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It is a good idea to create backups anytime you make changes to Ignition. There are two main types of backups available in Ignition: Gateway backups and Project exports. You can choose to backup up everything, or be selective about what you want to backup and restore. Ignition is designed to be architecture agnostic or compatible across all platforms. This is particularly helpful when you want to restore your Gateway on a new machine or platform.
Gateway backups are all inclusive and Project exports are simply a backup of individual projects. Whether it is a Gateway backup or Project export, it's always good practice to create backups regularly when making changes to Ignition. This page discusses the making Gateway backups and restoring from a Gateway backup. To learn more about project backups and restoring projects, refer to the Project Export and Import page.
Creating Gateway backups and restoring from a Gateway backup are super easy in Ignition. Gateway backups are all inclusive, and typically takes less than a minute to run. It includes everything you find in the Ignition Gateway Webpage. Everything gets backed up - all your projects, Gateway settings, authentication profiles, Tags, database connections, OPC and device connections, alarm pipelines, scripts, sequential function charts, reports, and Image Managment Library (i.e., png, jpg, and jpeg files). The only data that is not included in a Gateway backup is data stored in other programs such as SQL databases, PLC programs, other files you manually added to the install directory, and any additional files you may be using. This information needs to be backed up separately.
You have the option of creating a Gateway backup and restoring a backup from the Gateway Webpage or Gateway Command-line Utility. We recommend using Gateway Webpage since it's much easier. Even better, is to set up scheduled backups to run on a regular schedule.
The easiest way to create a backup of the Gateway is using the Gateway Webpage. Let's give it a try!
The System Backup/Restore page will be displayed. Make sure the Backup tab is selected, then click Download Backup.
By default, this downloads a .gwbk file extension to your local file system in your Downloads folder.
The Gateway Backup default filename will look like GatewayName_Ignition-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMM.gwbk where YYYYMMDD-HHMM is the timestamp of when it was created.
In Windows and Linux, you can use the command-line utility to create a Gateway backup. To run the Command-line Utility, open a shell and enter the command below. Note: If you want to add a timestamp, you need to enter the date and time in the filename. Refer to the Command-line Utility page for a complete list of 'gwcmd' options.
gwcmd -b C:\Backups\Ignition\IgnitionBackup.gwbk
Restoring a Gateway backup is just as easy as backing it up and can also be done from the Gateway Webpage.
When you perform a Gateway Restore, ALL of the server's current configuration will be permanently lost! Restoring a Gateway backup overwrites all of the existing settings including your projects. There is no merge option for a Gateway backup. We recommend you always make a backup of the existing server immediately before performing a Gateway Restore.
Go to the Config tab and click on System > Backup/Restore.
The System Backup/Restore screen will be displayed. Click on the Restore tab. Read carefully through the restoration settings, and check the ones you wish to enable.
Restore Disabled Checkbox
If you check the Restore Disabled box, all projects, project resources, notifications, alarm journals, database connections, OPC connections, devices, scripts and third party modules will be disabled upon restart.
Click Choose File, then navigate to your Gateway backup file (*.gwbk). By default, all your Gateway backup files are saved in your Downloads folder unless you select another folder location to choose an exisiting Gateway Backup file (*.gwbk) to restore.
If you downloaded a Gateway Backup and are trying to Restore it, you must have a .gwbk file type. Often, Internet Explorer will change the extension from .gwbk to .zip when the backup is downloaded. The correct format for a downloaded backup is "Ignition-backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMM.gwbk" where YYYYMMDD-HHMM is the timestamp.
.gwbk), and click Open. 
In Windows and Linux, you can use the command-line utility to restore a Gateway backup. To run the Command-line Utility, open a shell and enter the command below. Refer to the Command-line Utility page for a complete list of 'gwcmd' options.
gwcmd -s C:\Backups\Ignition\IgnitionBackup.gwbk
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