In this blog I will show how to upgrade your Unifi Network Controller docker container on a Synology Nas. When you are running Unifi in a docker container you will see once in a while the pop-up “Controller software update *.**.** is now available.
Instead of pressing the download button and install the software, when running a docker container you will need to update the container and not upgrade the software in the container.
1. Always start with downloading a backup of the controller. If something goes wrong you can always restore the configuration using this file. Log on to the unify controller -> press the “Cog Wheel” -> Controller Settings -> Backup and press “Download”
2. Log on to your Synology NAS and open “Docker”. Select “registry” and download the latest version of the Unifi Controler image.
3. Wait for the download to finish. A popup will be shown when the download is complete.
4. Select “Container” and stop the Unifi Container.
5. Right click the container and select “Action” -> “Reset”
6. Select “Yes” in the popup
7. Turn on container and wait some minutes for the container to start.
8. Log on to the Unify Controller -> press the “Cog Wheel” -> Controller Settings -> Basics -> About. The Controller Version should be the same as in the initial update popup.
9. The update has now been completed and all the settings should be still in place. If not you can always use the backup to restore.
19-08-21 updated step 5 and 6 from “clear” to “reset”. Thanks Julian for your reply.
It would be nice if you documented how you made this docker module, and how you updated it. You doing all the heavy lifting is nice, but what happens when you no longer have time, or people want to run a different branch? Better to teach people how to fish than just giving them one…
Hi Jason,
The docker module is not made by me, but it is created and maintained by Jacob Alberty. Click here for more of his modules.
best regards.
Thanks for posting this, I was using the command line to update, this is easier!
However, I cannot get Unifi to retain settings when updating the docker image, it always shows the “Name your controller” setup screen when it starts up and I have to restore from backup. This works but its an annoying step.
Does this work seamlessly for you, it just starts up with settings retained? How do get that to work? I have /config mapped to the NAS (-v /volume1/docker/unifi:/config).
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your response.
I’m not having the issue you’re describing. After the upgrade I do not have to restore the backup. You should use the mount path /Unify. Check https://vmlabblog.com/2020/06/install-unifi-network-controller-on-synology/ step 7/9.
Hope this will fix your issue!
best regards, Aad
Have the exact issues with the upgrade. resets it completely and I need to restore from backup. Followed the install from your install post…
Hi Jose,
I’ve just updated my Unifi Network controller to 6.0.41.0 without any issues. It looks like the configuration is stored within the docker container. Could you check the File station, you should see a folder “docker/unifi”. This folder should contain 2 folders named “data” and “logs”. In the Data folder you should see the database (db), Backup (backup) and some other files.
Do you see these files and folders?
The folders are in there.
I did delete the image and containers and started over. I will wait for the next update and see if it works.
Question, in the instructions it says just to download the image, are you deleting the original before downloading?
okay, not sure why it wasn’t working. I only download the image and wait for the notification, I do not delete anything.
best regards, Aad
Thank you. I will try it on the next update. This is a lab environment so it really doesn’t matter if I need to wipe it.
Thanks for the walkthrough. I updated my controller from 5.x to 6.0.45 but I had to load the initial setup configuration from my old backup in order to retrieve all my settings, just saying.
Thanks for posting this guide, however in the “Action” section of Docker I don’t have a “Clear” option. I only have Start, Stop, Restart, Force Stop, Reset, and Delete. Is there any way I can get the clear button to show up, or any way to do this without the clear function?
Synology renamed “clear” to “reset”. It does the exact same thing.
Thanks for your reply Julian, I’ve updated the post and screenshots!
best regards, Aad
Hi bro , I followed your instructions but it doesn’t work. its show UniFi Controller startup failed
For what it’s worth, the upgrade process described here worked perfectly for me. Thank you!
I always come back to this tutorial every few months to update. Docker is now “Container Manager”. A few different views, but works great still!
Thanks Michael,
I will try to update the screenshots soon.
regards, Aad
Seems that JacobAlberty has not focused on the docker image for a while. Any thoughts on what’s going on and if we should look for other solutions? Not sure if there are other Synology solutions or not???
Hi,
I noticed he has not been active in over 2 months. You could switch to another repository (eg https://github.com/goofball222/unifi), but the problem with these kind of projects is that they are managed by just one person.
regards, Aad
I did change to the Linuxserver.IO Unifi Network Application. I also upgraded my 12 year old Synology NAS with another Synology. I am now up and running on the new NAS with the latest Unifi Network Application version.
One quick question. I suspect the process will be the same for updating as it was for the jacobalberty image? Simply download the latest image from the registry: Linuxserver.IO/unifi-network-application:latest. Then stop the running container. Reset. And then Start. Hopefully it’s the same simple process…
Dave
Great to hear it’s working for you. The process for updating should be exactly the same!
Thanks for posting Dave!