How to Backup and Restore UniFi data from the Command Line


backup the UniFi directory

tar zcvf unifi-backup.tgz /usr/UniFi/

Move the tar archive off site.


Upload the backup file to the server.

Note: You will need to have the UniFi controller install already.

Copy the archive to the root directory and then extract it.

mv unifi-backup.tgz /
cd /
tar zxvf unifi-backup.tgz

Reboot the server and login to the UniFi controller.


How to Create a Bootable OS X Yosemite USB Drive from OS X


  1. 8GB+ USB drive with nothing important on it
  2. Computer running OS X

1. In Disk Utility format your USB drive as HFS+

2. Open up a terminal and mount the Yosemite Installer

sudo hdiutil attach /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\

3. Restore the Yosemite InstallESD.dmg to your USB drive.  Replace “USBDrive” with the name of your drive.  You will be prompted for a Yes or No.  Hit y and then Enter to continue and erase all the data on the USB drive.

sudo asr restore -source /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg -target /Volumes/USBDrive -erase -format HFS+

4. Delete and add some packages.

sudo rm /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/Packages /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base\ System/System/Installation/Packages

5. Copy some more files.

sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base/System/
sudo cp -a /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/OS\ X\ Base/System/

7. Detach the USB Drive

hdiutil detach /Volumes/OS\ X\ Install\ ESD/

8. Plug the drive into a mac and start the installation.

How To “Unblock” an IP from cPHulk from the Command Line

cPHulk uses a MySQL database to keep track of different IP’s to block, white list, black list, etc.

When there have been X amount of failed login attempts from an IP, cPHulk adds an entry for the IP in the brutes table.

To “unblock” the IP we need to delete the entry.

open up the cPHulk MySQL database.

root@localhost [~]# mysql cphulkd

If your interested you can view all tables that cPHulk uses.

show tables;

Take a look at all the IP’s in the brutes table.



mysql> SELECT IP FROM brutes;
| IP            |
| |     <--  IP we want to unblock
| |
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)


To unblock the IP we just need to delete the row that has the IP address we want.

mysql> DELETE FROM brutes WHERE IP="";

It should return the following.

mysql> DELETE FROM brutes WHERE IP="";
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)


Exit MySQL.

mysql> exit
root@localhost [~]#


How to set a Static ip Address in OS X from Command Line

You can set a static ip address in OS X with the following command. Replace en0 with the appropriate interface.

sudo ipconfig set en0 INFORM

The default ethernet interface on a Mac is usually en0. You can run ifconfig to view all the interfaces available on the machine.

The ip address will last until you reboot.

How to Install an OS X .pkg file from Command Line

The following command installs the .pkg to the local hard disk.

installer -pkg /Users/username/Desktop/package.pkg -target LocalSystem

You can also replace “LocalSystem with a “/” they both do the same thing.

If you want to install the package on a different disk you can change the -target to the drives path.

installer -pkg package.pkg -target "/Volumes/Macintosh HD2"

You can find more about the command by typing “man installer” in the terminal.