UniFi

Backuparr backs up UniFi wherever it runs: on UniFi OS (UniFi OS Server, and consoles such as a Dream Machine, Cloud Gateway or Cloud Key) and the older standalone UniFi Network Server. The backups hold Wi-Fi passwords, VPN keys and admin logins, so they’re always encrypted.

Test connection finds which kind of install it is, and the card then shows the options it has.

  • UniFi OS - the card’s Backup option:
    • Everything (the default): UniFi OS’s own backup, the .unifi file from Settings > Control Plane > Backups > Download. It holds UniFi OS, its admins and every app’s settings (Network, Protect, Access and the rest), but not UniFi Network’s statistics history.
    • Network only: UniFi Network’s own backup, a .unf file, with as much statistics history as History says. For the statistics too, add a second UniFi instance for the same install with Network only.
  • UniFi Network Server: UniFi Network’s .unf backup, with History.

History picks how much of UniFi Network’s statistics goes into a .unf: Settings only (the default: small and quick), the last 7, 30, 90 or 365 days, or Everything. Settings only restores the whole setup; the statistics only bring back past graphs and reports, and they’re most of the file (on one small network: 76 KB for settings only, 5.5 MB with 7 days, 7.2 MB with a year).

Ubiquiti’s guide: Backups and Migration in UniFi.

Setting it up

Backuparr signs in as a local admin - not a UI.com account, which signs in with two-factor authentication. Give it an admin of its own, with the role the backup needs:

  • UniFi OS, Everything: a Super Admin. UniFi OS lets no lesser role download its backup - not even one with Network and UniFi OS user management - and Ubiquiti counts a Super Admin as equal to the Owner, so keep its password long and Backuparr’s alone.
  • UniFi OS, Network only: an admin with only Network: Full Management. It has no rights over UniFi OS or its other apps.
  • UniFi Network Server: the admin its setup made. Only a Super Admin may make a backup, and its Admins page adds only site admins (Site Administrator, Hotspot Manager, View Only), which can’t.

To add the admin on UniFi OS, open People in UniFi Network (the people icon in the sidebar), click Create New > Create New User, tick Admin and enter a username (for example backuparr) and a long random password. Either pick the Super Admin role, or untick Use a Predefined Role and set the first role (Network) to Full Management and the second one to None. Then Create. The admin is local only: it signs in without a UI.com account. Ubiquiti’s guides: UniFi Roles Explained and Adding Admins in UniFi.

Then, on Backuparr’s UniFi card, enter the URL - UniFi’s own address with its port: https://<console> for a console, port 11443 for UniFi OS Server, 8443 for UniFi Network Server - the username and the password, and Test connection. It checks the admin may make the backup chosen. The password is encrypted at rest.

UniFi OS counts sign-ins: after many in a few minutes it refuses even the right password for about a minute. Backuparr signs in once per backup and never retries, and says so when it’s refused.

The certificate

UniFi uses a self-signed certificate unless you’ve given it your own. The first Test connection shows it (name and expiry, and the SHA-256 fingerprint on the ? next to SHA-256): click Trust and Save. It works as for OPNsense: a changed certificate stops backups until you trust the new one. A certificate from a trusted CA needs nothing.

Restoring

Pick UniFi and a backup on Backuparr’s Restore tab: it shows a Download button (the backup comes back decrypted, as a .unifi or .unf file) and these steps. A backup restores into the same versions or newer ones, so update a new install first.

UniFi OS (both files):

  1. Download the backup.
  2. On a new install, finish the setup first (Proceed Without a UI Account works) and update it.
  3. Open Settings > Control Plane > Backups and click Upload & Restore.
  4. Choose the downloaded file. For a .unifi file, leave Restore All Applications and Settings ticked.
  5. Click Restore. UniFi restarts with the backup’s settings; a .unifi brings back its admins too.

UniFi OS’s setup also offers Restore From Backup, but that one needs a UI.com account.

UniFi Network Server:

  1. Download the backup.
  2. On a new install, click Restore Server from a Backup on the setup’s first page, choose the downloaded file and click Confirm.
  3. Otherwise, open Settings > System > Backups, click Restore, choose the file and click Restore.

UniFi Network Server keeps its settings in MongoDB, and a restore goes through a <database>_restore database. If a restore fails and UniFi’s server.log says not authorized on unifi_restore, its MongoDB user lacks that database: the linuxserver.io image added it to its MongoDB setup in 2025, for new installs.

If devices don’t come back online on a new install, see Ubiquiti’s migration guide. The download is decrypted: delete it once UniFi is back.