Archive Cisco Switch and Router Configs Using TFTP and Configuration Archive

The worst time to realize you don't have a current backup of your switch or router is when that device is having issues or worst case dies and it is actually needed.  For a great comprehensive list of Cisco IOS commands I recommend THIS BOOK.  It's for Amazon Kindle.

Administrators have the ability to run a manual backup of the configs or you can set it to do this automatically or every time you do a "write memory" to save a config change.

Given how easy this is to setup there's no reason for you not to have this on your switches.

Let's dive into how easy this is to setup.

First you'll need a good TFTP server program.  Personally I like the free Solarwinds TFTP Server.  This like is for the Windows version.  You can run it on a server or a workstation if needed.  The price is right, setup is simple, and you'll have this going in a couple of minutes.

Next it's time to setup the switch or router to do the automatic backups for you.

Let's look at a couple of way to set this up.

The first way is to just backup each time you do a "write memory".  This is my favorite setup as it does not generate unnecessary network traffic and I know that the files on my TFTP server are the latest config as long as they were saved.

R1(config)#archive R1(config-archive)#path tftp://192.168.1.10/R1-config R1(config-archive)#write-memory R1(config-archive)#exit

Now one of the details I add after the IP address and forward slash is the name of the device so when it creates the automatic backup file I know which device it came from based on the device's host name.

Another way to set this up is to do backups daily for you automatically without the need to a manual update.  This setup will archive every day or if you do a "write memory" command on the switch.

R1(config)#archive R1(config-archive)#path tftp://192.168.1.10/R1-config R1(config-archive)#write-memory R1(config-archive)#time-period 1440

Now these two methods ensure your switch configs are backed up either as you do a change and save it or automatically each day.

Finally the great thing about these auto backups is you can also restore them using the same functions.  One thing to note is that this command does not merge the settings with what is currently running, it fully replaces it so use caution.

R1# configure replace tftp://192.168.1.10/R1-config-3 This will apply all necessary additions and deletions to replace the current running configuration with the contents of the specified configuration file, which is assumed to be a complete configuration, not a partial configuration. Enter Y if you are sure you want to proceed. ? [no]: Y Loading R1-config-3 ! [OK - 3113/4096 bytes]