---
title: "Advanced Configuration"
description: "Instructions to get Home Assistant configured."
---

The onboarding process takes care of the initial setup for Home Assistant, such as naming your home and selecting your location. After initial onboarding, these options can be changed in the user interface by clicking on Configuration in the sidebar and clicking on General, or by manually editing them in the Home Assistant configuration file called `configuration.yaml`. This section will explain how to do the latter.

<div class='note'>

The steps below do not apply to Home Assistant Core installations, for those types of installations, [see here](/docs/configuration/).

</div>

We are going to help you make your first changes to `configuration.yaml`. To do this, we are going to install an add-on from the Home Assistant add-on store: the File editor. To get to the add-on store, click on the menu icon in the top left, then click on Supervisor. On the new page, open the add-on store tab.

<p class='img'>
<img src='/images/hassio/screenshots/main_panel_addon_store.png' />
From the Supervisor main panel, open the add-on store.
</p>

Under the "Official add-ons" section you will find the File editor add-on.

 - Click on File Editor and click on INSTALL. When installation is complete, the UI will go to the add-on details page for the file editor.
 - Now start the add-on by clicking on START.
 - Open the user interface by clicking on OPEN WEB UI.

Now let's make a change using the file editor: we are going to change the name, location, unit system, and time zone of your Home Assistant installation.

 - Click the folder icon in the top left of the file editor window to open the file browser sidebar.
 - Click the `configuration.yaml` file (in the `/config/` folder) to load it into the main file editor window.
 - Add the following to this file (preferably at the very top, but it ultimately doesn't matter):
 ```yaml
     homeassistant:
       name: Home
       latitude: xx.xxxx
       longitude: xx.xxxx
       unit_system: imperial
       time_zone: America/Chicago
  ```
<div class='note'>
 
  Valid options for `unit_system` are `imperial` or `metric`. See [here](https://timezonedb.com/time-zones) for a list of valid time zones. Enter the appropriate option found under the Time Zone column at that page.

</div>

 - Click the save icon in the top right to commit changes.
 - Most changes in `configuration.yaml` require Home Assistant to be restarted to see the changes. You can verify that your changes are acceptable by running a configuration check. Do this by clicking on Configuration in the sidebar, click on "Server Controls" and click on the "CHECK configuration" button. When it's valid, it will show the text "Configuration valid!". In order for the "CHECK configuration" button to be visible, you must enable "Advanced Mode" on your user profile.
 - Now Restart Home Assistant using the "RESTART" button in the Server management section on the same page.

<p class='img'>
<img src='/images/screenshots/configuration-validation.png' />
Screenshot of the "General" page in the configuration panel.
</p>

<div class='note'>

  If you have watched any videos about setting up Home Assistant using `configuration.yaml` (particularly ones that are old), you might notice your default configuration file is much smaller than what the videos show. Don't be concerned, you haven't done anything wrong. Many items in the default configuration files shown in those old videos are now included in the `default_config:` line that you see in your configuration file. [See here](/integrations/default_config/) for more information on what's included in that line.

</div>

### Editing configuration via Samba/Windows Networking

Maybe you are not a big fan of our web editor and want to use a text editor on your computer instead. This is possible by sharing the configuration over the network using the Samba add-on, which can also be installed from the Home Assistant add-on store. This will make your configuration accessible via the network tab on your computer.

Go to the add-on store and look for Samba in the core section. After you have installed the add-on, click on START. Home Assistant should now be available in the networking tab on your computer.

We suggest that to edit `configuration.yaml`, you use the free text editor [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) in combination with the [Home Assistant Configuration Helper extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=keesschollaart.vscode-home-assistant).
