I'm going to go through my thought process for a project I recently completed and that is repurposing a Unifi Cloud Key Plus as a standalone docker host.  I won't go into the details but how I worked through it.  I didn't need a docker host, I have plenty of them but I liked that it was POE and figured I could make something cool out of it.  So where do you start, I followed my standard process that I have outlined below.  When I received the Cloud Key, I knew I didn't have a need for one.  My network has it built in to the UDM Pro Max I own but I hate having hardware go unused if I could find a way to reuse it, especially POE capable computers that have a built in hard drive.

Thought Process:

  • Identify the use case: in my case it was to use it as a standalone docker host that I could use for network tools.  I wanted something that was portable, performant and customizable as I built new tools or found Docker containers that just simply worked.

  • Identify what you are working with: In this case it was an ARM processor with 3GB of RAM, not powerful but would work for my needs. 

  • Identify what information is already out there:  I know how to install Docker, I know Linux but in this case it was a locked down device with a custom firmware which makes getting this done a little more complicated.  Searching using Google or Reddit typically will take you down the path to get something done.  AI helps with that but like many of you have already figured out, AI is trained on old Data so the searches might get you what you need it could be the old way of doing things.

  • Try following the path that others have carved: In my case there was a little information out there on how to get it working. Working is just part of the issue, the Cloud Key is a great piece of tech but due to the custom firmware the boot files and the software installs went to a standard EMMC drive and I was concerned that too many writes would eventually wear down the drive. I decided that writing to the SSD I installed was a much better option long term.

  • Use your life experiences as a guide:  I have been working with Linux for decades, I like the OS but its not for beginners even though either its gotten a lot better or I have.  In any case I knew I could move things around to not only save space but also get Docker off of the EMMC and onto the SSD.  Queue the research... I found others who had felt the same way and had created scripts to pull all of the Unifi software off. I found software on Github that had drivers for the screen and updated refreshes it at a set interval based on what I have installed as well a web page that can monitor ports your Docker containers are running on and allow you to click on to launch to their web interfaces.(HTTP only unfortunately)

  • Have fun:  I find playing around with a new project once its complete opens a whole new can of use cases.  Once you have it running the gaps are glaring.  Sure it functions but wouldn't it be cool if it did this.... always comes to mind.

  • Make it better:  So now I have a Cloudkey that I can plug into a POE port and run Docker containers on that save everything to a 1TB SSD.  The next question is what can I do with it.  I decided on the following containers. 

Containers:

  • Guacamole: This allows for remote access through a webpage for SSH and RDP.

  • WireShark: Why not? I can look at packets, the Cloud Key has a USBC port and you can plug another adapter into it or just use the built in Ethernet.

  • SMB Files:  I wanted a Web Interface to copy files to and from that was portable and easy to use wherever I needed it.

  • NetAlertX: Network scanning tool for longer runs, this shows whats actively using your network. I could do this with Wireshark but this lays it out better for longer runs.

  • UnifiAnalyzer: This is a tool I created to pull Unifi information off a UDM, allow /var/message streaming etc...

  • SpeedTest: Allow for testing up to 1GB speeds using the Cloud Key from another machine.

  • Chromium: Allows me to get to management web sites internally using the Cloud Key.

The most important thing that I can tell you is to stay curious, rely on your past experiences and question what can you do to make things better. A project is almost never complete, learning is never done and things you weren't aware of 6 months ago now are possible.