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title: "Agent Task - Backup and Restore"
---
# Agent Task - Backup and Restore
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The Backup and Restore tasks are an extremely important part of the Enterprise Administration Module. Performing a Collect Backup is required if you want to do an Agent recovery.
The Gateway Tasks discussed in this section are the [Collect Backup](backup-and-restore.md#collect-backup), [Restore Backup](backup-and-restore.md#restore-backup), [Install Modules](backup-and-restore.md#install-modules) and [Restart Agent](backup-and-restore.md#restart-agent).
## Collect Backup
Collect Backup is a Gateway Task that performs a Gateway backup on the selected Agent's machine. Additionally, this task will archive copies of the Agent's modules. This modules may be used in the [Install Modules task](backup-and-restore.md#install-modules).
Collect Backup now times out by default after waiting 60 minutes for the Agent to generate the backup, plus another 60 minutes for the Agent to transfer the backup to the controller over the Gateway network if the backup generation did not timeout.
Transfer timeout is configurable using the [system property](appendix/reference-pages/gateway-configuration-file-reference.md#changing-java-additional-parameters) `ignition.eam.task.collectBackup.transferTimeout`.
1. On the **Controller**, navigate to **Configure** > **Enterprise Administration** > **Agent Tasks**, and click on the blue link, **Create new Gateway Task** at the bottom of the page.
2. Collect Backup is one of the several Gateway tasks you can perform. Select **Collect Backup**, and press **Next**. The EAM Task Wizard will walk you through each step of the Collect Backup process.
3. There are several different task scheduling options available. For this Collect Backup example, choose to **Execute Immediately**, and press **Next**. If you need more information on other scheduling options, refer to [Task Scheduling](enterprise-administration/agent-tasks/scheduling/scheduling.md).
4. Select the Agent you want to perform the Collect Backup on, and press **Next**.
5. The EAM Task Wizard will prompt you if you want to do a Force Backup even if nothing changed since the last backup. This step is optional, but it is useful when your backups are performed on a regular schedule. It captures the changes between the time the last backup was performed and the unscheduled backup. To be safe, check the **Force Backup** box, and press **Next**.
5. Review the **Collect Backup Task Summary** information, and press **Finish**.
7. Once the Collect Backup task is complete, a successful message will be displayed. You can even check the Task History which will provide a list of all previously run tasks.
Your new Gateway backup will be stored wherever your Controller settings are pointing to when the Controller was initially created. To check, go to the **Controller**, and navigate to **Configure** > **Enterprise Administration** > **Controller Settings**. You can have your Archive Path set to Automatic or Manual. If you have it set to Automatic, you can find your backups inside the directory for Ignition, otherwise, it will be the folder location that is specified in the Controller Settings. To learn more about controller settings, refer to [Creating a Controller](enterprise-administration/creating-a-controller/creating-a-controller.md).
## Restore Backup
Now, let’s restore a Gateway backup on the selected Agent.
:::note Agent Name and Restoring
When restoring from a backup using this task, the newly restored agent will retain it's previous name.
:::
1. On the **Controller**, navigate to **Configure** > **Enterprise Administration** > **Agent Tasks**, and click on the **Create new Gateway Task** link. Select the **Restore Backup**, and press **Next**.
:::note Screenshots
Some screenshots will not be duplicated. You can refer to the screenshots in the Collect Backup section as you work your way through each topic.
:::
2. Schedule the **Restore Backup** task from any of the listed scheduling options. This example uses **Execute Immediately**, and press **Next**.
3. Select the **Agent**, and press **Next**.
4. If your Archive Path was set to Manual when you created your Controller, you will have to select the **Choose File** button, and navigate to the folder on your computer to locate the Gateway Backup file. If you are unsure about your Archive Path, refer to your [Controller Settings](enterprise-administration/creating-a-controller/creating-a-controller.md).
5. Navigate to the folder on your computer to locate the Gateway Backup file. Select the **backup.gwbk**, and click **Open**. Press **Next** on the Restore Backup task.
