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    Unifi controller on pfsense?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    37 Posts 8 Posters 5.5k Views
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    • JKnottJ
      JKnott @plfinch
      last edited by

      @plfinch

      That's almost as much as I spent for my one, 1, count 'em 1 AP. It was $125 (Canadian).

      Anyway, if I can get past the errors in the Linux version that will do for me. In the mean time, I'm stuck with the Windows version.

      PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
      i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
      UniFi AC-Lite access point

      I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • P
        plfinch
        last edited by

        I have 3 WAPs, one per floor. If I just had one, I’d be doing standalone management directly on the WAP and would forego the controller...

        Peter

        JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • bingo600B
          bingo600 @plfinch
          last edited by bingo600

          @plfinch said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

          +1 !

          Would very much like to get this off my last Windows device...

          I'm running it on Debian10 wo. any probs.
          https://www.kobelnet.ch/2019/12/06/setup-unifi-controller-on-debian-10-buster

          A small VM works fine

          /Bingo

          If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

          pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

          QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
          CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
          LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

          JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • JKnottJ
            JKnott @plfinch
            last edited by

            @plfinch

            You can't. You need the controller, unless I'm missing something.

            PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
            i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
            UniFi AC-Lite access point

            I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

            P 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • JKnottJ
              JKnott @bingo600
              last edited by

              @bingo600 said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

              A small VM works fine

              I had considered that, but it appears I'll soon have it running native on opensuse.

              Still, it would be nice if it could run on pfsense.

              PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
              i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
              UniFi AC-Lite access point

              I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

              bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • bingo600B
                bingo600 @JKnott
                last edited by

                @JKnott said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

                Still, it would be nice if it could run on pfsense.

                Not on my Box ....
                A wifi controller has nothing to do on my Fwall , would IMHO just be adding more attack vectors.

                /Bingo

                If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • P
                  plfinch @JKnott
                  last edited by

                  @JKnott said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

                  @plfinch

                  You can't. You need the controller, unless I'm missing something.

                  https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360047417733-UniFi-Setting-up-a-UniFi-Access-Point-in-Standalone-Mode

                  Peter

                  JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • johnpozJ
                    johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                    last edited by johnpoz

                    I have been running the controller on linux for years.. Just use debian or ubuntu - these are the sported OSes.. Any other distro is DIY..

                    Its as simple as installing the package..

                    If you don't want to run debian or ubuntu - then just run it as a VM on said box or via a docker..
                    https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/unifi-controller

                    I would never in a million years put this on pfsense..

                    Currently running 6.1.26 on Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS, via VM on my nas..

                    An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                    If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                    Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                    SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                    JKnottJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • JKnottJ
                      JKnott @plfinch
                      last edited by

                      @plfinch

                      Tnx. I'll have to look into that.

                      PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                      i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                      UniFi AC-Lite access point

                      I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • JKnottJ
                        JKnott @johnpoz
                        last edited by

                        @johnpoz said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

                        If you don't want to run debian or ubuntu - then just run it as a VM on said box or via a docker..

                        I run opensuse and don't plan to change. However, I have found a package for the version I'm running. I have exchanged email with the person maintaining the repository and expect to have it running shortly. I just have to get past some certificate errors.

                        PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                        i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                        UniFi AC-Lite access point

                        I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                        bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • johnpozJ
                          johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                          last edited by

                          VM gives you the ability to take snapshots.. so if you want to play with new version of the controller, and something doesn't work it takes 30 seconds to rollback. You can install very min install of the VM, and doesn't need much ram.. Mine is currently running with 1GB of ram given to it, and uses like nothing of the host cpu.. currently show it using a whole 4% ;)

                          An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                          If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                          Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                          SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                          JKnottJ bingo600B 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • bingo600B
                            bingo600 @JKnott
                            last edited by

                            @JKnott
                            I'm a Debian/Mint guy.

                            But just had to fire up SLES on a VM in order to install a Siemens OpenScape PBX.

                            One uses the tool that fits best 😊

                            Well .. If you get the package served ...

