open backup file

[#1]

Does anyone know how to view a backup file without loading it on to a unit. I need to compare settings from a previous backup to the current config without loading it on to my working unit. I was thinking something like notepad, but that doesn' t work. Thanks!

[UkWizard]

If its a full system backup, then i dont think there is any way to read it. Only way is to load onto a system or get fortinet support to decypher it for you. if its the config backup, then its plain text, so any wrap-around text editor will read it, like wordpad.

[#3]

It is a full backup. I' ll make sure to do config backups as well in the future. Thanks to all

[#4]

Here' s what I do to acheive that. Not a simple process. But it' s fairly easy once you get used to it. Use either telnet or an SSH client that will log output. Then, telnet or SSH connect to the box and type out the config. You may need to do this sections at a time. For example, to get the firewall rules, type " sho firewall policy" save the oputput to a text file and move on to the next section for the system interface config type " sho sys int" save the oputput to a text file and move on to the next section Do this for each area that you need to compare on each box. NAme them accordingly (ex:box1policies.txt, box2policies.txt, etc...) I hope that helps.

[RickP]

Does anyone know how to view a backup file without loading it on to a unit.

Which version of the firmware are you running? If it' s v3, it should be plain text unless you choose to encrypt it when generating the backup file. Note that if you have any certificates, they will not be included in a non-encrypted backup...

[#6]

Wow. Apparently the same holds true with 2.8 depending on the backup. A " system configuration" backup is cleartext and work do just fine. The " All configuration files" option is, however, encrypted and wouldn' t work. Good call Rick!

[UkWizard]

A " system configuration" backup is cleartext and work do just fine. The " All configuration files" option is, however, encrypted and wouldn' t work.

as per my previous post...

[RickP]

A " system configuration" backup is cleartext and work do just fine. The " All configuration files" option is, however, encrypted and wouldn' t work. Good call Rick!

You' re welcome, but UkWizard made the catch. He referred to 2.8 and I chimed in with 3.0 info...and it seems you' re using 2.8.

[#9]

My backups were the " all config files" type - so they would be encrypted. Thanks for responding.

[UkWizard]

I always do a backup using both methods, just out of habit.. That way i can refer back to the config and look at the ip details for various customers units quickly using wordpad. Would highly recommend this to anyone, useful to have both i feel. Has anyone tried the backup to usb yet ?