Disconnect UNIFI switch – US-16-XG

My Unifi US-16-XG switch was offline. It was still functioning correctly, but it was not in contact with the Controller.

I wasn’t sure how to fix this, but this blog post shows what I now think should always work. It consists of two steps:

  1. Get the switch talking to the Controller
  2. Make the above change permanent

The key point to remember: the Controller is always the voice of authority when it comes to your Unifi configuration.

Get the switch talking to the Controller

I connected to the switch via a serial cable. Then I used screen to connect:

screen /dev/tty.usbserial-FTE1VN5U 115200 

I’m doing this from my MacBook with OSX 10.13.2, so the command and device you use may vary.

Once connected, I logged in

US-16-XG-01 login: dan
Password: 


BusyBox v1.23.2 (2018-01-04 15:00:45 MST) built-in shell (ash)


  ___ ___      .__________.__
 |   |   |____ |__\_  ____/__|
 |   |   /    \|  ||  __) |  |   (c) 2010-2018
 |   |  |   |  \  ||  \   |  |   Ubiquiti Networks, Inc.
 |______|___|  /__||__/   |__|
            |_/                  http://www.ubnt.com

      Welcome to UniFi USW-XG!

US.v3.9.19#

Let’s display the current status:

US.v3.9.19# info

Model:       USW-XG
Version:     3.9.19.8123
MAC Address: f0:9f:c2:08:f1:17
IP Address:  10.52.0.182
Hostname:    US-16-XG-01
Uptime:      135044 seconds

Status:      Unknown[11] (http://10.55.0.131:8080/inform)
US.v3.9.19# 

Of note: That is the expected IP Address but the Unknown value beside the expected URL for the controller is not good.

Let’s see if we can ping the controller:

US.v3.9.19# ping 10.55.0.131
PING 10.55.0.131 (10.55.0.131): 56 data bytes
^C
--- 10.55.0.131 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

No. OK, let’s go a little deeper.

US.v3.9.19# telnet localhost 2222

Warning!
The changes may break controller settings and only be effective until reboot.
(UBNT) >

You need to hit ENTER twice after that telnet command.

Now let’s see the network:

(UBNT) >show network
show network

Interface Status............................... Up
IP Address..................................... 10.52.0.182
Subnet Mask.................................... 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway................................ 10.52.0.1
IPv6 Administrative Mode....................... Enabled
IPv6 Prefix is ................................ fe80::f29f:c2ff:fe08:f117/64
IPv6 Default Router............................ fe80::20d:b9ff:fe33:8716
Burned In MAC Address.......................... F0:9F:C2:08:F1:17
Locally Administered MAC address............... 00:00:00:00:00:00
MAC Address Type............................... Burned In
Configured IPv4 Protocol....................... None
Configured IPv6 Protocol....................... None
IPv6 AutoConfig Mode........................... Disabled
Management VLAN ID............................. 7

(UBNT) >

There is the problem. The Management VLAN ID should be 2, not 7.

Let’s try VLAN 2 instead. That is what my other switch is using.

(UBNT) >enable
enable

(UBNT) #network mgmt_vlan 2
network mgmt_vlan 2

The enable command is to “Enter into user privilege mode” (see the output of the ? command for more commands). Then I change the management VLAN.

Current status is:

(UBNT) #show network
show network

Interface Status............................... Up
IP Address..................................... 10.52.0.182
Subnet Mask.................................... 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway................................ 10.52.0.1
IPv6 Administrative Mode....................... Enabled
IPv6 Prefix is ................................ fe80::f29f:c2ff:fe08:f117/64
IPv6 Default Router............................ fe80::20d:b9ff:fe33:8716
Burned In MAC Address.......................... F0:9F:C2:08:F1:17
Locally Administered MAC address............... 00:00:00:00:00:00
MAC Address Type............................... Burned In
Configured IPv4 Protocol....................... None
Configured IPv6 Protocol....................... None
IPv6 AutoConfig Mode........................... Disabled
Management VLAN ID............................. 2

There, we have the correct VLAN, and *now* we can ping the Controller:

(UBNT) >US.v3.9.19# ping 10.55.0.131
PING 10.55.0.131 (10.55.0.131): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 10.55.0.131: seq=0 ttl=63 time=1.554 ms
64 bytes from 10.55.0.131: seq=1 ttl=63 time=1.231 ms
^C
--- 10.55.0.131 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 1.231/1.392/1.554 ms

Now let’s show the info:

(UBNT) >exit
exitConnection closed by foreign host
US.v3.9.19# info

Model:       USW-XG
Version:     3.9.19.8123


MAC Address: f0:9f:c2:08:f1:17
IP Address:  10.52.0.182
Hostname:    US-16-XG-01
Uptime:      135419 seconds

Status:      Connected (http://10.55.0.131:8080/inform)
US.v3.9.19# 

Good, it is connected to the Controller, as confirmed by the Devices page in the Controller.

Next step: make this permanent.

Make the above change permanent

The next step, to ensure this sticks, is to update your controller settings for this switch.

This screen shot shows the status after I changed Management VLAN from Server to Management. At the top of the page, the DEVICE WITH PENDING CHANGES notice reflects that status.

Once I clicked on QUEUE CHANGES, the switch was reprovisioned.

Change the management VLAN
Change the management VLAN

I then restarted the switch to make sure the settings had taken.

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