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 so on)
• Software Blades

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.
• 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 Security Group 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 Security Group.
  2. Log in to the Expert mode.
  3. Go to Gaia gClish:

     # gclish

  4. 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 gClish

You must run these commands in gClish.

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

> add snapshot snap1 desc "First image after installation"   > set snapshot export snap1 path /var/log/ name 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.

Working with Snapshot Management for Specified SGMs (g_snapshot)

Description

Use the g_snapshot command in the Expert mode to show and revert snapshots for specific SGMs or Chassis.

This command is different from the snapshot command, which works for all SGMs together.

Syntax

# g_snapshot [-b <SGM_IDs>] show

# g_snapshot [-b <SGM_IDs>] revert <snapshot_name>

Parameters

Parameter	Description
show	Shows saved snapshots for the specified SGMs or Chassis.
revert	Restores specified SGMs or Chassis to the specified snapshot.
<snapshot_name>	Snapshot file name.
-b <SGM_IDs>	Works with SGMs and/or Chassis as specified by <SGM_IDs>. <SGM_IDs> can be: No <SGM_IDs> specified, or all - Applies to all SGMs and Chassis One SGM (for example, 1_1) A comma-separated list of SGMs (for example, 1_1,1_4) A range of SGMs (for example, 1_1-1_4) One Chassis (chassis1, or chassis2) The active Chassis (chassis_active)

Example 1 - Restore SGMs 1_1 and 1_4 to the snapshot called "My_Snapshot":

[Expert@MyChassis-ch01-01:0]# g_snapshot -b 1_1,1_4 revert My_Snapshot

Example 2 - Restores the Chassis2 to the snapshot called "My_Snapshot":

[Expert@MyChassis-ch01-01:0]# g_snapshot –b chassis2 revert My_Snapshot

Example 3 - Show the saved snapshots for all SGMs on the Chassis1:

[Expert@MyChassis-ch01-01:0]# g_snapshot -b chassis1 show

SMO Image Cloning

Background

You can use image cloning as a tool for cloning SMO images by remote SGM. In addition to cloning the SMO version, it clones all installed hotfixes, if there are any.

We recommend that you use this tool when you add a new SGM to the setup, such as when you receive a replacement SGM.

When you activate the auto-clone feature, each SGM updates the local image's MD5 during reboot, Admin UP state or hotfix installation. If the local image's MD5 is different from the SMO image's MD5, then the local SGM clones the SMO image.

Working with image auto-clone in gClish:

Command	Description
> show smo image auto-clone state	Shows the current auto-clone state.
> set smo image auto-clone state {on | off}	Controls the auto-cloning state: on - enabled off - disabled

Note - Image cloning does not support snapshot (the included fcd).

Working with image's MD5 in gClish:

Command	Description
> show smo image md5sum	Shows image's MD5
> set smo image md5sum	Updates image's MD5 This is done automatically on reboot , admin UP and hotfix installation.