Self-hosting the UniFi Console is a great way to keep control of your network setup, but it can introduce a few quirks especially with device adoption. By default, UniFi access points try to reach a host named unifi, and if this isn’t resolvable, the devices will fail to adopt.
There are two ways of doing this, either by SSH-ing into each access point or overriding the DNS.
Overriding the DNS (Recommended)
Log into your OPNSense web interface. Navigate to Services → Unbound DNS → Overrides. Create a new entry under Hosts with the appropriate content and press Save. Then scroll down and press Accept.
Configuring the access point via SSH
⚠️ Make sure your controller is running and reachable from the AP before doing this.
First, note the IP address of the access point you want to SSH into from UniFi Devices in the UniFi Console.
Then open a terminal and run:
ssh ubnt@DEVICE_IP
The default credentials (unless changed) are:
Default Username: ubnt
Default Password: ubnt
If the password was changed you’ll find it in the UniFi Console under Settings → Advanced → Device Authentication.
Once logged in, run the following command, replacing the IP address with your UniFi Console’s IP (or hostname if DNS is working):
set-inform http://CONTROLLER_IP:8080/inform
This tells the AP where to find the UniFi controller.
After the inform URL has been set, the device should show up as Pending Adoption in the UniFi Controller web interface and you should be able to click Adopt.
For cloud-hosted controllers (like unifi.ui.com), the inform URL will usually be:
set-inform http://your-controller-name.ui.com:8080/inform
❔ Sometimes when adopting the device, you have to set the Inform URL again.