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AEK
SuperUser
AEK
SuperUser
January 6, 2026
Question

EMS backup Zip vs Database

  • January 6, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 387 views

Hi EMS admins

In FortiClient EMS 7.4.x, what is the difference between database backup and zip backup?

Is it the same? May I understand zip backup contains DB backup and EMS settings? What is the recommended backup?

Searched in documentation but couldn't find the difference.

1 reply

AEH
AEH
Visitor III
January 7, 2026

Hello AEK,

There is no reference in the official Fortinet documentation that explicitly describes the difference between the two backup methods. The documentation only mentions them briefly with a short description (ref: https://docs.fortinet.com/document/forticlient/7.4.3/ems-administration-guide/23537/system-information-widget
), stating:

• Database: download the backup as a .db.enc file
• Zip: download the backup as a .zip archive

This implies that the ZIP option is simply the same .db.enc database backup packaged inside a standard archive container.

Best regards.

    AEK
    SuperUser
    AEKAuthor
    SuperUser
    January 7, 2026

    Thanks for your feedback, AEH.

    Actually in my case the zip file is about 400 KB bigger than the db file. That should mean there is something additional in the zip file.

    Probably if we want to restore DB + app config then we need to take zip backup, not db backup. Just need confirmation if anyone has tested it or knows something official about it.

    AEK
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