# Install package on Host OS Image

**URL:** <https://forums.balena.io/t/install-package-on-host-os-image/4910>\
**Category:** balenaOS\
**Created:** [January 6, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/install-package-on-host-os-image/4910 "2019-01-06T03:19:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dash](https://forums.balena.io/u/dash)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/install-package-on-host-os-image/4910/1 "2019-01-06T03:19:19Z")

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Hi All,

Just wondering how I would go about installing an application package such as vnstat on HostOS such that it is part of the base install when you flash a new device?

Cheers  
Chris

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**Author:** ![dansku](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/dansku/32/1183_2.png) [@dansku](https://forums.balena.io/u/dansku)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 10:21am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/install-package-on-host-os-image/4910/2 "2019-01-07T10:21:26Z")

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Hello @dash,  
you can’t add new applications to the HostOS as it could decrease the stability of the system.  
You can only add it to a container.

Cheers

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**Author:** ![dash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dash](https://forums.balena.io/u/dash)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/install-package-on-host-os-image/4910/3 "2019-01-07T12:29:14Z")

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Thanks @dansku. I’ll have try work around it. It’s possible to run vnstat in a docker container and use privileged mode to give it the access it requires to host network interfaces but I feel privileged mode should be avoided.

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**Author:** ![agalloway\_cta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac8455/32.png) [@agalloway\_cta](https://forums.balena.io/u/agalloway_cta)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 9:39pm UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/install-package-on-host-os-image/4910/4 "2021-01-19T21:39:52Z")

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Shouldn’t it be the user’s responsibility to not “decrease the stability of the system”? We just want to install `htop`.

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**Author:** ![anujdeshpande](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/balena/user_avatar/forums.balena.io/anujdeshpande/32/3155_2.png) [@anujdeshpande](https://forums.balena.io/u/anujdeshpande)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2021, 8:16am UTC](https://forums.balena.io/t/install-package-on-host-os-image/4910/7 "2021-01-20T08:16:39Z")

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Hello

You can do this by building balenaOS yourself. Take a look at our instructions for how to do so [here](https://www.balena.io/os/docs/custom-build/)