Creating a System Backup and Exporting Your Settings

Before beginning the upgrading process, make a system backup on your SonicWall appliance. When you create a backup, the SonicWall security appliance takes a “snapshot” of your current system state and configuration preferences, and makes the snapshot the new backup file. You can save backups locally on the appliance or on the cloud. You can also schedule backups to occur automatically.

• On SonicWall NSsp and NSa Series appliances, the backup feature saves a copy of the current system state, firmware, and configuration settings on your appliance, protecting all your existing settings in the event that it becomes necessary to return to a previous configuration state.
• On SonicWall TZ Series firewalls, you can create a backup of your current configuration settings to be used with the current firmware version or with a newly uploaded firmware version. The current firmware image itself is not included in the backup.

You can save multiple local backup files and multiple cloud backups for multiple firmware versions. If more than one backup is saved per firmware version, click the arrow next to the version to expand the list and view the saved configuration backups. From there, you can boot the current or new firmware image with any of the backed up configurations.

You can also export the appliance configuration settings to a file on your local management station. This file serves as an external backup of the configuration settings, and can be imported into another appliance or into the same appliance if it is necessary to reboot the firmware with factory default settings.

To save a system backup and export configuration settings to a file on your local management station for local backup

1. In SonicOS 7, in the DEVICE view, navigate to Settings > Firmware and Settings. For a local backup, click on Firmware & Local Backups. For a cloud backup, click on Cloud Backups tab.

   

   In SonicOS 6.5, in the MANAGE view, navigate to Updates | Firmware & Backups

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2. Click Create Backup.

   The Local Backup windows is displayed.

   Local Backup – On an NSsp or NSa Series firewall, SonicOS takes a “snapshot” of your current system state, firmware, and configuration preferences, and saves it as the latest local backup file.

   On a TZ Series firewall, SonicOS saves a small file on the appliance with all your configuration settings.

3. In the Local Backup dialog, optionally select Retain Local Backup to prevent this backup from being overwritten by a future local backup. Optionally enter a comment in the Comment field, and then click OK to proceed with the backup.

   

4. To export your settings to a local file on your management computer, click Import/Export Configuration (in SonicOS 7.1, this option is available on the Firmware & Local Backups screen) and select Export Configuration.
5. In the popup dialog, which displays the name of the saved file, click Export to complete the process.

   The configuration is downloaded in your browser's default download location. If required you can move it manually to the shared network folder.

To save a system backup and export configuration settings to a file on your local management station for cloud backup

1. In SonicOS 7, in the DEVICE view, navigate to Settings > Firmware and Settings. For a cloud backup, click on Cloud Backups tab.

2. Enable Cloud Backup.

3. Click Create Backup and select Cloud Backup.

   The Cloud Backup dialog is displayed.

4. In the Cloud Backup dialog, optionally select Retain Local Backup to prevent this backup from being overwritten by a future cloud backup. You can retain a maximum of 3 configuration backup files per firmware version. Optionally enter a comment in the Comment field, and then click OK to proceed with the backup.

5. To export your settings to a local file on your management computer, click Import/Export Configuration (in SonicOS 7.1, this option is available on the Firmware & Local Backups screen) and select Export Configuration.
6. In the popup dialog, which displays the name of the saved file, click Export to complete the process.

   The configuration is stored on the cloud server.