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    Unifi controller on pfsense?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • 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

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                • 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 !
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                        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
                                • bingo600B
                                  bingo600 @johnpoz
                                  last edited by

                                  @johnpoz said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

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

                                  Sorry JP
                                  I just made a snapshot 🤕
                                  Why didn't i try that before now ... In my mind snapshot was crippled on free

                                  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

                                    it's a limitation, I don't remember the details but if you have something configured as passthrough (network card or video card or something else) you can't take live snapshot only offline snapshot

                                    ̿' ̿'\̵͇̿̿\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.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • bmeeksB
                                      bmeeks
                                      last edited by

                                      A VM running UniFi Controller is nice, and is what I use at home currently. However, if you have a PoE switch I would very seriously consider running the CloudKey USB dongle. I use one for our church setup. Works great.

                                      Yeah, it's more expensive than a VM if you already have the hypervisor hardware, but it you don't have the hardware, then the cost of the CloudKey is pretty reasonable (assuming you have a PoE switch already for your UniFi APs). Of course with no PoE switch to plug the dongle into, then a VM is a better option.

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

                                        @johnpoz

                                        I live in a condo, which a single AP covers well. Even the TP-Link did that. What VM are you referring to? I have VirtualBox on a couple of computers and had considered an Ubuntu VM to run the controller.

                                        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
                                        • V
                                          viragomann @johnpoz
                                          last edited by

                                          @johnpoz said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

                                          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

                                          Isn't it necessary for seamless roaming to run the controller 24/7?

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

                                            @viragomann said in Unifi controller on pfsense?:

                                            Isn't it necessary for seamless roaming to run the controller 24/7?

                                            With only a single AP, I wouldn't have a lot of roaming. 😉

                                            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...

                                            V 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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