- Title Page
- Introduction & Preface
- Logging into the FireSIGHT System
- Using Objects and Security Zones
- Managing Devices
- Setting Up an IPS Device
- Setting Up Virtual Switches
- Setting Up Virtual Routers
- Setting Up Aggregate Interfaces
- Setting Up Hybrid Interfaces
- Using Gateway VPNs
- Using NAT Policies
- Getting Started with Access Control Policies
- Blacklisting Using Security Intelligence IP Address Reputation
- Tuning Traffic Flow Using Access Control Rules
- Controlling Traffic with Network-Based Rules
- Controlling Traffic with Reputation-Based Rules
- Controlling Traffic Based on Users
- Controlling Traffic Using Intrusion and File Policies
- Understanding Traffic Decryption
- Getting Started with SSL Policies
- Getting Started with SSL Rules
- Tuning Traffic Decryption Using SSL Rules
- Understanding Intrusion and Network Analysis Policies
- Using Layers in Intrusion and Network Analysis Policies
- Customizing Traffic Preprocessing
- Getting Started with Network Analysis Policies
- Using Application Layer Preprocessors
- Configuring SCADA Preprocessing
- Configuring Transport & Network Layer Preprocessing
- Tuning Preprocessing in Passive Deployments
- Getting Started with Intrusion Policies
- Tuning Intrusion Rules
- Tailoring Intrusion Protection to Your Network Assets
- Detecting Specific Threats
- Limiting Intrusion Event Logging
- Understanding and Writing Intrusion Rules
- Blocking Malware and Prohibited Files
- Logging Connections in Network Traffic
- Working with Connection & Security Intelligence Data
- Analyzing Malware and File Activity
- Working with Intrusion Events
- Handling Incidents
- Configuring External Alerting
- Configuring External Alerting for Intrusion Rules
- Introduction to Network Discovery
- Enhancing Network Discovery
- Configuring Active Scanning
- Using the Network Map
- Using Host Profiles
- Working with Discovery Events
- Configuring Correlation Policies and Rules
- Using the FireSIGHT System as a Compliance Tool
- Creating Traffic Profiles
- Configuring Remediations
- Using Dashboards
- Using the Context Explorer
- Working with Reports
- Understanding and Using Workflows
- Using Custom Tables
- Searching for Events
- Managing Users
- Scheduling Tasks
- Managing System Policies
- Configuring Appliance Settings
- Licensing the FireSIGHT System
- Updating System Software
- Monitoring the System
- Using Health Monitoring
- Auditing the System
- Using Backup and Restore
- Specifying User Preferences
- Importing and Exporting Configurations
- Purging Discovery Data from the Database
- Viewing the Status of Long-Running Tasks
- Command Line Reference
- Security, Internet Access, and Communication Ports
- Third-Party Products
- glossary
Using Backup and Restore
Backup and restoration is an essential part of any system maintenance plan. While each organization’s backup plan is highly individualized, the FireSIGHT System provides a mechanism for archiving data so that data from a Defense Center or physical managed device can be restored in case of disaster.
Note the following limitations about backup and restore:
- Backups are valid only for the product version on which you create them.
- Backups do not include captured file data.
- You cannot create or restore backup files for virtual managed devices, Cisco NGIPS for Blue Coat X-Series, or Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services. To back up all event data, perform a backup of the managing Defense Center.
- You can restore a backup onto a replacement appliance only if the two appliances are the same model and are running the same version of the FireSIGHT System software.
Caution Do not use the backup and restore process to copy the configuration files between managed devices. The configuration files include information that uniquely identifies a device and cannot be shared.
Caution If you applied any intrusion rule updates, those updates are not backed up. You need to apply the latest rule update after you restore.
You can save backup files to the appliance or to your local computer. Additionally, if you are using a Defense Center, you can use remote storage as detailed in Managing Remote Storage.
Caution Never insert a USB drive into any USB port on a 3D9900. Additionally, remove any device with external storage (for example, a KVM switch with external storage) from a 3D9900 before upgrading or restoring the device.
