As explained in the last blog post on the Cloud Gateway Ultra, I planned to be migrating from Unifi Controller Docker to Cloud Gateway Controller. This is because the Cloud Gateway Ultra is also a Unifi Controller and I have been running my Unifi Controller in a Docker instance in my Synology NAS.
Powering Up Cloud Gateway Ultra
Let’s start powering up the Cloud Gateway Ultra first.
Then after a while, in your iPhone Unifi app, you will see the “New Device Found”…
You do need to plug in your Internet connection to the Cloud Gateway Ultra as it will remind you too 🙂
Here’s how it looks.. ha ha… my ViewQWest Modem to Cloud Gateway Ultra connection..
At this point, it will also be good to plug a network cable from the new Cloud Gateway Ultra to your laptop too.
It will take a few minutes as the Cloud Gateway Ultra will complain of no internet and ask you to call your provider. Don’t bother. They take forever to reply.. but then you don’t need it… just wait…
Go back to your iPhone App…
And then this.. Name your Cloud Gateway Ultra.. I am very creative.. My name is “Cloud Gateway Ultra”…
And then this beautiful screen… which tells you that you are on the right track..
And finally this.. you can see the speed test results.. very nice..
And finally this screen which tells you the set up is completed..
But usually you will need to do a firmware update…
At this point, after the firmware update, you are done with the iPhone App and you can move on to using the laptop.
Log on to your UI account at https://account.ui.com to see your new site and your old site.
You can now start Migrating from Unifi Controller Docker to Cloud Gateway Controller !
Alternatively you can log on to your Unifi Controller in Your Docker (IP address of your NAS) and your new Unifi Controller in Your New Cloud Gateway Ultra (probably 192.168.1.0).
Site Migration for Migrating from Unifi Controller Docker to Cloud Gateway Controller
Following this video from Toasty Answers, I tried to do a Site Export method first. However, I am not sure why but in my “NEW” Unifi Controller screen, I could NOT find a Site Selection button.
Either I am blind or this issue in the forum is still around.
I give up after 5 minutes..
Backup and Restore for Migrating from Unifi Controller Docker to Cloud Gateway Controller
So I ended up using the Backup and Restore method. Not the best method but it worked.
As per the video, you do need to make sure you are also doing a “redirect” in YOUR OLD Unifi Controller so that the NEW Unifi Controller can find your EXISTING Ubiquiti devices.
That is done in the SETTINGS under “Inform Host” with an OVERRIDE to your NEW Unifi Controller sitting in the Cloud Gateway Ultra.
Like this…
At this point, you should move all your network cables from the old router (in my case, it is the EdgeRouter X to the new router/controller.
Like this.. I used up all 4 RJ45 ports of Cloud Gateway Ultra. I don’t need a switch but maybe one day I will get another Flex Mini switch… but for now, I am ok with 4…
And if all is good, after a while (PLEASE BE PATIENT).. Slowly one by one, your existing Ubiquiti devices that were under the OLD controller will move to the NEW controller as they need “online”…
Setting up the Cloud Gateway Ultra
The device is pretty self set up. Once it is running, everything is fine and all is working. I meant I was having my internet access back after 5 mins of migrating from
Still I found this article of LazyAdmin and his How to Setup UniFi Network – Complete Guide 2024 very useful. In particular, I found the set up of Security very useful as I want to set up the IDS/IPS function.
Actually you will not find the IDS/IPS section as Unifi has renamed them. You will find this article from Unifi on IDS/IPS very useful.
So I had these settings…
Out of fun, I click on the “Customise” of Detection Sensitivity to see what’s inside..
I did a speed test in the Unifi Controller and the speed is good..
You can see the speed test results in the bottom left corner of this screen. I love the Unifi controller with so much information for the nerds and geeks…
Conclusion on Migrating from Unifi Controller Docker to Cloud Gateway Controller
Migrating from Unifi Controller Docker to Cloud Gateway Controller was quite easily done (even if I had an initial hiccup when using the Site Export method)… in the end, the downtime of internet loss in the house was about 5-10 mins (not including the set up time for the Cloud Gateway Ultra and firmware update for Cloud Gateway Ultra).
Good job, Ubiquiti !!
Remember to Delete Your Old Docker Container for the Unifi Controller or you will see your UniFi Devices showing as offline very frequently. Read about this in my blog post on Fixing UniFi Devices showing as offline.
