UniFi Projects

Migrate UniFi Site

Task: Migrate UniFi Site from one controller to an instance running on another device. This not only migrates settings, but manage setting the inform URL on all devices on the network without manually updating it. This guide covers version 6.1.71 of the UniFi Controller.

UniFi - Migrating Sites with Site Export Wizard – Ubiquiti Support and Help Center

  1. Backup the current controller and update the controller to the latest version.
  2. The migrate site option is not available in the new menus so you will need to evert to the classic view by going to Settings > System Settings > New User Interface and toggling it off. Click deactivate to confirm. The Classic Settings button at the top of the page is not working for several people during the time of writing. Repeat on the new controller as well.

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  3. Ensure the new controller is available. In the source controller go to to Settings > Site > Export Site.  As you can never have enough backups, download another copy.

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  4. Next you will need to import the site into the destination controller.

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  5. Name the site and select your backup file.
  6. Go back to the source controller, and click Confirm.
  7. Enter the IP of the destination controller in the inform URL section. Select all or select devices to migrate and press the migrate button. 

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  8. Once devices are migrated they will show up in the new controller. Verify all devices are present and that everything looks good.
  9. Go to the source controller and forget the devices. The old controller can now be powere

Troubleshooting No Internet Access on new UDM Setup

If a new UniFi Dream Machine is not seeing an internet connection, here a few things that can be tried aside from troubleshooting with the ISP to clear ARP cache or make sure they don't need to allow the device past the walled garden. Both involve connecting to the Dream Machine with SSH using the default credentials (root/ubnt). Identify the IP of the UDM and connect using ssh root@IPAddress. If the device is already adopted and the controller is accessible, the default will have been changed. In the controller go to Settings > System > Advanced and enable debug tools. This will enable you to launch the debug terminal from the device settings. If you want to ssh from macOS or Windows, the credentials can be found under Device Authentication in the Advanced properties.

The UniFi CLI is not documented that well so frequently find myself going to All Unifi SSH Commands that You Want to Know — LazyAdmin for a quick refresher.

  1. Validate the date and time.
    1. Type in info and press Enter, NTP should show SYNCHRONIZED.
    2. Enter date and press Enter, the current date and time should be reflected.
      1. If not, manually update the date and time with date -u MMDDHHmmYYYY. Substitute month, day, hour, minute, year for example date -u 0304118482024
  2. If updating date and time doesn't correct the issue, try manually updating the firmware. Please note this is an advanced process so should be done once other options have been exhausted. The instructions from the KB are below and vary slightly based on device.
    1. UniFi - Advanced Updating Techniques – Ubiquiti Help Center