6. Review the **Restore Backup Task Summary**, and press **Finish**. Once the Restore Backup task completes, you will receive a successful message from the Gateway Task.
7. Now go to your **Agent**, and click **Home**. It takes a few moments to bring up the Gateway. You will see a progress bar while the Gateway is starting up. Once it’s complete, you will see all your projects uploaded and ready to go.
The following feature is new in Ignition version 7.9.13
Click here to check out the other new features
### Restoring an Agent Backup with the Option to Install Modules
You can also restore a Gateway backup on a selected Agent with the option to install modules, giving you the opportunity to install modules while, at the same time, restoring from an Agent backup.
:::caution The Installing Modules option is not backwards compatible in prior versions of Ignition
Restoring an Agent backup with the option to install modules works where the Controller and the Agent(s) are on versions 7.9.13 or newer. This functionality is not backward compatible.
:::
1. From the **Controller**, go to **Configure** > **Enterprise Administration** > **Agent Management**. You'll see a list of all your Agents and their status.
2. Click the **More** button and select **details** for the Agent that you want to restore the backup for.
3. This opens the **Agent Details** screen with a list of options for the selected Agent. Click the link for the **View saved Gateway backups for this agent.**
4. Here you'll see a list of Gateway Backups for the selected Agent. Under the **Modules** column, you'll see the number of modules included in each backup. Click the **show modules** link to see all the modules that are included in the Agent backup, then click **hide modules** to close the module list.
5. To restore the Agent backup, click the **Restore Backup** link to the right of the Module column.
6. The **Confirm Gateway Restoration** screen will popup and ask you to confirm restoring the backup on your Agent. Be sure to check the **Install Modules** box if you want to install all the modules that were running on your Gateway at the time this specific backup was taken. Click **Confirm**.
7. After the backup is complete, go back to the **Agent Details** screen to see the list of modules installed. Click on the **Display a list of modules currently installed on this agent** link.
## Install Modules
This task allows you to install one or more modules on an Agent. You may pass in the modules to install while creating the task, or choose from the archived modules. Modules are archived in the [Collect Backup task](backup-and-restore.md#collect-backup).
As an example, suppose you accidentally uninstalled the Alarm Notification and OPC-UA Modules from your Agent. Let's go ahead and reinstall them using the Install Modules task.
1. Go to the **Controller**, and navigate to **Configure** > **Enterprise Administration** > **Agent Tasks**. Click the **Create new Gateway Task** link. Select the **Install Module** task, and press **Next**.
2. Schedule the **Install Modules** task from any of the listed scheduling options. This example uses **Execute Immediately**, and press **Next**.
3. Select the **Agent**, and press **Next**.
4. From the list of **Archived Modules**, click the **Add** buttons for **Alarm Notification** and the **OPC-UA** modules. You will notice, that once you click the **Add** button next to a module, it will show up in the **Selected Modules** box at the bottom of the screen. You can choose as many modules as you need, and when you're finished, press **Next**.
5. Review the **Install Modules Task Summary**, and press **Finish**. Once the Install Module task completes, you will get a successful message from the Gateway Task.
6. Go back to your **Agent**, and navigate to **Status** > **Modules** to verify that both the Alarm Notification and OPC-UA modules were installed and are running successfully.
## Restart Agent
On the **Controller**, lets create another Gateway Task to restart the agent. This task will stop the Ignition service on the Agent and start it back up again.
1. Go to the **Controller**, and navigate to **Configure** > **Enterprise Administration** > **Agent Tasks**. Click on the **Create new Gateway Task** link. Select the **Restart Agent**, and press **Next**.
2. Schedule the **Restart Agent** task to **Execute Immediately**, and press **Next**.
3. Select the **Agent**, and press **Next**.
4. Review the **Restart Agent Task Summary**, and press **Finish**. Once the Restart Agent task completes, you will receive a successful message from the Gateway Task.
5. Go to your **Agent** and refresh your page. You will see a progress bar while the Gateway is starting up. This will take a few moments, and once this task completes, your Agent will be up and running.