How to change the Unifi Dream Machine Pro owner

[UPDATE 3/7/22]:

If your version of Unifi OS is greater than 2.3.10, you can use the UI to make the required changes. To find your OS version, go to unifi.ui.com, then click on your machine. In the lower left corner, click the gear icon. The version is listed on the card in the middle of the screen. If your version is less than 2.3.10, skip to the legacy section below.

1. From the page where you located your version number, click on Advanced in the bottom of the lower left menu.
2. On the Advanced page, click Transfer Owner.Choose a new owner from the device users list and click Transfer. Please note that this process is permanent.

Legacy Ownership Transfer

Changing the owner account on the Unifi Dream Machine (UDM), Unifi Cloud Key Plus (CKP), and the Unifi NVR (UNVR) can be quite a pain.

On the Ubiquiti Unifi Community Forums, there are lots of posts asking how to change the device owner account. No one seems to have a good answer. I went all over the internet for several days and tried several resets to figure out how this process actually works.

Once you figure out the steps, the transition is simple to perform. These steps should work for the Unifi Dream Machine (UDM), the Unifi Dream Machine Pro (UDM-P), the Unifi Network Video Recorder (UNVR), andUnfi Cloud Key (Plus) (CKP or CK). Actually, these steps work on any devices running Unifi OS, which is the management layer of most new Unifi controller-class devices.

Officially, there is no actual way to do this in the device UI, although there are rumors this may be coming soon. On these products, there is no way to create an account without linking the device to the Unifi cloud. If you need to assign the role to a new owner, try these steps before running off with your hair on fire.

1. Back up the device

   This saves pain. I have encountered different bugs when working with the UDM and UDM Pro and a little time here saves a lot of pain down the road.

2. Remove all users except the Owner role.

   Yes, I know this hurts. If you don’t do this, the next two steps seem to work, but in the end, access is not transferred. Why? Well, I think it comes down to, well… I’m not sure.

3. In the device settings menu, go to Advanced Turn off Cloud Access.

   This step removes the link to the cloud that you created when you set up the device. Your cloud account login still works, you just need to remember your password and username. :) Don’t see Turn Off Cloud Access? Unless you are logged in as the owner, this button will not show up. This way the ownership of a device cannot be hijacked without the real owner’s permission.

4. Reenable cloud access. This time, type in the new owner username and password for a new owner cloud login. What you are doing here is breaking the link with the cloud. Then, when Unifi asks for your credentials to reconnect to the cloud, you change the account. This does not feel right, but it is the only way right now to change the device owner in Unifi OS consoles (UDM, UDM-Pro, CKP).