How to Backup and Restore the Barracuda NextGen Firewall X

Barracuda Networks recommends that you regularly back up the latest working configuration, in case you need to restore this information on a replacement Barracuda NextGen X-Series Firewall or the current system data becomes corrupt. It is also very important to back up your configuration before updating your X-Series Firewall to the latest available firmware.

You can back up your current X-Series Firewall configuration into a single file. After a misconfiguration or hardware failure, you can import this backup file (*.bak) to the X-Series Firewall to restore the saved configuration. You have multiple options for saving configuration backups:

• In the Cloud (Barracuda Cloud Control)

  Note that you can restore backups only to X-Series Firewalls with the same serial number.

• For manual backups, on the local file system of a computer that manages the X-Series Firewall.
• For automated backups, remotely on an FTP(S) server.
• Automatic hourly backups. The X-Series Firewall automatically creates a backup file every hour for the last 24 hours.

The following information is not included in the backup file:

• System password
• System management IP address
• DNS information

Manually Back Up and Download the Configuration of the X-Series Firewall

To manually save a configuration backup of an X-Series Firewall and store it locally:

1. Go to the ADVANCED > Backups page.
2. In the MANUAL BACKUPS section, click Backup Now. The MANUAL BACKUPS window opens.
3. Select the Local and Configuration check boxes and click Backup NOW. Download the generated backup file.

Automatically Back Up the X-Series Firewall

To automatically back up your configurations and store them on either an FTP server or a Windows network share:

1. Go to the ADVANCED > Backups page.
2. In the BACKUP DESTINATION SETTINGS section, select either Cloud, FTP or FTPS as the Destination.

3. Enter the settings for the server on which the backup file will be stored.

   You need to use the full path on the server when configuring the FTP server. E.g., /home/user/ftpbackups/ for ftp:://ftpserver/ftpbackups/.

4. To test the connection to the server, click Test Configuration.
5. In the SCHEDULES BACKUPS section configure and schedule the automated backups.
6. Click Save.

Restoring the X-Series Firewall with a Configuration Backup

You can restore your X-Series Firewall from either locally saved backups, backups stored in the cloud (Barracuda Cloud Control), backups stored on an FTP(S) server or from the hourly backups on the X-Series Firewall.

To restore the configuration of your X-Series Firewall: 

1. Go to the ADVANCED > Backups page.
2. In the RESTORE BACKUPS section, click Browse.
3. Navigate to the location where the configuration backup is stored:
   • Cloud – All backup files stored in the cloud for this particular X-Series Firewall (as determined by serial number). To access and restore from a backup file stored in the cloud that was created from a different system, please contact Barracuda Networks Technical Support for assistance.
   • FTP or FTPS – All backup files stored in the FTP server location configured above. By default, only the backup files for this particular X-Series Firewall (as determined by serial number), will be displayed. To list all available X-Series Firewall backup files regardless of serial number, set the Show All Backups option to Yes.
   • Local – Uses your native desktop browser to navigate to a location of your choosing.
   • Disk – Choose backup file stored locally on your X-Series Firewall.

4. Select the backup file and click Restore Backup.

5. Confirm the information displayed on the main backup page to start the process.

6. After the backup has successfully finished, reboot the X-Series Firewall.