Getting Started

Getting Started with UniFi OS Server on AWS

2026-07-30 · unifi-os-server docs · aws

The CloudSOE UniFi OS Server image gives you Ubiquiti’s self-hosted UniFi OS console on a hardened Ubuntu base. The software is installed from Ubiquiti’s official installer (sha256-verified against Ubiquiti’s firmware API) and runs as rootless containers under podman, managed by the uosserver systemd service. The image contains no baked-in passwords — you create the admin account in the first-time setup wizard.

What you’ll need

  • An AWS account subscribed to the CloudSOE UniFi OS Server listing on AWS Marketplace
  • An EC2 key pair in your target region (SSH is key-based only; password login is disabled)
  • A Ubiquiti account for the setup wizard
  • About ten minutes

Step 1 — Launch the instance

  1. Open the UniFi OS Server listing on AWS Marketplace and click Continue to Subscribe, then Continue to Configuration.
  2. Pick your region and click Continue to Launch → Launch through EC2.
  3. Choose an instance type. t3.large (2 vCPU, 8 GB RAM) is a good starting point for a console managing a typical site.
  4. Select your key pair, and keep the root volume at 40 GB or more — UniFi OS Server needs around 20 GB of free space on top of the OS.

Prefer the CLI? Once subscribed:

aws ec2 run-instances \
  --image-id <ami-id-from-the-listing> \
  --instance-type t3.large \
  --key-name my-key \
  --security-group-ids sg-xxxxxxxx \
  --subnet-id subnet-xxxxxxxx \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=instance,Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=unifi-01}]'

Step 2 — Open the firewall ports

Start with the essentials in your security group:

PortProtocolPurpose
22TCPSSH administration (restrict to your IP)
11443TCPUniFi OS management UI (restrict to your IP)
8080TCPDevice inform — UniFi devices phone home here
3478UDPSTUN

The console uses more ports for optional features (guest portal, speed test, remote syslog): the full list shown in the login banner is 3478, 5005, 5514, 6789, 8080, 8444, 8880-8882, 9543, 10003, 11443. Open only what your deployment needs, and restrict the management UI to trusted addresses.

Step 3 — Let first boot finish

On the very first boot a one-time service (uosserver-firstboot) fills your instance’s public IP into the login banner. The console itself starts automatically. Check it:

ssh ubuntu@<public-ip>
systemctl status uosserver
sudo uosserver status

The login banner (MOTD) shows the exact URL for your console.

Step 4 — Complete the setup wizard

Browse to https://<public-ip>:11443. Your browser will warn about the self-signed certificate — that’s expected on a fresh console. The UniFi first-time setup wizard appears: sign in with your Ubiquiti account to name the console and create your admin access. Those credentials are yours — nothing is stored in the image.

Step 5 — Adopt your devices

Cloud-hosted consoles can’t be discovered by L2 broadcast, so point devices at the console’s inform endpoint — see tips & tricks for adopting devices over the WAN.

Next steps