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page	Installation in Python virtual environment	How to install Home Assistant in a Python virtual environment.	2016-4-16 16:40	true	false	true	true	/getting-started/installation-virtualenv/

If you already have Python 3.6 or later installed (we suggest 3.7 or later), you can easily give Home Assistant a spin.

It's recommended when installing Python packages that you use a virtual environment. This will make sure that your Python installation and Home Assistant installation won't impact one another. The following steps will work on most UNIX like systems.

(If you're on a Debian based system, you will need to install Python virtual environment support using apt-get install python3-pip python3-venv. You may also need to install development libraries using apt-get install build-essential libssl-dev libffi-dev python3-dev.)

It is recommended to use the [advanced guide](/docs/installation/raspberry-pi/) which allows for the installation to run as a `homeassistant` user. The steps below may be shorter but some users find difficulty when applying updates and may run into issues.

Install

1. Create a virtual environment in your current directory:

   $ python3 -m venv homeassistant
   

2. Open the virtual environment:

   $ cd homeassistant
   

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   $ source bin/activate
   

4. Install wheel:

   $ python3 -m pip install wheel
   

5. Install Home Assistant:

   $ python3 -m pip install homeassistant
   

6. Configure it to autostart
7. Or run Home Assistant manually:

   $ hass --open-ui
   

8. You can now reach the web interface on http://ipaddress:8123/ - the first start may take up to 20 minutes before the web interface is available

Upgrade

1. Stop Home Assistant

2. Open the directory where the virtual environment is located, activate the virtual environment, then upgrade Home Assistant:

   $ cd homeassistant
   $ source bin/activate
   $ python3 -m pip install --upgrade homeassistant
   

3. Start Home Assistant

4. You can now reach the web interface on http://ipaddress:8123/ - the first start may take up to 20 minutes before the web interface is available

Run a specific version

In the event that a Home Assistant version doesn't play well with your hardware setup, you can downgrade to a previous release. For example:

$ cd homeassistant
$ source bin/activate
$ pip3 install homeassistant==0.XX.X

Run the beta version

If you would like to test next release before anyone else, you can install the beta version released every two weeks, for example:

$ cd homeassistant
$ source bin/activate
$ pip3 install --pre --upgrade homeassistant

Run the development version

If you want to stay on the bleeding-edge Home Assistant development branch, you can upgrade to dev.

The "dev" branch is likely to be unstable. Potential consequences include loss of data and instance corruption.

For example:

$ cd homeassistant
$ source bin/activate
$ pip3 install --upgrade git+git://github.com/home-assistant/home-assistant.git@dev

Notes

• In the future, if you want to start Home Assistant manually again, follow step 2, 3 and 5.
• It's recommended to run Home Assistant as a dedicated user.

Looking for more advanced guides? Check our [Raspbian guide](/docs/installation/raspberry-pi/) or the [other installation guides](/docs/installation/).

After upgrading Python

If you've upgraded Python (for example, you were running 3.7.1 and now you've installed 3.7.3) then you'll need to build a new virtual environment. Simply rename your existing virtual environment directory:

$ mv homeassistant homeassistant.old

Then follow the Install steps again, being sure to use the newly installed version of Python.