by your browser — with a key the server never sees — then relayed verbatim to the agent, which verifies the signature locally before executing.

recipe — fail2ban_setup150+ in catalogue
security4 steps · low risk · idempotentrun
reconsshd present? ufw active? existing jails?✓
actinstall fail2ban · write default jails✓
actenable service · restart sshd (safe)✓
verifytest ban 60s · jails active · sshd alive✓

search by intent — type “firewall”, get ufw

  • 01Read-only reconnaissance before any change
  • 02Every command signed by your browser, approved by you
  • 03Each step verified before the run moves on, every run kept in the history

SEC.06

Deploy on Servor button

Maintain Home Assistant or a project that needs it? Put this button in your README or on your site: one click and your users install it on their own server.

Deploy on ServorDark background
Deploy on ServorLight background
[![Deploy on Servor](https://servor.app/badges/deploy-on-servor.svg)](https://servor.app/deploy/install-home-assistant)

SEC.07

Verified recipe

Run this recipe on your server

Connect a server, launch the recipe, and approve each step as Servor executes and verifies it. Free plan, no card required.