Backing up your configuration using the CLI

If you only want to back up the core configuration file, you can perform this backup using the CLI.

The core configuration file does not contain all configuration data. Failure to perform a complete backup could result in data loss of items such as Bayesian databases, dictionary databases, mail queues, and other items. For details on performing a complete backup, see “Backup and restore” on page 218.

To back up the configuration file using the CLI, enter the following command: execute backup config tftp <filename_str> <tftp_ipv4> where:

• <filename_str> is the name of the file located in the TFTP server’s root directory
• <tftp_ipv4> is the IP address of the TFTP server

Backing up your configuration using a FortiManager unit

You can back up the core configuration file to a FortiManager unit instead of your management computer.

Before you can do this, you must first enable and configure centralized administration by a FortiManager unit. For details, see “Configuring centralized administration” on page 232.

The core configuration file does not contain all configuration data. Failure to perform a complete backup could result in data loss of items such as Bayesian databases, dictionary databases, mail queues, and other items. For details on performing a complete backup, see “Backup and restore” on page 218.

To back up the configuration file to a FortiManager unit

1. Go to Maintenance > System > Configuration.
2. In the Backup Configuration area, select FortiManager.

This option is available only if you have configured the FortiMail unit to connect to a FortiManager unit. For details, see “Configuring centralized administration” on page 232.

3. Enable System configuration. If you want the configuration backup to include user preferences and IBE data, click Update to update the backup’s cache of user preferences and IBE data, then also enable User configuration and IBE data.
4. Click Backup.

When the backup completes, a confirmation message appears.

5. Click OK.

Scheduling configuration backup

Instead of backing up your configuration manually (see the previous sections), you can also configure a schedule to back up the configuration automatically to the FortiMail local hard drive or a remote FTP/SFTP server.

To schedule the configuration backup

1. Go to Maintenance > System > Configuration.
2. Under Scheduled Backup, configure the schedule time and the maximum backup number. When the maximum number is reached, the oldest version will be overwritten.
3. Enable Local backup if you want to back up locally.
4. Enable Remote backup and configure the FTP/SFTP server credentials if you want to back up remotely.
5. Click Apply.

Restoring the configuration

In the Restore Configuration area under Maintenance > System > Configuration, you can restore the backup FortiMail configuration from your local PC or a FortiManager unit, For details, see “Restoring the configuration” on page 692.

Restoring the firmware

In the Restore Firmware area under Maintenance > System > Configuration, you can install a FortiMail firmware from your local PC or a FortiManager unit. For details, see “Installing firmware” on page 688.