Automated Git Backup for Home Assistant

This guide explains how to set up automated nightly git backups for your Home Assistant configuration.

Overview

• Commits and pushes all config changes to GitHub daily at 3am
• Uses SSH deploy key (repo-specific, more secure than account-wide keys)
• Works with HAOS containers where filesystems are ephemeral

Prerequisites

• Home Assistant OS (HAOS)
• Terminal & SSH add-on installed
• GitHub repository for your HA config

Step 1: Create SSH Key (inside HA)

Open Settings → Add-ons → Terminal & SSH → Open Web UI and run:

mkdir -p /config/.ssh
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f /config/.ssh/id_ed25519 -N ""
chmod 600 /config/.ssh/id_ed25519
cat /config/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Copy the public key output.

Important: Use /config/.ssh/ not /root/.ssh/ - the /config directory persists across container restarts.

Step 2: Add Deploy Key to GitHub

1. Go to your repo on GitHub
2. Settings → Deploy keys → Add deploy key
3. Paste the public key
4. Check “Allow write access”
5. Save

Step 3: Configure Git Remote (inside HA)

In the Terminal add-on:

cd /config
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:USERNAME/REPO.git

Step 4: Add Shell Command

Add to configuration.yaml:

shell_command:
  git_backup: >-
    mkdir -p /root/.ssh &&
    ssh-keyscan github.com >> /root/.ssh/known_hosts 2>/dev/null &&
    cd /config &&
    git add -A &&
    git diff --quiet --cached || git commit -m "Automated backup $(date +%Y-%m-%d)" &&
    GIT_SSH_COMMAND="ssh -i /config/.ssh/id_ed25519" git push 2>&1

This command:

1. Creates SSH directory and adds GitHub’s host key (needed each container restart)
2. Stages all changes
3. Commits only if there are changes
4. Pushes using the persistent SSH key

Step 5: Create Automation

Add to automations.yaml:

- id: 'nightly_git_backup'
  alias: Nightly Git backup
  description: Backup HA config to GitHub at 3am
  triggers:
  - trigger: time
    at: '03:00:00'
  actions:
  - action: shell_command.git_backup
  mode: single

Step 6: Protect SSH Key

Add to .gitignore:

.ssh/

Step 7: Test

1. Reload shell commands: Developer Tools → YAML → Reload Shell Commands
2. Test manually: Developer Tools → Services → shell_command.git_backup → Call Service
3. Check the response for success or errors

Troubleshooting

”No such file or directory” for SSH key

The key must be in /config/.ssh/, not /root/.ssh/. The /root directory doesn’t persist.

”Host key verification failed”

The ssh-keyscan command in the shell command should handle this. If it persists, manually run in Terminal add-on:

ssh-keyscan github.com >> /root/.ssh/known_hosts

“Permission denied (publickey)”

• Verify the deploy key is added to GitHub with write access
• Check the key path is correct: /config/.ssh/id_ed25519
• Verify permissions: chmod 600 /config/.ssh/id_ed25519

Optional: Avoid GitHub Contribution Graph

If you don’t want backup commits counting as contributions, use a different email:

cd /config
git config user.email "homeassistant@noreply.local"