Migrating a UniFi Site to Your Self-Hosted UniFi Network Controller

As part of modern MSP infrastructure management, migrating individual UniFi sites to a centralized controller is a smart way to streamline updates and visibility. In this tutorial, we’ll walk through how to migrate a client's UniFi site (not the entire controller) to your self-hosted instance running UniFi Network version 9.0.114 on controller.yourdomainhere.com.

⚙️ Prerequisites

• Access to both the old and new UniFi Network Controllers
• UniFi Network version 9.x or later on the new controller
• The new controller is reachable via the public internet
• SSH access to all UniFi devices

🛠 Step 1: Prepare the New Site on Your Controller

1. Log in to your centralized UniFi controller at controller.yourdomainhere.com.
2. Navigate to Settings > System > Site Management.
3. Click Create New Site and give it a clear name (e.g., Client XYZ).

📦 Step 2: Export the Site from the Old Controller

1. Log in to the client's current UniFi controller (hosted on their Proxmox server).
2. Go to Settings > Site > Export Site (in classic interface) or Site > Manage > Export Site (in UniFi Network 7+).
3. Follow the wizard. It will generate a set of instructions and an inform URL that points to your new controller.
4. Download any recommended backup files if prompted (for safety).

📡 Step 3: SSH into Each Device and Point to the New Controller

1. SSH into each UniFi device using its IP address and your admin credentials.
2. Run the following command:

set-inform http://controller.yourdomainhere.com:8080/inform

3. Repeat this for every access point, switch, and gateway in the site.
4. The devices will appear in your new controller under the newly created site as “Pending Adoption.”

✅ Step 4: Adopt Devices and Re-Provision

1. On your new controller, go to the site you created for this client.
2. Adopt each pending device when it appears.
3. Wait for provisioning to complete. Devices may reboot during this process.

📋 Step 5: Verify Settings and Test

• Check that SSIDs, VLANs, and device names came through properly.
• If needed, manually recreate advanced settings such as firewall rules, port profiles, or guest portals.
• Run basic network tests to ensure everything is functioning as expected.

🧹 Step 6: Clean Up and Decommission the Old Controller

• Once you confirm everything is live on the new controller, shut down or repurpose the old Proxmox-based controller.
• Update documentation and backups.
• Inform the client that their site is now managed under your secure, centralized UniFi controller.

🔐 Optional: Lock Down and Secure

• Install SSL via Let’s Encrypt or Cloudflare proxy
• Limit controller access by IP or Zero Trust gateway (e.g., Cloudflare Access)
• Enable 2FA for all admin accounts

🎉 Conclusion

With the site migration complete, you now have a cleaner and more manageable deployment across your client base — all from your own hosted controller at controller.yourdomainhere.com. The “Export Site” method is safe, device-aware, and avoids overwriting other sites — ideal for MSPs managing multiple tenants.