If you want yaml based configs and running on a non HomeAssistant provided OS you are already making it hard for yourself.
This is not the most popular route and therefore also less supported my advice:
- use a raspberry-pi with Home Assistant OS or buy one of their self made raspberry-pi alternatives Home Assistant Yellow etc.
You can run docker but it's still not straightforward because then you need to passthrough like USB Devices etc, I would recommend against it.
And from there use the yamls to define a very basic config like language, location etc (I'm not sure that you even need to do that). But only use the GUI from there on.
Everything can be done with the GUI, I haven't touched my yaml files in years.
And I regularly upgrade versions too, haven't had any upgrade issues either.
> Everything can be done with the GUI, I haven't touched my yaml files in years.
Command line sensors, REST sensors, some types of virtual sensors, groups (I think), there's a lot of stuff you still can't do in the GUI, and even if you don't mind writing their stupid YAML-based config, the documentation isn't very friendly and in places outdated and contradicting itself.
This is not the most popular route and therefore also less supported my advice:
- use a raspberry-pi with Home Assistant OS or buy one of their self made raspberry-pi alternatives Home Assistant Yellow etc.
You can run docker but it's still not straightforward because then you need to passthrough like USB Devices etc, I would recommend against it.
And from there use the yamls to define a very basic config like language, location etc (I'm not sure that you even need to do that). But only use the GUI from there on.
Everything can be done with the GUI, I haven't touched my yaml files in years.
And I regularly upgrade versions too, haven't had any upgrade issues either.