Install/configure UniFi Controller on Debian

At the Creative Monkeys office and at Phonoid we use UniFi APs. So we have to run UniFi Controller to take advantage of all their functionalities. Let's then see how to install and run it on a dedicated Debian host.

Installation

To start let's set a static IP address to the host.

/etc/network/interfaces :

allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.2
gateway 192.168.1.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255

Then UniFi Controller (unfortunately) relies on MongoDB. So we have to install it first.

Add repositories :

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/10gen.list :

deb http://downloads-distro.mongodb.org/repo/debian-sysvinit dist 10gen

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubiquiti.list :

deb http://www.ubnt.com/downloads/unifi/debian stable ubiquiti

and their keys :

$ apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 7F0CEB10
$ apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv C0A52C50

Update and upgrade packages :

$ apt-get update
$ apt-get upgrade

Install Java and UniFi packages :

$ apt-get install -y openjdk-7-jdk
$ apt-get install -y unifi-beta

Start the service :

$ /etc/init.d/unifi start

The UniFi Controller is now running at :8443. You can sign in and start adopting your APs !

I hope this guide will help someone or Future Me.