                            /Bingo

                            If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                            pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                            QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                            CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                            LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • JKnottJ
                              JKnott @johnpoz
                              last edited by

                              @johnpoz

                              BTW, I got the AP-Lite and it appears to work well. Even on 802.11n on 2.4 GHz, I'm getting about twice the performance of my TP-Link AP. Also, it doesn't have that TP-Link VLAN "feature" that prevented me from running IPv6 on my guest WiFi.

                              802.11ac is about 10x the performance I was getting on 2.4 GHz.

                              PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
                              i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
                              UniFi AC-Lite access point

                              I haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • bingo600B
                                bingo600 @johnpoz
                                last edited by bingo600

                                @johnpoz said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

                                VM gives you the ability to take snapshots..

                                Cheater ... I bet you use the licensed version (i assume ESXi)
                                I use the free , where API's are crippled.
                                AFAIK free can't do snapshots "Live" or ??

                                I do know that ghettoVCB (backup for free) don't like snapshots.

                                /Bingo

                                If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                                pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                                QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                                CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                                LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                                kiokomanK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • johnpozJ
                                  johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                                  last edited by johnpoz

                                  I have a lite in the guest room - works fine.. The pro in the center of the house is the normal work horse with the most clients on it. And then have a LR in the kitchen near the patio door that covers that side of the house and also good coverage of the patio that is off the kitchen. They make a nice AP... But if you don't really have to run the controller if you don't want to.. You could just leave it on windows, if you happen to have a windows machine - and just fire it up if you want to make a change, or troubleshoot something.

                                  I leave mine up all the time because I like the info that provides you.. But its not really a requirement to have the controller up and running 24/7 if you don't really have a place to do what on..

                                  edit:
                                  While I use to run the free esxi version, last couple of years I just use the VM Manager on my synology nas.. Even if you can not take "snapshots" with the vm software your using - you can always just export copy of the VM before you make changes, so you could always put the VM back to how it was, etc. But pretty sure even with free esxi you can do snapshots - you can't do vmotion without lic for that.. Been a couple of years :(

                                  An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                  If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                  Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                  SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                                  JKnottJ V 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • kiokomanK
                                    kiokoman LAYER 8 @bingo600
                                    last edited by

                                    @bingo600
                                    you can take snapshot on free version of esxi without any problem

                                    ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                                    Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                                    we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                                    Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

                                    bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • johnpozJ
                                      johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
                                      last edited by

                                      ^ yeah I thought you could.. I remember doing it, and I only had the free license..

                                      An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
                                      If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
                                      Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
                                      SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

                                      bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • bingo600B
                                        bingo600 @kiokoman
                                        last edited by

                                        @kiokoman
                                        Cool
                                        Will try ASAP

                                        Thanx 👍

                                        If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                                        pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                                        QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                                        CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                                        LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • kiokomanK
                                          kiokoman LAYER 8
                                          last edited by

                                          the only limitation afaik is that you have to use vmxnet3 / emulated network card, it does not work with passthrough

                                          ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=(◕_◕)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿'̿ ̿
                                          Please do not use chat/PM to ask for help
                                          we must focus on silencing this @guest character. we must make up lies and alter the copyrights !
                                          Don't forget to Upvote with the 👍 button for any post you find to be helpful.

                                          bingo600B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • bingo600B
                                            bingo600 @kiokoman
                                            last edited by

                                            @kiokoman said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

                                            the only limitation afaik is that you have to use vmxnet3 / emulated network card, it does not work with passthrough

                                            For the snapshots ?
                                            Aren't they Disk copy only or ?

                                            If you find my answer useful - Please give the post a 👍 - "thumbs up"

                                            pfSense+ 23.05.1 (ZFS)

                                            QOTOM-Q355G4 Quad Lan.
                                            CPU  : Core i5 5250U, Ram : 8GB Kingston DDR3LV 1600
                                            LAN  : 4 x Intel 211, Disk  : 240G SAMSUNG MZ7L3240HCHQ SSD

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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