Snapshot Management

A snapshot is a backup of the system settings and products. It includes:

• File system, with customized files
• System configuration (interfaces, routing, hostname, and similar)
• Software Blades
• Management database (on a Security Management Server or a Multi-Domain Server)

A snapshot is very large. A snapshot includes the entire root partition and some of the /var/log partition and other important files. For this reason, snapshots cannot be scheduled the same way that Backups can. Backup and Restore is the preferred method of recovery.

Notes:

• When Gaia creates a snapshot, all system processes and services continue to run. Policy enforcement is not interrupted.
• You can import a snapshot created on a different release or on this release. You must import it to the same appliance or open server hardware model.
• After importing the snapshot, you must activate the device license from the Gaia Portal or the User Center.

Snapshot options:

• Revert to a user created image.
• Revert to a factory default image, which is automatically created on Check Point appliances by the installation or upgrade procedure.
• Delete an image from the local system.
• Export an existing image. This creates a compressed version of the image. You can download the exported image to a different computer and delete the exported image from the Gaia computer. This saves disk space. You must not rename the exported image. If you rename a snapshot image, it is not possible to revert to it.
• Import an exported image.
• View a list of images that are stored locally.

Important - See sk98068: Gaia Limitations after Snapshot Recovery.

Best Practice for creating snapshots:

• Immediately after Gaia installation and first time configuration.
• Before making a major system change, such as installing a hotfix or route changes.

It is not recommended to use snapshots as a way of regularly backing up your system. System Backup is the preferred method. Schedule system backups on a regular basis, daily or weekly, to preserve the Gaia OS configuration and firewall database.

Snapshot Prerequisites

Before you create a snapshot image, make sure the appliance or storage destination meets these prerequisites:

• To create the snapshot image requires free space on the disk. The required free disk space is the size of the system root partition multiplied by 1.15.

  Note - A snapshot image is created in unallocated space on the disk. Not all of the unallocated space on a disk can be used for snapshots. To find out if you have enough free space for snapshots:

  1. Connect to the command line on the Gaia computer.
  2. Log in to the Gaia Clish.
  3. Run:

     show snapshots

     The output shows the amount of space on the disk available for snapshots.

     Note - The value in the output does not represent all of the unallocated space on the disk.

• The free disk space required in the export file location is the size of the snapshot image multiplied by 2.

  The minimal size of a snapshot image is 2.5GB. Therefore, the minimal necessary free disk space in the export file location is 5GB.

See sk98068: Gaia Limitations after Snapshot Recovery.

Working with Snapshot Management - Gaia Portal

Before you create a snapshot image, make sure the appliance or storage destination meets the prerequisites.

To create a snapshot:

Step	Description
1	In the navigation tree, click Maintenance > Snapshot Management.
2	Click New. The New Image window opens.
3	In the Name field, enter a name for the image. Optional: In the Description field, enter a description for the image.
4	Click OK.

To restore a snapshot:

Step	Description
1	In the navigation tree, click Maintenance > Image Management.
2	Select a snapshot.
3	Click Revert. The Revert window opens. Note - Pay close attention to the warnings about overwriting settings, the credentials, and the reboot and the image details.
4	Click OK.

To delete a snapshot:

Step	Description
1	In the navigation tree, click Maintenance > Snapshot Management.
2	Select a snapshot.
3	Click Delete. The Delete Image window opens.
4	Click OK.

To export a snapshot:

Step	Description
1	In the navigation tree, click Maintenance > Snapshot Management.
2	Select a snapshot.
3	Check the snapshot size.
4	Make sure that there is enough free disk space in the /var/log/ partition:
4A	Connect to the command line on Gaia.
4B	Log in to Expert mode.
4C	Run: [Expert@HostName]# df -kh | egrep "Mounted|/var/log" Check the value in the Avail column.
5	In Gaia Portal, select a snapshot.
6	Click Export. The Export Image window opens.
7	Click Start Export.

Important - You must not rename the exported image. If you rename a snapshot image, it is not possible to revert to it.

To import a snapshot:

To use the snapshot on another appliance, it has to be the same type of appliance you used to export the image.

Step	Description
1	In the navigation tree, click Maintenance > Snapshot Management.
2	Click Import. The Import Image window opens.
3	Click Browse to select the snapshot file for upload.
4	Click Upload.
5	Click OK.

Working with Snapshot Management - Gaia Clish

Before you create a snapshot image, make sure the appliance or storage destination meets the prerequisites.

Description

Manage system images (snapshots).

Syntax

• To create a new snapshot image:

  add snapshot <Name of Snapshot> desc "<Description of Snapshot>"

• To export an existing snapshot image:

  set snapshot export<SPACE><TAB>

  set snapshot export <Name of Snapshot> path <Path> name <Name of Exported Snapshot>

• To import a snapshot image:

  set snapshot import <External Name of Snapshot> path <Path> name <Name of Imported Snapshot>

• To revert to an existing snapshot image:

  set snapshot revert<SPACE><TAB>

  set snapshot revert <Name of Snapshot>

  Important - Reverting to the selected snapshot will overwrite the existing running configuration and settings. Make sure you know credentials of the snapshot, to which you revert.

• To show snapshot image information:

  show snapshot <Name of Snapshot> all date desc size

  show snapshots

• To delete a snapshot image:

  delete snapshot <Name of Snapshot>

Important - After you add, configure, or delete features, run the save config command to save the settings permanently.

Parameters

Parameter	Description
snapshot <Name of Snapshot>	Configures the name of the snapshot image. You must enter a string that does not contain spaces.
desc "<Description of Snapshot>"	Configures the description of the snapshot image. You must enclose the text in double quotes, or enter the string that does not contain spaces.
export <Name of Snapshot>	Selects the snapshot image you export by the specified name. You must enter a string that does not contain spaces.
import <Name of Snapshot>	Selects the snapshot image you import by the specified name. You must enter a string that does not contain spaces.
path <Path>	Configures the path to the specified snapshot image file (for example: /var/log/).
name <Name of Exported Snapshot>	Configures the name, under which the exported snapshot image file is stored on the hard disk. You must enter a string that does not contain spaces.
name <Name of Imported Snapshot>	Configures the name, under which the imported snapshot image is stored on Gaia. You must enter a string that does not contain spaces.

Example

gaia> add snapshot snap1 desc first_image_after_installation   gaia> set snapshot export snap1 path /var/log/ name first_image_after_installation

Notes:

• You must not rename the exported image. If you rename a snapshot image, it is not possible to revert to it.
• You can import a snapshot only on the same Gaia computer, from which it was exported.