Using Backup and Restore

Backup and restoration is an essential part of any system maintenance plan. While each organization’s backup plan is highly individualized, the ASA FirePOWER module provides a mechanism for archiving data so that data can be restored in case of disaster.

The following are backed up:

  • Access, intrusion, and identity policies

  • Local database

  • Events

Note the following limitations about backup and restore:

  • Backups are valid only for the product version on which you create them.

  • You can restore a backup only when running the same version of the ASA FirePOWER module software as that used to create the backup.


Caution
Do not use the backup and restore process to copy the configuration files between ASA FirePOWER modules. The configuration files include information that uniquely identifies an ASA FirePOWER module and cannot be shared.

Caution
If you applied any intrusion rule updates, those updates are not backed up. You need to apply the latest rule update after you restore.

You can save backup files to the appliance or to your local computer.

Creating Backup Files

License: Any

You can perform backups of the ASA FirePOWER module using the module interface. To view and use existing system backups, go to the Backup Management page. You should periodically save a backup file that contains all of the configuration files required to restore the appliance, in addition to event data. You may also want to back up the system when testing configuration changes so that you can revert to a saved configuration if needed. You can choose to save the backup file on the appliance or on your local computer.

You cannot create a backup file if your appliance does not have enough disk space; backups may fail if the backup process uses more than 90% of available disk space. If necessary, delete old backup files, transfer old backup files off the appliance.

As an alternative, or if your backup file is larger than 4GB, copy it via SCP to a remote host. Uploading a backup from your local computer does not work on backup files larger than 4GB.


Caution
If you configured any interface associations with security zones, these associations are not backed up. You must reconfigure them after you restore. For more information, see Working with Security Zones .

To create a backup file of the ASA FirePOWER module:

Procedure

Step 1

Select Configuration > ASA FirePOWER Configuration > Tools > Backup/Restore.

The Backup Management page appears.

Step 2

Click Device Backup.

The Create Backup page appears.

Step 3

In the Name field, type a name for the backup file. You can use alphanumeric characters, punctuation, and spaces.

Step 4

Optionally, to be notified when the backup is complete, select the Email check box and type your email address in the accompanying text box.

Note 
To receive email notifications, you must configure a relay host as described in Configuring a Mail Relay Host and Notification Address.
Step 5

Optionally, to use secure copy protocol (SCP) to copy the backup archive to a different machine, select the Copy when complete check box, then type the following information in the accompanying text boxes:

  • In the Host field, the hostname or IP address of the machine where you want to copy the backup

  • In the Path field, the path to the directory where you want to copy the backup

  • In the User field, the user name you want to use to log into the remote machine

  • In the Password field, the password for that user nameIf you prefer to access your remote machine with an SSH public key instead of a password, you must copy the contents of the SSH Public Key field to the specified user’s authorized_keys file on that machine.

With this option cleared, the system stores temporary files used during the backup on the remote server; temporary files are not stored on the remote server when this option is selected.

Tip 
Cisco recommends that you periodically save backups to a remote location so the appliance can be restored in case of system failure.
Step 6

You have the following options:

  • To save the backup file to the appliance, click Start Backup.

The backup file is saved in the /var/sf/backup directory.

When the backup process is complete, you can view the file on the Restoration Database page. For information about restoring a backup file, see Restoring the Appliance from a Backup File.

  • To save this configuration as a backup profile that you can use later, click Save As New.

You can modify or delete the backup profile by selecting Configuration > ASA FirePOWER Configuration > Tools > Backup/Restore, then clicking Backup Profiles. See Creating Backup Profiles for more information.

Creating Backup Profiles

License: Any

You can use the Backup Profiles page to create backup profiles that contain the settings that you want to use for different types of backups. You can later select one of these profiles when you back up the files on your appliance.


Tip
When you create a backup file as described in Creating Backup Files, a backup profile is automatically created.

To create a backup profile:

Procedure

Step 1

Select Configuration > ASA FirePOWER Configuration > Tools > Backup/Restore.

The Backup Management page appears.

Step 2

Click the Backup Profiles tab.

The Backup Profiles page appears with a list of existing backup profiles.

