Create Backup File

Generate a backup that contains the Virtual Service configuration, the local appliance information and statistics data. License information and SSL Certificate information is not contained in the backup.

For further details on what is not included in LoadMaster backups, refer to the following page: Important Notes.

For ease of identification, the Backup file name includes the LoadMaster’s hostname.

By default, the LoadMaster includes a Netstat output in backups taken. When this is included, backups take longer to complete. You can stop the Netstat output from being included by disabling the Include Netstat in Backups option in the Debug Options screen (System Configuration > Logging Options > System Log Files > Debug Options).

Restore Backup

When performing a restore (from a remote machine), the user may select what information should be restored:

  • VS Configuration
  • LoadMaster Base Configuration
  • GEO Configuration
  • ESP SSO Configuration (This restores the SSO domains, LDAP endpoints and SSO custom image sets. This does not restore the Virtual Service settings - use the VS Configuration option to restore those.)
  • A combination of the options
Note: It is not possible to restore a single machine configuration onto a HA machine or restore a HA configuration onto a single machine.
Note: It is not possible to restore a configuration with ESP-enabled Virtual Services onto a machine which is not enabled for ESP.
Note: A WAF configuration can only be restored onto a LoadMaster with a WAF license.

Automated Backups

If the Enable Automated Backups check box is selected, the system may be configured to perform automated backups on a daily or weekly basis.

For ease of identification, the Backup file name includes the LoadMaster’s hostname.

If the automated backups are not being performed at the correct time, ensure the NTP settings are configured correctly. For further information, refer to the Date/Time section.

When to perform backup

Specify the time (24 hour clock) of backup. Also select whether to backup daily or on a specific day of the week. When ready, click the Set Backup Time button.

Note: In some situations, spurious error messages may be displayed in the system logs, such as:Dec 8 12:27:01 Kemp_1 /usr/sbin/cron[2065]: (system) RELOAD (/etc/crontab)Dec 8 12:27:01 Kemp_1 /usr/sbin/cron[2065]: (CRON) bad minute (/etc/crontab)
Note: These can be safely ignored and the automated backup will likely still complete successfully.

Backup Method

Select the file transfer method for automated backups:

  • Ftp (insecure)
  • scp (secure)
  • sftp (secure)

If using scp or sftp, the Private Key File must be supplied.

Remote user

Set the username required to access remote host.

Private Key File

If using scp as the backup method, the Private Key File must be provided. This is the SSH private key generated using ssh-keygen on the remote scp server.

Remote password

The Remote password is used when the Backup Method is set to Ftp (insecure). Set the password required to access remote host. This field accepts alphanumeric characters and most non-alphanumeric characters. Disallowed characters are as follows:

  • Control characters
  • ‘ (apostrophe)
  • ` (grave)
  • The delete character

Remote host

Set the IP address or hostname of the remote host to which you want the backup archives sent, optionally followed by a colon and the port number. If no port is specified, the default port for the selected protocol is used.

Remote Pathname

Set the location on the remote host to store the file.

Test Automated Backups

Clicking the Test Backup button performs a test to check if the automated backup configuration is working correctly. The results of the test can be viewed within the System Message File.