How to Install openHABian on Raspberry Pi (Step-by-Step Guide)

If you’ve been wanting to turn your Raspberry Pi into a powerful smart home hub, openHABian is one of the easiest ways to do it. It’s a Raspberry Pi–optimized setup for openHAB, a flexible and open-source home automation system that plays well with a huge range of devices and standards.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to install openHABian on your Raspberry Pi — using both the dedicated openHABian image and the manual installation method. You’ll learn how to boot it for the first time, access the dashboard, and start connecting smart devices.

Table of Contents

1. What Is openHABian (and Why Use It)?
2. What You’ll Need
3. Method 1: Install Using the openHABian Image (Easy)
4. Method 2: Install on Raspberry Pi OS (Advanced)
5. First Steps Inside openHAB
6. Wrapping Up

What Is openHABian (And Why Use It on Raspberry Pi?)

openHAB (Open Home Automation Bus) is a free, open-source automation platform designed to be vendor-independent — meaning you’re not locked into any specific brand or ecosystem.

openHABian is a preconfigured version of Raspberry Pi OS with openHAB already installed and optimized for the Pi. It takes care of most of the complex setup, saving you a lot of time and troubleshooting.

Compared with other platforms like Home Assistant or Domoticz, openHAB is Java-based, known for stability and long-term reliability. It supports standard home automation protocols like Z-Wave, Zigbee, KNX, and MQTT out of the box.

Here’s a quick comparison:

Feature	openHAB	Home Assistant	Domoticz
Ease of Setup	Medium – openHABian simplifies setup	Easy – guided wizard	Easy – lightweight install
User Interface	Functional but basic	Modern, intuitive	Simple and dated
Integrations	Wide (Z-Wave, Zigbee, KNX, MQTT, etc.)	Largest ecosystem	Limited
Performance on Pi	Stable, runs well on Pi 3–5	Best on Pi 4–5	Lightweight
Community Support	Medium-sized, consistent	Very large, active	Smaller
Customization	High (rules engine, scripts)	Very high	Moderate
Best For	Reliability and stability	Full-featured automation	Lightweight setups

What You’ll Need

Before you begin, make sure you have the following ready:

• Raspberry Pi 3, 4, or 5 (I used a Pi 400, but any model with good performance will do)
• 32GB SD Card (8GB works, but 32GB+ is better for stability and logging)
• SD Card Reader
• Raspberry Pi Imager (or Balena Etcher)
• Stable Internet Connection

Optional: If you’re new to Raspberry Pi, download our free Linux Commands Cheat Sheet (PDF) — it’ll save you hours of Googling.

Method 1: The Easy Way – Use the openHABian Image

This is the recommended method for most users.

Step 1: Download and Flash the Image

1. Open Raspberry Pi Imager on your computer.
2. Click Choose OS → Other specific-purpose OS → Home assistants and home automation → openHAB → openHABian (64-bit).
3. Insert your SD card and click Write to flash the image.

Step 2: Configure Wi-Fi (Optional)

After flashing, open the boot partition on your SD card.
Find the file openhabian.conf and edit it using any text editor.

Here you can:

• Set your Wi-Fi SSID and password
• Change the hostname
• Enable SSH

Save the file and eject the SD card.

Step 3: Boot and Install

Insert the SD card into your Raspberry Pi and power it on.
openHABian will automatically:

• Connect to Wi-Fi (if configured)
• Download required packages
• Set up openHAB in the background

This process can take 10–30 minutes, depending on your network speed.

When complete, you can access the dashboard at:
http://<hostname>:8080

Method 2: Advanced – Install on Raspberry Pi OS

This method is for those who already have Raspberry Pi OS running and want to install openHAB manually.

Step 1: Update and Prepare the System

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y

Then check your Java version:

java -version

openHAB 5.x requires Java 21 (64-bit).
If you don’t have it, install it with:

sudo apt install -y wget apt-transport-https gpg
wget -qO - https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/api/gpg/key/public | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/adoptium.gpg >/dev/null
echo "deb https://packages.adoptium.net/artifactory/deb $(. /etc/os-release; echo $VERSION_CODENAME) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/adoptium.list >/dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y temurin-21-jdk

Step 2: Install openHAB

curl -fsSL "https://openhab.jfrog.io/artifactory/api/gpg/key/public" | gpg --dearmor > openhab.gpg
sudo mkdir -p /usr/share/keyrings
sudo mv openhab.gpg /usr/share/keyrings/
sudo chmod 644 /usr/share/keyrings/openhab.gpg
echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/openhab.gpg] https://openhab.jfrog.io/artifactory/openhab-linuxpkg stable main' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/openhab.list >/dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y openhab

Start and enable the service:

sudo systemctl start openhab.service
sudo systemctl enable openhab.service

Then access the dashboard:

http://<hostname or IP>:8080

First Steps Inside openHAB

Once you open the dashboard, you’ll be greeted by the setup wizard.

1. Create Your Admin Account

Add your username and password — this will be your main login.

2. Choose Language & Region

Select your region and preferred language to personalize your interface.

3. Install Bindings

Bindings connect openHAB to your smart devices. Go to:
Settings → Things → + → Install More Bindings

Search for your device’s integration (e.g., Z-Wave, MQTT, Zigbee) and click Install.

4. Add a Thing

Once installed, scan for new devices under Settings → Things → + → [Binding Name] → Scan.
Discovered devices will appear automatically.

5. Create an Item

To display data from a Thing, link one of its Channels to a new Item.
Navigate to Settings → Items → Add Link to Item → Create New Item.

6. Add the Item to a Page

Customize your dashboard:
Settings → Pages → Overview Layout → Add Block → Add Row → Add Column → Add Widget.
Choose a widget (like a gauge or graph) and link it to your new item.

Your data will now appear on the main dashboard in real-time.

That’s it! You’ve just turned your Raspberry Pi into a smart home automation hub using openHABian.

Whether you went with the quick image method or the manual installation, you now have a system capable of managing a wide range of devices and automation rules — all from a clean, web-based interface.

From here, you can:

• Add more bindings for your smart devices
• Build custom rules and automations
• Design your dashboard layout

Once you get comfortable, openHAB becomes a flexible and incredibly stable foundation for your smart home.