You can show the password by clicking the ‘eye’ icon, or simply copy it to your clipboard by clicking the copy icon. (We will change that password immediately upon logging in). You’ll also want to make note of or copy your default root password. Copy or make note of that IP address – we’re going to use it to create our DNS A record in the next step. Once the server is in a ‘Running’ state, you’ll see your IP address. Click on the name of your server to see its detail screen. Once the ‘Status’ changes from ‘Installing’ to ‘Running,’ you should wait about another 30 seconds, and then you’re good to go. It will take 1-2 minutes for the server to spin up, so be patient. Startup script and SSH Keys can be left blank.Ĭlick ‘Deploy Now’ and you’re off to the races! You are taken back to the server summary screen. In addition, Let’s Encrypt is going to depend on this DNS name as well. This step is NOT optional – using an FQDN to inform your UniFi equipment is best practice to ensure that you can migrate later on down the road without much issue. For a production system with only a few sites, the $5.00/month tier would be the best option, and then scale up from there.įinally, you can select any options (Auto Backups are highly recommended for a production server), and then give your server a hostname. For testing purposes, the $3.50/month tier is fine. UniFi will run on anything in the $3.50/month size or higher. That being said though – this same process should work fine on Ubuntu 18.04 given the extra step of downgrading the database.
So, until Ubiquiti standardizes on the latest version of Mongo, I prefer to stick with the OS I know works great right out of the box.
*** Tech note: You may be asking “Why not the latest and greatest Ubuntu 18.04?” Well, as of the writing of this blog post, UniFi still does not install properly on Ubuntu 18.04 without downgrading the default version of MongoDB.
Click on Ubuntu and choose ‘16.04 圆4’ from the drop-down. The next step is where we select our server type. Pick whichever data center you want – I however, tend to choose the data center closest to my (or my client’s) geographic location. The first step of the server creation is to select your location. This will bring you to the new server setup page. Click on ‘Servers’ from the left hand menu followed by the blue circled ‘+’ symbol in the upper right.
Log into Vultr and get to the main dashboard. I will be keeping this guide up to date periodically as things change with the setup – check back if you ever find that something isn’t working, and comment below if you have any trouble with any of the steps! Part 1 – Install Vultr Virtual Server *** NOTE: As I said, the rest of this document will be focused on a Vultr install. The first thing you need for this guide is an account set up with Vultr (or Digital Ocean).Ĭlick the link below for a limited time offer, users I refer receive $100 to test out the Vultr platform. In this guide, we will set up a hosted server using Vultr (I have confirmed that all of these steps work fine on Digital Ocean as well, but Vultr will be our example in this guide), going through some best practice security settings such as enabling secure certificate authentication, installing UniFi, and finally setting up Let’s Encrypt. This is the Definitive Guide to Hosted UniFi.