Create and restore a backup

Backups contain the entire firewall configuration and are encrypted. You can save backups in the firewall, use FTP to save them on a server, or email them. You can also set up an automatic backup schedule or take a backup manually.

Create a backup

To create a backup, do as follows:

1. Go to Backup and firmware > Backup and restore.

2. Select a Backup mode.

   To save the backup, or save and transfer the backup, select one of the following options:

   • Local: Saves the backup on the firewall.

   • FTP: Saves to the FTP server.

     Specify the FTP server's IP address, username and password, and FTP path. The FTP server can have an IPv4 or IPv6 address.

     For FTP backup, the username must not include the domain when separated by a \ character. Only the special characters @, /, and $ are supported as part of the username or password.

   • Email: Emails the backup file. Enter the recipient's email address.

   For FTP and email, the firewall first stores the backup locally and then transfers it.

3. Enter a Backup prefix to identify the backup configuration. Use the prefix to identify the configuration when you have more than one device.

   By default, the firewall stores backups without a prefix. The backup name is as follows:

   • With prefix: <Prefix>_Backup_<Device Key>_<SFOS version>_<timestamp>

     Example: Dallas_Backup_ABCDEY190_SFOS-19.5.1-Build278_16Apr2023_12.09.24

   • Without prefix: Backup_<Device Key>_<SFOS version>_<timestamp>

     Example: Backup_ABCDEY190_SFOS-19.5.1-Build278_16Apr2023_12.09.24

   • Maximum number of characters: 32

   • Unsupported characters: / \ : * ? “ < > | ~ ` .. ä ö ü and UTF-8 characters except for English characters.

4. Select the Frequency with which you want to take backups.

   If you store the backup on the firewall, only the latest backup is retained. If you want to save the previous backup, download it.

5. Enter the Encryption password with which you want to encrypt the backups. You must enter this password when restoring the backup.

6. Optional: Click Change encryption password to change the password.
7. Click Apply.
8. Optional: Click Backup now to take a backup manually.

9. Optional: Click Download to download the backup stored on the firewall.

   Select one of the following options and click Download backup:

   • Download encrypted backup
   • Encrypt backup with a different password before you download: Set a different password for the downloaded backup. The password doesn't apply to the encryption password set for all backups.

   For backups scheduled with earlier firmware versions, you must enter a password to encrypt the backup before you download it.

Restore a backup

When you restore a backup, the following changes take place:

• The restored backup replaces the current configuration, deletes the stored backup, and restarts the firewall.
• The IP address assigned to the web admin console on the restored configuration becomes active. You must use this IP address to access the web admin console.

To restore a backup, do as follows:

1. Go to Backup and firmware > Backup and restore.
2. In Restore configuration, click Choose file and upload the backup file.

3. Enter the Encryption password with which the backup was encrypted.

   To restore unencrypted backups taken with earlier firmware versions, you don't need a password.

4. Click Upload and restore to restore the backup configuration.

   If you restore an older configuration, you'll lose the later changes.

More resources

• Secure storage master key