Tip 
You can click the edit icon to modify an existing profile or click the delete icon to delete a profile from the list.
Step 3

Click Create Profile.

The Create Backup page appears.

Step 4

Type a name for the backup profile. You can use alphanumeric characters, punctuation, and spaces.

Step 5

Configure the backup profile according to your needs.

See Creating Backup Files for more information about the options on this page.

Step 6

Click Save As New to save the backup profile.

The Backup Profiles page appears and your new profile appears in the list.

Uploading Backups from a Local Host

License: Any

If you download a backup file to your local host using the download function described in the Backup Management table, you can upload it to an ASA FirePOWER module.

If your backup file contains PKI objects, private keys associated with internal CA and internal certificate objects are re-encrypted on upload with a randomly generated key.


Tip
You cannot upload a backup larger than 4GB from your local host. As an alternative, copy the backup via SCP to a remote host and retrieve it from there.

To upload a backup from your local host:

Procedure

Step 1

Select Configuration > ASA FirePOWER Configuration > Tools > Backup/Restore.

The Backup Management page appears.

Step 2

Click Upload Backup.

The Upload Backup page appears.

Step 3

Click Choose File and navigate to the backup file you want to upload.

After you select the file to upload, click Upload Backup.

Step 4

Click Backup Management to return to the Backup Management page.

The backup file is uploaded and appears in the backup list. After the ASA FirePOWER moduleverifies the file integrity, refresh the Backup Management page to reveal detailed file system information.

Restoring the Appliance from a Backup File

License: Any

You can restore the appliance from backup files using the Backup Management page. To restore a backup, the VDB version in the backup file must match the current VDB version on your appliance. After you complete the restoration process, you must apply the latest Cisco Rule Update.


Caution
Do not restore backups created on virtual Firepower Management Centers to physical Firepower Management Centers — this may stress system resources. If you must restore a virtual backup on a physical Firepower Management Center, contact Support.

If your backup file contains PKI objects, private keys associated with internal CA and internal certificate objects are reencrypted on upload with a randomly generated key.

If you use local storage, backup files are saved to /var/sf/backup , which is listed with the amount of disk space used in the /var partition at the bottom of the Backup Management page.


Note
If you add licenses after a backup has completed, these licenses will not be removed or overwritten if this backup is restored. To prevent a conflict on restore, remove those licenses before restoring the backup, noting where the licenses were used, and add and reconfigure them after restoring the backup. If a conflict occurs, contact Support.

The following table describes each column and icon on the Backup Management page.

Table 1. Backup Management

Functionality

Description

System Information

The originating appliance name, type, and version. Note that you can only restore a backup to an identical appliance type and version.

Date Created

The date and time that the backup file was created

File Name

The full name of the backup file

VDB Version

The build of the vulnerability database (VDB) running on the appliance at the time of backup.

Location

The location of the backup file

Size (MB)

The size of the backup file, in megabytes

View

Click the name of the backup file to view a list of the files included in the compressed backup file.

Restore

Click with the backup file selected to restore it on the appliance. If your VDB version does not match the VDB version in the backup file, this option is disabled.

Download

Click with the backup file selected to save it to your local computer.

Delete

Click with the backup file selected to delete it.

Move

When you have a previously created local backup selected, click to send the backup to the designated remote backup location.

To restore the appliance from a backup file:

Procedure

Step 1

Select Configuration > ASA FirePOWER Configuration > Tools > Backup/Restore.

The Backup Management page appears.

Step 2

To view the contents of a backup file, click the name of the file.

The manifest appears, listing the name of each file, its owner and permissions, and its file size and date.

Step 3

Click Backup Management to return to the Backup Management page.

Step 4

Select the backup file that you want to restore and click Restore.

The Restore Backup page appears.

Note that if the VDB version in the backup does not match the VDB version currently installed on your appliance, the Restore button is grayed out.

Caution 
This procedure overwrites all configuration files.
Step 5

To restore files, select Replace Configuration Data.
Step 6

Click Restore to begin the restoration.

The appliance is restored using the backup file you specified.

Step 7

Reboot the appliance.

Step 8

Apply the latest Cisco Rule Update to reapply rule updates.

Step 9

Redeploy policies to the restored system.