In cases where an offsite or cloud hosted Unifi controller is used, setting the inform URL is required to adopt a Unifi AP and other UniFi devices. Once and inform URL is setup the Unifi device will “inform” the controller of its existence, from there you will see it in your list of ready to adopt devices.

It is recommended to factory reset the AP if existing config is on it, or if it is already connected to a different controller. Factory resetting can be done by holding on the reset button on the AP, or by running this command via SSH:

syswrapper.sh restore-default

A defaulted UniFi AP uses the following credentials:

Username: ubnt
Password: ubnt
IP: 192.168.1.20 (if no DHCP server is present)

If the AP is already part of a controller the SSH username and password is typically set by the controller. To see what it has been set to, see bottom of post.

Setting the Inform URL via SSH:

Once logged into the Unifi AP via SSH, type in the following command:

set-inform http://<ip-of-controller>:8080/inform

Do not use “https://” in front of the server IP or URL, it will not work.

If done correctly a message will appear in the command line letting you know that an inform message has been set to the controller.

To verify that the Inform URL has been set, type info into the command line. The Inform address will be listed with other information to show current inform url and status.

Viewing a Unifi AP SSH username and password in the controller:

Navigate to Unifi Devices > Device Updates and Settings > Under the “Device Settings” tab, you will see the “Device SSH Authentication” username and password. That will be whats used to login with via SSH.

Notes:

It is highly recommended to be running the latest controller application version, as older controller versions are not able to adopt newer Unifi devices, such as the Wi-Fi 7 AP’s.