See the following sections for more information:
- See Creating Backup Files for information about creating backup files for Defense Centers and physical managed devices.
- See Creating Backup Profiles for information about creating backup profiles that you can use later as templates for creating backups.
- See Uploading Backups from a Local Host for information about uploading backup files from a local host.
- See Restoring the Appliance from a Backup File for information about how to restore a backup file to the appliance.
Creating Backup Files
Supported Devices: Any except virtual, X-Series, and ASA FirePOWER
Supported Defense Centers: Any
You can perform backups of physical managed devices from the devices themselves, backups of physical managed devices from their managing Defense Center, and backups of Defense Centers. The system backs up different data depending on the type of backup you perform. Note that the system does not back up captured file data. Use the following table to determine what kind of backup you want to perform.
Note You cannot create or restore backup files for virtual managed devices, Cisco NGIPS for Blue Coat X-Series, or Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services. To back up event data, perform a backup of the managing Defense Center.
To view and use existing system backups, go to the Backup Management page. You should periodically save a backup file that contains all of the configuration files required to restore the appliance, in addition to event data. You may also want to back up the system when testing configuration changes so that you can revert to a saved configuration if needed. You can choose to save the backup file on the appliance or on your local computer.
You cannot create a backup file if your appliance does not have enough disk space; backups may fail if the backup process uses more than 90% of available disk space. If necessary, delete old backup files, transfer old backup files off the appliance, or use remote storage.
As an alternative, or if your backup file is larger than 4GB, copy it via SCP to a remote host. Uploading a backup from your local computer does not work on backup files larger than 4GB because web browsers do not support uploading files that large. On Defense Centers, the backup file can be saved to a remote location; see Managing Remote Storage for more information.
Note While your backup task is collecting discovery events, data correlation is temporarily suspended.
- Private keys associated with PKI objects are encrypted with a randomly generated key when stored on the appliance. If you perform a backup that contains private keys associated with PKI objects, the private keys are decrypted before being included in the unencrypted backup file. Store the backup file in a secure location.
- If you restore a backup that contains private key associated with PKI objects, the system encrypts the keys with a randomly generated key before storing them on the appliance.
- If you perform a backup, then delete reviewed intrusion events, your backup restores the deleted intrusion events but does not restore their reviewed status. You view those restored intrusion events under Intrusion Events, not under Reviewed Events. See Reviewing Intrusion Events.
- If you restore a backup that contains intrusion event data on an appliance that already contains that data, duplicate events are created. To avoid this, restore intrusion event backups only on appliances without prior intrusion event data.
Caution If you configured any interface associations with security zones, these associations are not backed up. You must reconfigure them after you restore. For more information, see Working with Security Zones.
To create a backup file of a Defense Center:
Step 1 Select System > Tools > Backup/Restore .
The Backup Management page appears.
Step 2 Click Defense Center Backup .
The Create Backup page appears.
Step 3 In the Name field, type a name for the backup file. You can use alphanumeric characters, punctuation, and spaces.
Step 4 On Defense Centers, you have two further options:
Step 5 Optionally, to be notified when the backup is complete, select the Email check box and type your email address in the accompanying text box.
Note To receive email notifications, you must configure a relay host as described in Configuring a Mail Relay Host and Notification Address.
Step 6 Optionally, on Defense Centers, to use secure copy (
SCP
) to copy the backup archive to a different machine, select the
Copy when complete
check box, then type the following information in the accompanying text boxes:
- in the Host field, the hostname or IP address of the machine where you want to copy the backup
- in the Path field, the path to the directory where you want to copy the backup
- in the User field, the user name you want to use to log into the remote machine
-
in the
Password
field, the password for that user name
If you prefer to access your remote machine with an SSH public key instead of a password, you must copy the contents of the SSH Public Key field to the specified user’sauthorized_keysfile on that machine.
With this option cleared, the system stores temporary files used during the backup on the remote server; temporary files are not stored on the remote server when this option is selected.
