Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?
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So I thought I would pick up some Ubiquiti gear this weekend since Micro Center stocks it all. Is it such that you buy your USG, switch and AP's and then buy a Unifi key and plug it in to the switch or USG? I never really understand what the key was all about.
I have seen where guys install Unifi in the cloud on a Vultr server. Thought I would give it all a try firsthand and see how well it works. Dont want to waste time with the key if it can be setup to contact a central server.
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The key is a weird replacement to having a Vultr instance. You don't normally want the key.
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Yeah again, no clue why its needed. So do you buy a license to put the unifi controller in the cloud? I thought the key was more a of a license pack.
Just didn't want to leave the key behind as the store is a 30 minutes drive for me.
~Andy
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@bigbear said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
Yeah again, no clue why its needed. So do you buy a license to put the unifi controller in the cloud? I thought the key was more a of a license pack.
Just didn't want to leave the key behind as the store is a 30 minutes drive for me.
~Andy
No, the key is just hardware. No license needed, the controller is free.
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Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.
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@NashBrydges said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.
how does teh cloud key avoid that, I wonder.
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Tbh, I couldn't tell you for sure since I've never used the CloudKey. All I know is I'm getting annoyed with having to worry about the controller starting up after every upgrade.
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@NashBrydges said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
Tbh, I couldn't tell you for sure since I've never used the CloudKey. All I know is I'm getting annoyed with having to worry about the controller starting up after every upgrade.
Something seems weird, I need to look into that. MongoDB is pretty reliable. Is it maybe running during an upgrade when it should be shut down or something?
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@NashBrydges said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.
Who told you the cloud key solves this?
Is it that the key runs the controller? So lost...
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@bigbear said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
@NashBrydges said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.
Who told you the cloud key solves this?
Is it that the key runs the controller? So lost...
The "key" is just a tiny Raspberry Pi like SMC with the same software installed on it that you normally run in a VM. It's nothing special or good.
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@scottalanmiller this is description I needed to know I hate this key, thank you.
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@bigbear said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
@scottalanmiller this is description I needed to know I hate this key, thank you.
LOL, yup. It's a very silly idea.
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But people begged for a prebuilt standalone device. So they made one to sell them.
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@scottalanmiller said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
@NashBrydges said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
Tbh, I couldn't tell you for sure since I've never used the CloudKey. All I know is I'm getting annoyed with having to worry about the controller starting up after every upgrade.
Something seems weird, I need to look into that. MongoDB is pretty reliable. Is it maybe running during an upgrade when it should be shut down or something?
I have never had this happen. I have upgraded my controller from Ubuntu 15.10 to 16.04 to 16.10 to 17.04 over the years.
And the controller itself from 3.x something to current.
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@JaredBusch Agreed, In 4 years deploying Unifi APs and having my main controller for multiple APs customers and DVRs in AWS I have not had this issue. Usually the issue I have is more on the space due to keeping data settings.
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@bigbear The Cloud Key is like a small $2.50 or $5.00 VM from Vultr and can have an added SD media card that essentially runs the Unifi Controller you get for free. It connects to the Unifi Could (Which since version 4.7 or so you have access as well with the controller). They also have cloud controllers that they sell as well that you can customize for hotspots too.
https://account.ubnt.com/loginSee an old discussion on this:
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Wireless/Cloud-Key-vs-Cloud-Controller/td-p/1467105 -
@NashBrydges said in Ubiquiti Unifi Key needed?:
Yeah no key needed and no license. I'm running mine locally on a Ubuntu VM but I'm finding that after updates and reboot, the damn mongo db tends to corrupt so I have to run the db clean up to get it fixed. A pain in the ass that I'm told can be completely avoided if you use the CloudKey instead.
The only issue I had was with this last kernel update that came out Monday, but if you looked at the forums they had a workaround same day, and a fix published Wednesday.
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@brianlittlejohn Decided to blow mine away and rebuild then ran into the issue you mention after not being able to access the controller. nice find on your other thread.
