Saving and Restoring the Configuration

From Pbxnsip Wiki

If you just want to back up your configuration on PC-based systems where you have access to the file system, you better just TAR or ZIP the working directory of the PBX. This will generate a complete backup of your system, including all temporary files, recordings, TFTP server files and so forth. The backup from the web interface is primarily for systems that don't provide access to the file system, such as the CS410 appliance and does not include files from the TFTP directory. Consider physically moving the backup to another storage place. You can even schedule this task every night, so that you automatically have a fresh backup for desaster recovery.

Save/Restore Configuration

For small systems, the PBX offers a backup and restore mechanism from the web interface. If you have large systems, you better use the file system to make a backup of the system; otherwise you may put a very heavy load on the web server of the PBX, especially if you have many recordings in the file system. However, for small systems the web interface is useful, especially if you don't easy access the file system.

If you want to make a backup of the PBX configuration, you can use the link on the web page in the Save/Restore Configuration Section. This backup will make a TAR backup of the whole configuration, including audio recordings. That means the file might get potentially large. Therefore you should perform this action in times when there is not too much going on on the system, this makes sure that you don't interfere with the service and it also makes sure that you get an integer snapshot of the system state.

The size of the file is limited by the setting "max_tar" (see Global Configuration File). If the TAR file exceeds the size, the backup fails. Therefore you should check if the file size is okay after storing the backup; if there is a problem consider just making a file-system backup.

In order to restore a configuration, you must upload the file through the web interface. This might take a while; as with the saving of the configuration you should do this when there are no calls on the system. The restoring of the system will first erase your existing configuration, so be careful about this step.

If you have an embedded system, you may have the "Factory Reset" button on the web page. If you press this button, instead of loading a file through the web interface the PBX will load a default configuration file from the file system into the PBX.

Request Configuration

If you have a web service that generates configurations on the fly, you can request the pull-down of a configuration from the web server. The PBX will initiate the web request on its own. This feature is useful in large-scale installations (many systems running as CPE devices) and you have a central configuration management database.

Reload Configuration Files

There are certain configuration files that are read only during the startup phase. If you want to change them while the system is running, you can re-load them through the web interface.

The ringtones.xml file is used to describe the available Alert-Info or Call-Info header that should be sent in the different alert-info headers.

The pnp.xml file is used to describe what files are available for plug and play.