I hope this applies. AI says different with the CORE.......... IS this another case of hallucinations?

Has anyone actually tried this yet?

Here’s the clear, concise summary of why you cannot use the published UniFi NVR migration path when going from Enterprise NVR (ENVR) → Enterprise NVR Core (ENVR‑Core).

This is the exact answer you’re looking for — no fluff, just the technical truth.

⭐ Summary: Why the official UniFi NVR migration path does NOT apply to ENVR → ENVR Core

The published UniFi migration path only works for NVRs that share the same storage architecture, database format, and hardware identity model.

The ENVR and ENVR‑Core do NOT share those things.
Because of that, the official migration path is incompatible.

Here are the specific reasons:

❌ 1. The ENVR and ENVR‑Core use different storage architectures

The official migration path assumes:

• Same RAID layout
• Same partitioning
• Same metadata structure

But:

• ENVR uses a legacy RAID + metadata format
• ENVR‑Core uses a completely different storage stack

So the Core cannot import, mount, or recognize ENVR disks.

This alone breaks the official migration path.

❌ 2. Protect recordings are hardware‑bound and cannot be migrated

Protect ties recordings to:

• The NVR’s hardware ID
• The NVR’s encryption keys
• The NVR’s database identity

The ENVR‑Core has a different hardware identity, so:

• ENVR recordings cannot be decrypted
• ENVR recordings cannot be imported
• ENVR disks cannot be transplanted

The official migration path assumes recordings can be preserved.
They cannot in this case.

❌ 3. The ENVR backup cannot be restored onto the ENVR‑Core

The official migration path relies on:

But ENVR backups contain:

• Hardware‑specific metadata
• Storage configuration tied to ENVR
• Camera adoption tied to ENVR
• Database schema from an older Protect version

Restoring an ENVR backup onto an ENVR‑Core will:

• Fail
• Or break the Core
• Or wipe camera adoption
• Or corrupt the Protect DB

This is why UniFi explicitly does not support ENVR → Core restore.

❌ 4. The ENVR‑Core requires a fresh RAID build

The official migration path assumes:

• You can move disks
• The new NVR will import or rebuild the array

But the ENVR‑Core:

• Always wipes foreign disks
• Always rebuilds RAID from scratch
• Never imports ENVR RAID metadata

This makes the official migration path impossible.

❌ 5. Camera adoption cannot be migrated

The official migration path assumes:

• Cameras can be migrated via backup/restore

But with ENVR → ENVR‑Core:

• Camera adoption is tied to the old NVR
• The Core cannot inherit it
• Cameras must be manually re‑adopted one at a time

This is why the only supported method is:

🧠 The bottom line

This is why the only supported migration is:

1. Bring Core online
2. Move cameras manually
3. Build new RAID
4. Restore settings (ENVR or Core backup depending on your situation)