UniFi OS Server — Kubernetes Helm Chart

A Helm chart that runs Ubiquiti's UniFi OS Server in Kubernetes — letting you self-host the UniFi Network application (the controller for switches, APs, gateways, etc.) without buying a UniFi Console. This is the successor to the standalone Network Application that Ubiquiti previously offered.

UniFi OS Server does not support UniFi Protect (cameras), Access, Talk, or Connect — those still require a UniFi Console.

The upstream runtime model (systemd managing ~15 tightly coupled services) is kept intact. PostgreSQL and RabbitMQ are exposed as explicit, replaceable dependencies (bundled subcharts or external instances). MongoDB runs embedded inside the container via the bundled mongodb.service — it is hardcoded by UniFi and cannot be externalized.

Warning — this project is experimental and not suitable for production yet. There's a lot of AI work I don't have time to verify all of.

Architecture

Upstream (what Ubiquiti ships 🤮)

Installer binary
  └─ Podman container
       └─ systemd
            ├─ unifi-core        (Node.js — platform API)
            ├─ unifi             (Java — Network controller)
            ├─ ulp-go            (Go — identity platform)
            ├─ nginx             (reverse proxy / TLS)
            ├─ postgresql        (embedded)
            ├─ mongodb           (embedded)
            ├─ rabbitmq + epmd   (embedded)
            └─ 7 more identity/agent services …

This chart 😎

Helm release
  ├─ StatefulSet (single container, upstream systemd startup)
  │    └─ unifi-os image (unifi-core, unifi, ulp-go, nginx, identity services,
  │                       mongodb — embedded, not externalized)
  ├─ PostgreSQL          (CloudNativePG subchart or external)
  └─ RabbitMQ            (CloudPirates subchart or external)

Why HULL

This chart is built on HULL, which means almost every Kubernetes object (services, routes, secrets, env vars, resource limits, etc.) is defined as data in charts/unifi-os/values.yaml under hull.objects. You can override or extend any object in your own values file without forking the chart. Values that need Helm template logic use the _HT! prefix for inline Go Helm templates.

Repository contents

Path	Purpose
Dockerfile	Extracts the upstream OCI image and repackages it as a standard Docker image.
Makefile	Build/push the image, extract configs, dump systemd maps.
Chart.yaml	Helm chart definition (app version 5.1.21) with subchart dependencies.
values.yaml	Primary chart values — StatefulSet, services, secrets, Gateway API routes.
values.env.example.yaml	Environment-specific overrides (registry, passwords, hostnames).
SERVICES.md	Reference for every UniFi OS service, its role, and dependencies.
DATABASE.md	PostgreSQL setup — bundled CNPG and external, credential options.
TLS.md	TLS certificate options — self-signed, existing secret, cert-manager.
charts/unifi-os/templates/	HULL entrypoint, helpers, and Postgres override secrets.
scripts/	Extraction utilities for reverse-engineering the upstream image.

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes
• Helm 3+
• CloudNativePG operator if using the bundled PostgreSQL subchart (postgres.enabled: true)
• cert-manager if using unifi.tls.certManager.enabled: true (optional but recommended)

Quick start

1. Configure

cp values.env.example.yaml values.env.yaml

Set credentials for PostgreSQL and RabbitMQ. The recommended approach is existingSecretPrefix for PostgreSQL (no plaintext in Helm values) — see DATABASE.md for full details. Minimal plaintext example:

global:
  postgres:
    connection:
      password: "your-pg-password"
  rabbitmq:
    connection:
      password: "your-rabbit-password"
      erlangCookie: "your-erlang-cookie"

2. Install

helm repo add unifi-os https://connorsapps.github.io/unifi-os-helm
helm repo update
helm upgrade -n unifi --create-namespace unifi unifi-os/unifi-os --install \
  -f values.env.yaml

Optional features

The chart includes opt-in support for:

• Automated backups via unifi-backup — runs as a CronJob using a local UniFi OS admin account.

• Prometheus metrics via unpoller — scrapes UniFi OS and exposes metrics for Prometheus. Three auth options:

  API key (recommended, UniFi OS 4+) — generate at Settings > Admins & Users > (your user) > API Key:

  unifiExporter:
    enabled: true
    config:
      apiKey: "your-api-key"

  Username + password — create a local Viewer user at Settings > Admins & Users > Add Admin > Local Access Only:

  unifiExporter:
    enabled: true
    config:
      username: "metrics"
      password: "change-me"

  Pre-existing Secret — secret must contain a password key, an api-key key, or both; whichever is non-empty is used (api-key takes priority):

  unifiExporter:
    enabled: true
    config:
      username: "metrics"   # required when using password auth
    existingSecret:
      name: "my-unifi-exporter-secret"
      passwordKey: password   # default
      apiKeyKey: api-key      # default

  Additional collection options (all default to false):

  Field	What it collects
  saveEvents	Client connect/disconnect and network events
  saveAlarms	Security and network alarms
  saveAnomalies	Detected network anomalies
  saveIds	Device ID-to-name label mappings
  hashPii	Hash MAC addresses and client names (privacy/compliance)

• TLS certificate management via cert-manager — issues and rotates the certificate used by UniFi's internal nginx, with optional Gateway API BackendTLSPolicy for re-encrypted backend traffic. See TLS.md.

All are disabled by default. See values.env.example.yaml and the relevant sections in values.yaml to enable them.

Legal

This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ubiquiti Inc. "UniFi" and "UniFi OS" are trademarks of Ubiquiti Inc. This repository is independent community work for self-hosting purposes. Use at your own risk. There's some AI ducktape holding this project together.