Hey everyone, I wanted to share my experience with optimizing the storage space of my Home Assistant VM. I’ve been running HA since November 2020, and while it’s incredibly powerful, I noticed that my VM backups were growing steadily over time. Around December 2021, my backups were over 8GB, and my HA instance became unstable. It was then that I decided to start fresh, but the issue resurfaced as newer HA versions came out.
I started by looking into the database size, which I keep under control with a nightly purge and repack automation. Despite this, my VM backups continued to grow. After some research, I realized that while the database size was manageable, other files were contributing to the growth.
Here’s what I did to tackle the issue:
- Regular Backups: I set up a strict backup schedule to ensure I never lose important data.
- Addon Cleanup: I reviewed and removed unused addons, which helped reduce the overall size.
- Log Management: I implemented a log cleanup automation to prevent logs from ballooning.
- Filesystem Analysis: I used an addon to scan the filesystem and identify large files, which was eye-opening.
I’d love to hear how others manage their HA VM storage and if there are any additional tips or tools I should consider. Happy automating! 