How to run UniFi Controller on ReadyNAS

Recently I ran into some trouble (Thread All snapshots disappeared + no new snapshots possible) when I tried to install the UniFi Controller on my ReadyNAS. After I have overcome two small obstacles it works now fine.

I would like to share here the solution that works for me on OS 6.6.1 (x86):

The UniFi Controller needs Java, so we have to install that first. I have choosen Java 7, because Java 8 - my first obsacle - lead me into trouble:

sudo apt-get update
apt-get install oracle-java7-jdk

Then we have to add the Ubiquiti repository and the key:

echo "deb http://www.ubnt.com/downloads/unifi/debian unifi5 ubiquiti" | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/100-ubnt.list
apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv C0A52C50

After that, we can install the UniFi controller:

apt-get install unifi

I copied the systemd service file, to /etc/systemd/system in the case that I have to make some tweaks:

cp -p /lib/systemd/system/unifi.service /etc/systemd/system

After the install there is the second obstacle, that the software in installed unter /var/lib on the OS partition and the included MongoDB will need 3GB under /var/lib/unifi/db, which is not available.

So we have to move the UniFi controller to a place with sufficient space, e.g. /apps:

cd /var/lib
mv unifi /apps
ln -s /apps/unifi unifi

And now the Unifi controller should start with:

systemctl start unifi.service

To access the User Interface of the controller navigate to:

https://<IP_of_your_ReadyNAS>:8443

If it is not working, it might be worth to look into the logs in /var/log/unifi.


Possible problems:

• Unifi needs the ports 3478, 8080, 8443, 8843, 8880, 8881, 8882 and 27117. If other Apps use these ports you have to change the settting of UniFi.
• It might be necessary to activate logrotate for the UniFi logs.