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 from the following options:

   • Local: Saves the backup in the firewall.

   • FTP: Saves the backup locally and sends it to the FTP server.

     Enter the FTP server's IPv4 or IPv6 address, username and password, and FTP path. See the following requirements:

     • The username must not include the \ character, which is used in domain names.
     • Username and password only support the following special characters: @, /, and $

   • Email: Saves the backup locally and sends an email with the backup. Enter the recipient's email address.

     The hostname in the subject line of backup emails includes a maximum of 25 characters.

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

   By default, the firewall stores backups without a prefix. The backup name appears 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

   Note

   The prefix can have a maximum of 32 characters.

   It doesn't support the following characters: / \ : * ? “ < > | ~ ` .. ä ö ü and UTF-8 characters other than English letters.

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

   Only the latest backup is retained in the firewall. If you want to save the previous backup, download it.

5. Enter the Encryption password to encrypt backups or click Change encryption password to change an existing password.

   You must enter this password when restoring the backup.

6. Click Apply.

Manual backups and downloads

These are optional tasks.

1. Click Backup now to take a backup manually.

2. Click Download to download the backup stored in the firewall and select one of the following options:

   • Download encrypted backup
   • Encrypt backup with a different password before you download: Set a password for the backup. It doesn't change the encryption password you specified for all backups.

3. Click Download backup.

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.

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

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