Manage BIG-IQ UCS Backup and Restore

What is the difference between a UCS backup and a snapshot?

The BIG-IQ provides a couple different ways that you can make copies of the configuration information that it creates and uses. To understand how this works, the first thing you need to know is the difference between a UCS backup and a snapshot.

• UCS backup: A compressed user configuration set (UCS) file contains all of the information required to restore a device’s configuration. You can create and restore UCS backups for both BIG-IP and BIG-IQ.
• Snapshot: A snapshot is a point in time copy. BIG-IQ uses two types of snapshots: one for the DCD cluster, and the other for the settings you specify for the configuration objects (such as virtual servers or ASM policies on your managed devices.

Use this table to find the backup content that pertains to the task you need to perform.

What is included in a BIG-IQ backup UCS file?

The configuration details of the BIG-IQ system are kept in a compressed user configuration set (UCS) file. The UCS file has all of the information you need to restore a BIG-IQ configuration, including:

• System-specific configuration files
• License
• User account and password information
• SSL certificates and keys
• Master Key

Schedule BIG-IQ UCS file backups

Back up the BIG-IQ UCS file on a regular basis to be sure you have a current copy of its configuration in case you ever have to perform a system recovery.

Note: If your BIG-IQ system is part of an high availability (HA) configuration, create a backup schedule only for the active BIG-IQ. Backing up the standby BIG-IQ in a HA configuration is not supported.

1. On the left, click BACKUP & RESTORE > Backup Schedules.

2. the Schedule Backup button.

3. Type a name to identify this backup, and an optional description for it.

4. If you want to include the SSL private keys in the backup file, select the Include Private Keys check box.

   If you save a copy of the SSL private key, you can reinstall it if the original one becomes corrupt.

5. To encrypt the backup file, select the Encrypt Backup Files check box, and type and verify the passphrase.

6. For the Backup Frequency setting, select Daily, Weekly, or Monthly for the Schedule Backup to specify how often backups are created. Based on the frequency, you can then specify the days and time you want to create the backups..

7. For the Start Date setting, click the calendar and select the date you want BIG-IQ to start creating backups.

8. Use the Local Retention Policy setting to specify how long you want to keep the backup file on BIG-IQ.

   • To delete the copies of the backup after a certain number of days, select Delete local backup copy and specify the number of days to keep the backup copy before deleting it.
   • To keep copies of the backups indefinitely, select Never Delete.

9. To keep copies of backups remotely on a SCP or SFTP server:

   1. For the Archive setting, select the Store archive copy of backup check box.

   2. For the Location setting, select SCP or SFTP.

   3. In the IP Addressfield, type the IP address of the remote server where you want to store the archives.

   4. In the User Name and Password fields, type the credentials to access this server.

   5. In the Directory field, type the name of the directory where you want to store the archives on the remote server.

   Storing a backup remotely means you can restore data to a BIG-IP device even if you can’t access the archive in the BIG-IQ system directory.

   If you configure BIG-IQ to save backup files to a remote server and that server is unavailable during a scheduled backup, BIG-IQ ignores the local retention policy and retains the local copy of the backup file. This ensures that a backup is always available. To remove those local backups, you must delete them.

   Tip: Archived copies of backups are kept permanently on the remote server you specify. If you want to clear space on the remote server, you have to manually delete the backups.

10. Click the Save & Close button at the bottom of the screen to save your changes.

Create an immediate backup of the current BIG-IQ UCS file

It’s a good idea to create a BIG-IQ backup before you make any major configuration changes, or perform an upgrade.

1. At the top of the screen, click Devices.

2. On the left, click BACKUP & RESTORE > Backup Schedules.

3. Click the Back Up Now button.

4. Type a name to identify this backup, and an optional description for it.

5. If you want to include the SSL private keys in the backup file, select the Include Private Keys check box.

   If you save a copy of the SSL private key, you can reinstall it if the original one becomes corrupt.

6. To encrypt the backup file, select the Encrypt Backup Files check box, and type and verify the passphrase.

7. Use the Local Retention Policy setting to specify how long you want to keep the backup file on BIG-IQ.

   • To delete the copies of the backup after a certain number of days, select Delete local backup copy and specify the number of days to keep the backup copy before deleting it.
   • To keep copies of the backups indefinitely, select Never Delete.

8. To keep copies of backups remotely on a SCP or SFTP server:

   1. For the Archive setting, select the Store archive copy of backup check box.

   2. For the Location setting, select SCP or SFTP.

   3. In the IP Addressfield, type the IP address of the remote server where you want to store the archives.

   4. In the User Name and Password fields, type the credentials to access this server.

   5. In the Directory field, type the name of the directory where you want to store the archives on the remote server.

   Storing a backup remotely means you can restore data to a BIG-IP device even if you can’t access the archive in the BIG-IQ system directory.

   If you configure BIG-IQ to save backup files to a remote server and that server is unavailable during a scheduled backup, BIG-IQ ignores the local retention policy and retains the local copy of the backup file. This ensures that a backup is always available. To remove those local backups, you must delete them.

   Tip: Archived copies of backups are kept permanently on the remote server you specify. If you want to clear space on the remote server, you have to manually delete the backups.

9. Click the Start button at the bottom of the screen.

When UCS backup file is complete, you can restore the BIG-IQ system.

Restore BIG-IQ from the UCS backup file

It’s important to back up your BIG-IQ system on a regular basis so in the event you have an issue, you can restore your BIG-IQ and return to managing your BIG-IP devices with limited interruption.

Use your BIG-IQ UCS backup to restore your BIG-IQ configuration.

Note: Restore only the active BIG-IQ in a high availability (HA) configuration.

To recover the standby BIG-IQ in an HA configuration, synchronize the configuration from the active BIG-IQ after you restore it. In the unlikely event that the active and standby BIG-IQ systems fail, use the backup to restore the active BIG-IQ and then synchronize with the standby BIG-IQ.

1. At the top of the screen, click System.

2. On the left, click BACK UP & RESTORE > **** Backup Files.

3. Select the check box next to the UCS backup you want to use to restore this BIG-IQ.

   Important: You cannot restore a UCS backup to BIG-IQ version 7.1 from any version previous to version 7.1.

4. Click the Restore button.

The BIG-IQ UCS file is restored.