Tip Cisco recommends that you periodically save backups to a remote location so the appliance can be restored in case of system failure.
Step 7 You have the following options:
The backup file is saved in the
/var/sf/backup
directory. You can direct the backup file to a remote location; see Managing Remote Storage.
When the backup process is complete, you can view the file on the Restoration Database page. For information about restoring a backup file, see Restoring the Appliance from a Backup File.
You can modify or delete the backup profile by selecting System > Tools > Backup/Restore , then clicking Backup Profiles . See Creating Backup Profiles for more information.
To create a backup file of a physical managed device from the device itself:
Step 1 Select System > Tools > Backup/Restore .
The Device Backups page appears.
The Create Backup page appears.
Step 3 In the Name field, type a name for the backup file. You can use alphanumeric characters, punctuation, and spaces.
Step 4 Optionally, to be notified when the backup is complete, select the Email check box and type your email address in the accompanying text box.
Note To receive email notifications, you must configure a relay host as described in Configuring a Mail Relay Host and Notification Address.
Step 5 Optionally, to use secure copy (
SCP
) to copy the backup archive to a different machine, select the
Copy when complete
check box, then type the following information in the accompanying text boxes:
- in the Host field, the hostname or IP address of the machine where you want to copy the backup
- in the Path field, the path to the directory where you want to copy the backup
- in the User field, the user name you want to use to log into the remote machine
-
in the
Password
field, the password for that user name
If you prefer to access your remote machine with an SSH public key instead of a password, you must copy the contents of the SSH Public Key field to the specified user’sauthorized_keysfile on that machine.
With this option cleared, the system stores temporary files used during the backup on the remote server; temporary files are not stored on the remote server when this option is selected.
Tip Cisco recommends that you periodically save backups to a remote location so the appliance can be restored in case of system failure.
Step 6 You have the following options:
The backup file is saved in the
/var/sf/backup
directory. On Defense Centers, you can direct the backup file to a remote location; see Managing Remote Storage.
When the backup process is complete, you can view the file on the Restoration Database page. For information about restoring a backup file, see Restoring the Appliance from a Backup File.
You can modify or delete the backup profile by selecting System > Tools > Backup/Restore , then clicking Backup Profiles . See Creating Backup Profiles for more information.
To create a backup file of a physical managed device from its managing Defense Center:
Step 1 Select System > Tools > Backup/Restore .
The Backup Management page appears.
Step 2 Click Managed Device Backup .
The Create Backup page appears.
Step 3 In the Managed Devices field, select one or more managed devices. Use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select multiple managed devices.
Step 4 To include unified files in addition to configuration data, select the Include All Unified Files check box.
Step 5 To save the backup file on the Defense Center, select the Retrieve to Defense Center check box. To save each device’s backup file on the device itself, leave this check box unselected.
Note If you select Retrieve to Defense Center and your Defense Center is configured for remote storage of backups, the device backup file will be saved to the configured remote location, not the Defense Center itself.
A success message appears and the backup task is created.
The backup file is saved in the
/var/sf/backup
directory. Using the Defense Center, you can direct the backup file to a remote location; see Managing Remote Storage.
When the backup process is complete, you can view the file on the Restoration Database page. For information about restoring a backup file, see Restoring the Appliance from a Backup File.
Step 7 Optionally, to save this configuration as a backup profile that you can use later, click Save As New .
You can modify or delete the backup profile by selecting System > Tools > Backup/Restore , then clicking Backup Profiles . See Creating Backup Profiles for more information.
Creating Backup Profiles
Supported Devices: Any except virtual, X-Series, and ASA FirePOWER
Supported Defense Centers: Any
You can use the Backup Profiles page to create backup profiles that contain the settings that you want to use for different types of backups. You can later select one of these profiles when you back up the files on your appliance.
Tip When you create a backup file as described in Creating Backup Files, a backup profile is automatically created.
Step 1 Select System > Tools > Backup/Restore .
The Backup Management page appears.
Step 2 Click the Backup Profiles tab.
