Performing an on-demand backup
You can perform a full backup, a backup of policies only, a backup of a remote quarantine system, or a configuration backup of the items you specify at any time.
The ability to customize your backup type gives you greater flexibility. For example, assume that you want to back up and maintain messages in incident folders for compliance requirements but do not have enough storage space. You can back up policies plus content incidents and store the backup off-box. Or you may have a situation where you want to copy the policies that you have on one Control Center to another. You can backup the policies and restore them on the other Control Center.
Backups do not include the actual license files (license files have the extension .slf). So when you restore a backup, you must re-register your licenses. If you cannot locate your license files, you must request new ones.
You can restore your backup when needed; however, there are considerations you should keep in mind before you do.
In addition to the instructions provided here for the web-based SMG Control Center, you can also use the command line interface to perform backups. Details can be found in the Command Line Interface reference under
db-backup
. - To perform an on-demand backup
- In the Control Center, clickAdministration > Hosts > Version.
- On theBackuptab, clickBackup Now.
- Choose which system you'll be collecting the backup from in theHostdrop-down menu. These choices determine the options available underBackup Data. The choices are:
- Local Host
- Remote Quarantine Host
- UnderBackup Data, choose from among the following backup types:Full BackupBacks up the complete database, as well as the following items:
- Spam Quarantine messages
- Suspect Virus Quarantine messages
- Spam submission submitter ID
- Spam submission submitters list
- Content filtering messages in Informational Incidents folders that are stored on disk
- Content filtering messages in the Quarantine Incidents folders that are stored on disk
- Al SSL certificates and certificate authorities
Quarantine Only BackupBacks up the only the following following items, either from a Control Center or a Quarantine:- Quarantine-specific configuration data
- Spam Quarantine messages
- Suspect Virus Quarantine messages
- Content filtering messages in Informational Incidents folders that are stored on disk
- Content filtering messages in the Quarantine Incidents folders that are stored on disk
Custom backupTheCustom backupoption includes the following sub-options:- Policies onlyBacks up spam, malware, reputation, and content filtering policies, Threat Defense policies, policy groups, and all policy resources.
- Configuration (includes policies)Backs up all configuration data, which includes all modifiable settings in the Control Center, the spam submission submitter ID, and the submitters list, and policies. Also backs up the additional items that you select as follows:
- Include content incident messagesIn addition to configuration data and policies, backs up all of the messages that are in all of the content incident folders.
- Include report dataIn addition to configuration data and policies, backs up all of the report data.
- Include log dataIn addition to configuration data and policies, backs up all of the log data.
This option is not present whenRemote Quarantine Hostis selected from theHostfield. - UnderBackup To, select one of the following:Store backup on serverThis option stores backups on the local server. specify how many backup versions to keep using theNumber of backups to storefield.You only need to specify the number of backup versions that are retained when you store files locally. Enter a value between 1 and 25. The default value is 3.If you are performing a backup on a quarantine only system from the Control Center, the backup will be stored on the quarantine only system, not the Control Center.Store backup on a remote locationSpecify the following values:
- Protocol: Select FTP, SCP, or SCPRSA from drop-down
- Host/IP Address: example: host.symantecs.org (or 192.168.2.42)
- Port number.
- Enter the path. For example:/home/username/backups/
- Check to indicate if the transfer requires authentication.If it does, specify the following:
- User name
- Password
To use SCPRSA, you must first set up the RSA keys at the command line, using thersa-keycommand. Once you have set uprsa-keyfor a particular host,SCPwill no longer work. OnlySCPRSAwill work for that host. - ClickBackup Now.