Now that we’ve setup our new server, created firewall rules, and created our VMs and Docker containers, it’s time for something new. HomeAssistant is a home automation platform. It’s highly modular and very actively developed. It’s opensource, and there are nerds all over the world contributing. Instead of being limited to devices that are “approved” to work with Alexa or Google Home or whatever Apple’s dumb version is called, you can get almost anything to work with HomeAssistant.