The Backup Profiles page appears with a list of existing backup profiles.
Tip You can click the edit icon (
) to modify an existing profile or click the delete icon () to delete a profile from the list.
The Create Backup page appears.
Step 4 Type a name for the backup profile. You can use alphanumeric characters, punctuation, and spaces.
Step 5 Configure the backup profile according to your needs.
See Creating Backup Files for more information about the options on this page.
Step 6 Click Save As New to save the backup profile.
The Backup Profiles page appears and your new profile appears in the list.
Uploading Backups from a Local Host
Supported Devices: Series 2 and Series 3
Supported Defense Centers: Any
If you download a backup file to your local host using the download function described in the Backup Management table, you can upload it to a Defense Center.
If your backup file contains PKI objects, private keys associated with internal CA and internal certificate objects are re-encrypted on upload with a randomly generated key.
Tip You cannot upload a backup larger than 4GB from your local host because web browsers do not support uploading files that large. As an alternative, copy the backup via SCP to a remote host and retrieve it from there. On Defense Centers, the backup file can be saved to and retrieved from a remote location; see Managing Remote Storage.
To upload a backup from your local host:
Step 1 Select System > Tools > Backup/Restore .
The Backup Management page appears.
The Upload Backup page appears.
Step 3 Click Browse and navigate to the backup file you want to upload.
After you select the file to upload, click Upload Backup .
Step 4 Click Backup Management to return to the Backup Management page.
The backup file is uploaded and appears in the backup list. After the Defense Center appliance verifies the file integrity, refresh the Backup Management page to reveal detailed file system information.
Restoring the Appliance from a Backup File
Supported Devices: Series 2 and Series 3
Supported Defense Centers: Any
You can restore the appliance from backup files using the Backup Management page. To restore a backup, the VDB version in the backup file must match the current VDB version on your appliance. After you complete the restoration process, you must apply the latest Sourcefire Rule Update.
Caution Do not restore backups created on virtual Defense Centers to physical Defense Centers — this may stress system resources. If you must restore a virtual backup on a physical Defense Center, contact Support.
If your backup file contains PKI objects, private keys associated with internal CA and internal certificate objects are reencrypted on upload with a randomly generated key.
If you use local storage, backup files are saved to
/var/sf/backup
, which is listed with the amount of disk space used in the
/var
partition at the bottom of the Backup Management page. On Defense Centers, select
Remote Storage
at the top of the Backup Management page to configure remote storage options; then, to enable remote storage, select the
Enable Remote Storage for Backups
check box on the Backup Management page. If you use remote storage, the protocol, backup system, and backup directory are listed at the bottom of the page.
Note If you add licenses after a backup has completed, these licenses will not be removed or overwritten if this backup is restored. To prevent a conflict on restore, remove those licenses before restoring the backup, noting where the licenses were used, and add and reconfigure them after restoring the backup. If a conflict occurs, contact Support.
The following table describes each column and icon on the Backup Management page.
To restore the appliance from a backup file:
Step 1 Select System > Tools > Backup/Restore .
The Backup Management page appears.
Step 2 To view the contents of a backup file, click the name of the file.
The manifest appears, listing the name of each file, its owner and permissions, and its file size and date.
Step 3 Click Backup Management to return to the Backup Management page.
Step 4 Select the backup file that you want to restore and click Restore .
The Restore Backup page appears.
Note that if the VDB version in the backup does not match the VDB version currently installed on your appliance, the Restore button is grayed out.
Caution This procedure overwrites all configuration files and, on the managed device, all event data.
Step 5 To restore files, select either or both:
Note Note that, when you restore the configuration of a managed device from a backup file, any device configuration changes you made from the device’s managing Defense Center will also be restored, even changes you made after you created that backup file.
Step 6 Click Restore to begin the restoration.
The appliance is restored using the backup file you specified.
Step 8 Apply the latest Sourcefire Rule Update to reapply rule updates.
Step 9 Reapply any access control, intrusion, network discovery, health, and system policies to the restored system.
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