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Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

lazyadmin.nl

31–40 of 341 posts

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#31
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The self-hosted app never went away; I've been running it for the last 8 years or so, first on a MacBook Pro, then a Raspberry Pi, and now a repurposed HP T620 thin client. They promote their cloud controller pretty strongly, followed by the Cloud Key, which is their own preinstalled self hosting setup, but the self-hosted UniFi Network server has stuck around. (It changed names a couple of times; it was the "UniFi C…

This is what is confusing about this announcement, is anything actually newly available or is this a rename of the existing thing I've been doing in a container for years?

This is the first time UniFi OS can be self hosted, before you were able to use UniFi Network Application (Server), however this never included features like Teleport, Identity, Cybersecure subscription and many other features that require UniFi OS.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#33

There was a lot of drama around Ubiquity a few years back. Happy to see the company is still alive and the indicator that they're coming back around to self hosting. All the hardware I bought a decade ago is still running fine (without any of the cloud software) and it looks like their newer stuff would be worth the upgrade (10gb everywhere, easily, at last).

As far as I can see, they still flirt with vendor lock in. None of their cameras supported ONVIF when I researched this previously. Nice hardware, lame software choices, IMO.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#34

You could always self-host UniFi Network. https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012282453-Self-Host... This launches with UniFi Network and UniFi InnerSpace, which is a deployment visualization tool. I assume they'll add more of the applications to UniFi OS in the future

It turned out to be surprisingly annoying to do this on Debian due to the MongoDB requirement. I forget the exact difficulties but I ended up having to punt and run the container from linuxserver.io.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#35
I've been self-hosting a Unifi controller (now called 'Unifi Network') for years in a Docker container, and before that I'd run it on a Windows machine whenever I needed to make changes to the configuration - I assume this pivot to call the self-hosted version 'UniFi OS' implies a future where more than just the Network application can be self-hosted.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#36

How is this different than the docker container I am running now? I must be missing a detail or two.

You're probably running what's currently called, I think, UniFi Network Server (at one point it was UniFi Controller?).

That lets you configure networking devices but it isn't the "full" Ubiquiti ecosystem (Identity, Site Manager/SD-WAN/Teleport).

Basically before you could run one "app" (the network management one) locally, but Unifi ship a grid of cloud "apps" that you see when you log into unifi.ui.com .

Now they're shipping the thing that hosts the grid itself (enabling multi-site stuff like SD-WAN and the firmware update server), some more of the apps (Identity) and presumably they'll roll out more apps in the future.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#37

How is this different than the docker container I am running now? I must be missing a detail or two.

1. This is an official Docker image/container from Ubiquiti themselves - no more relying on LinuxServer.io/jacobalberty, etc...

2. With the "UniFI OS" branding, the door is open to the possibility of being able to run Talk, Protect, Access, etc... on your own hardware in the future.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#38
post #33

There was a lot of drama around Ubiquity a few years back. Happy to see the company is still alive and the indicator that they're coming back around to self hosting. All the hardware I bought a decade ago is still running fine (without any of the cloud software) and it looks like their newer stuff would be worth the upgrade (10gb everywhere, easily, at last).

As far as I can see, they still flirt with vendor lock in. None of their cameras supported ONVIF when I researched this previously. Nice hardware, lame software choices, IMO.

They support ONVIF now in their backend.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#39

I've been self-hosting a Unifi controller (now called 'Unifi Network') for years in a Docker container, and before that I'd run it on a Windows machine whenever I needed to make changes to the configuration - I assume this pivot to call the self-hosted version 'UniFi OS' implies a future where more than just the Network application can be self-hosted.

What do you like to use the UniFi controller container for?

I've tried hosting the same container before but it never seemed to properly "marry" to my UniFi AP, or it would forget the AP the next day, etc. For now I just use the iOS app which is sufficient to update the AP firmware occasionally, but I wish I could get all the insights of the controller.

Re: Ubiquiti launches UniFi OS Server for self-hosting

#40
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What issues did you encounter when using Unifi? From what I’ve seen, Unifi seems like the closest to an "Apple-like" experience - especially given how much more robust their capabilities are compared to most other providers.

The idea that Ubiquiti pushes out buggy software as production-ready and that we're all their beta testers is a pretty common meme on their subreddit.

I hear this talked about in the past but is it still true today?

I've at least never experienced it (and I stick to the Stable/Release channel).

I have 4 AP, 9 cameras, NVR and Dream Machine - I guess I got lucky over the 2.5 years I've had Unifi.

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