Can I use it without running some inane management VM?
The UDM runs mine, but prior to that I ran a Docker container with it. It worked well.
https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/unifi-controller
Genuine question, if you're running unifi, why don't you want the management vm? Synology makes a decent NAS without the controller.
The UDM runs mine, but prior to that I ran a Docker container with it. It worked well.
https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/unifi-controller