- Snapshot - after a fresh installation, before an upgrade, and before a hotfix installation.
- Scheduled Backup - monthly or weekly, depending how frequently you perform changes in your configuration and policy
The snapshot creates a binary image of the entire root (lv_current) disk partition. This includes Check Point products, configuration, and operating system.
The log partition is not included in the snapshot. Therefore, any locally stored Firewall logs will not be saved.
System Backup can be used to backup current system configuration. A backup creates a compressed file that contains the Check Point configuration including the networking and operating system parameters, such as routing and interface configuration etc., but unlike a snapshot, it does not include the operating system, product binaries, and hotfixes.
I've also highlighted in Green where each command is preferable.
snapshot | backup | |
How much time does it take ? | 30 - 60 minutes | 5 - 30 minutes |
Size of output file on Security Gateway | 5-100 GB | Depends on configuration |
Size of output file on Management Server | 5-100 GB | 5-100 GB |
Does it back up Gaia OS configuration ? | Yes | Yes |
Does it back up Products configuration ? | Yes | Yes |
Does it back up Hotfixes ? | Yes | No (*) |
Does it back up Check Point logs? | No | No |
Does it support automatic scheduling ? | No | Yes |
Can you restore from different version ? | Yes | No |
Does it require to close SmartConsole GUI clients ? | No | R7x - No R80 - Yes |
Does it require to stop Check Point services? | No | No |
Does it require reboot ? | No | No |
