Manual Chapter : Managing Snapshots

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Security

  • 4.3.0
Manual Chapter

About snapshots

BIG-IQ Security uses snapshots to protect the working-configuration set of the Security module. Thus, at any time, you can back up, restore, and deploy the BIG-IQ working configuration to a specific configuration state, or deploy a specific set of working configuration edits back to a BIG-IP device. You can also compare one snapshot against another, or compare a snapshot against the BIG-IQ working configuration.

The Snapshots panel displays a list of imported snapshots under the naming convention Import-self-ip. For example: Import-10.64.6.111. You can create a snapshot when you create a new deployment, or you can add snapshots through the New Snapshot panel and name the snapshot according to your own convention.

Adding snapshots

Add snapshots so that you can restore the BIG-IQ working configuration to a specific configuration state, or deploy a specific set of working configuration edits back to a BIG-IP device.
  1. Navigate to the Snapshots panel.
  2. Hover in the Snapshots banner and click the + icon to display the New Snapshot panel.
  3. Edit the property fields as required.
    Option Description
    Name Enter a name for the snapshot.
    Description Enter a description (optional) that will assist in remembering the reason for the snapshot.
After the process completes, the snapshot is listed in the Snapshots panel by its user-provided name, user account name, and the date and time the snapshot was taken.

Comparing snapshots

Use the Compare tab and the functionality it provides to compare one snapshot against another, or to compare a snapshot against the BIG-IQ Security working configuration.
  1. Navigate to the Snapshots panel.
  2. Select a snapshot, and click the gear icon to expand and display the panel.
  3. Click the Compare tab to ensure that it is selected.
  4. Select Working Configuration to compare the BIG-IQ Security working configuration against the selected snapshot. Select Snapshot to compare a snapshot against the selected snapshot.
  5. To compare a snapshot with the selected snapshot, drag-and-drop that snapshot from the Snapshots panel to this area. Or, click the Select Snapshot link. Then, from the Select From Available Snapshots popup screen, select a snapshot and click Select.
  6. Click Evaluate to start the comparison. The Differences popup screen appears.
  7. To display the JSON for each difference found, click a row in the table. Textual JSON appears for each difference found; snapshot on the left and working configuration, or second snapshot on the right.

    Differences are listed by: name (name of the shared object), type (type of object), change (added, modified, deleted), and device (blank unless the type is firewall).

Restoring the working configuration from a snapshot

From the expanded panel, you can restore the working configuration using a selected snapshot as input. This process does not delete any shared objects that might have been added since the snapshot was taken.

  1. Navigate to the Snapshots panel.
  2. Hover over the snapshot containing the configuration you want to restore to, and click the gear icon to expand and display the panel.
  3. In the expanded panel, click the Compare tab.
  4. In the Compare tab, you can compare the selected snapshot against the Working Configuration or another Snapshot.
    Option Description
    Working Configuration If you select Working Configuration and click Evaluate, a popup screen displays the differences in the JSON between the snapshot (at left in the table) and the working configuration (at right in the table). Click any row to view the JSON for the two objects. Differences are listed by: name (name of the shared object), type (type of object), change (added, modified, deleted), and device (blank unless the type is firewall).

    Click any row to view the JSON for the two objects.

    Snapshot If you select Snapshot, specify the snapshot selected by clicking Select Snapshot or by dragging-and-dropping a snapshot to the Compare against field.

    Then, click Evaluate to view the differences in the JSON between the two snapshots.

    Differences are listed by: name (name of the shared object), type (type of object), change (added, modified, deleted), and device (blank unless the type is firewall).

    Click any row to view the JSON for the two objects.

  5. When you are satisfied that you are restoring the correct configuration, click Restore at the top of the expanded panel.
  6. In the popup screen, click OK to confirm that you want to continue. This popup screen explains that you cannot interrupt the restore process and that it provides an all-or-nothing restoration.
  7. Click Close when you receive the confirmation popup screen.