Home Assistant Backup to GitHub

This guide explain how to automates the process of backing up your Home Assistant backup files (/backup directory) to a private GitHub repository. It includes steps for setting up GitHub, configuring Git, and running backups from a NodeRed flow.

This guide is for advanced users. This guide is for Alpine Linux.

Setup Instructions

1. GitHub Repository

Go to GitHub.
Create a private repository named homeassistant-backup.
Set the default branch to master.
Generate a token with no expiration and full permissions for this specific repository.

2. Install Required Add-ons

Install the Advanced SSH & Web Terminal add-on in Home Assistant.
Configure the addon with a password. You need this password later on in the Node Red flow.

3. Initialize Git Repository

SSH into the server and run the following commands in your terminal:

cd /
sudo git init
sudo echo "/*\n!/backup/\n!.gitattributes" >> .gitignore
sudo git remote add origin https://REPLACE_WITH_USERNAME:[email protected]/REPLACE_WITH_USERNAME/homeassistant-backup.git

Install Git LFS to uplodad files > 100 MB

sudo apk add git-lfs
sudo git lfs install
sudo git lfs track "*.tar"

sudo git add .gitattributes .gitignore
sudo git commit -m "Track .tar files with Git LFS"
sudo git push -u origin master -f

Create the backup script

cd /
sudo nano backup.sh

Add:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e
HA_VERSION_FILE="/homeassistant/.HA_VERSION"
if [[ ! -f $HA_VERSION_FILE ]]; then
    echo "Error: Home Assistant version file not found at $HA_VERSION_FILE"
    exit 1
fi
HA_VERSION=$(cat "$HA_VERSION_FILE")
COMMIT_CURRENT_DATE=$(date +'%d-%m-%Y %H:%M:%S')
COMMIT_MESSAGE=":safety_vest: [$HA_VERSION]: $COMMIT_CURRENT_DATE"
sudo git add /backup
sudo git commit -m "$COMMIT_MESSAGE"
sudo git push -u origin master -f

Create a NodeRed flow that creates a full backup and run /backup.sh afterwards

[{"id":"fd49290bbbf4cafa","type":"exec","z":"a6541044a83813f3","command":"sshpass -pREPLACE_THIS_WITH_PASSWORD ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no [email protected] 'bash /backup.sh'","addpay":"","append":"","useSpawn":"false","timer":"","winHide":false,"oldrc":false,"name":"","x":490,"y":300,"wires":[[],[],[]]}]

MathiasReker/home_assistant_backup_github.md