Im looking for a way to back up by network device configurations nightly. Can I do this anyway with PRTG?
Can I backup my switch configurations via PRTG?
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1
Best Answer
Accepted Answer
Votes:
1
Thomas is right here. Cacti and Nagios are both using plugins and it's the same way for PRTG.
It should be even easier, since you can use kron on the Cisco appliance to run commands on a schedule. So my approach would be:
- Install a TFTP server on your PRTG server and configure it accordingly
- Setup kron to execute the following command. Make sure it points to your PRTG server:
copy system:running-config tftp:[[[//location]/directory]/filename] - For every configuration, create a file sensor that triggers upon file content changes
- Use the following script to archive your configurations as they get updated as a notification with %sensor as parameter. Make sure that the sensor name matches the configuration file:
param($fileName = "Test.cfg")
#region configuration
[string]$date = (Get-Date -Format "ddMMyyyy-HH.mm.ss")
[string]$currentFile = [string]::Format("D:\prtg\router-config-backups\{0}",$fileName);
[string]$backupFileName = [string]::Format("{0}-{1}",$date,$fileName);
[string]$backupFilePath = [string]::Format("D:\prtg\router-config-backups\archive\{0}",$backupFileName);
#endregion
Copy-Item $currentFile $backupFilePath
You could also use a hardcoded name within the configuration, the solution above probably better.
Created on Oct 25, 2016 10:23:56 AM by
Last change on Jan 18, 2017 8:09:13 AM by
23 Replies
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Hi,
I'm afraid it is not possible to backup switch configs with PRTG. PRTG is intended to be a monitoring system and has no configuration management capabilities. Sorry.
Best regards
Created on Apr 9, 2013 6:16:16 AM by
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As Konstantin mentioned already, PRTGs intended use is monitoring, not configuration management.
The only thing that might come to PRTG is the monitoring of a change within a switch configuration. Sorry!
Created on May 14, 2015 9:08:47 AM by
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Hi Daniel, I'll count your vote to our internal wish list as well.
Best regards
Created on Jul 17, 2015 4:55:45 AM by
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Thank you very much for your feedback. We understand that there are requests for handling device configurations with PRTG, we decided against such features for the time being though, as we purely want PRTG to focus on monitoring (purely reading monitoring information from devices).
Created on Sep 21, 2015 4:40:27 AM by
Votes:
6
Hi Stovakor
If you really want such a feature, create a custom script using PLINK (putty commandline) to backup your cisco devices with the command "wr net" (or directly use the code to upload the config) to a tftp server (inside the network). Then let the customscript check if some "filecontent" has changed. If the new file is different then the one from 24hours ago, return it to the sensor.
But I totally agree to PRTG. Its a monitoring tool not a backuptool.
google compare -> powershell compare filecontent
google plink -> use plink to backup cisco switch
regards Thomas
Last change on Sep 23, 2015 5:50:26 AM by
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Yes PRTG is a monitoring tool, and it does a great job. "Network Monitoring" is a broad term and can mean monitoring any aspect of a network including but not limited to anything that can affect it's performance, reliability, or enhance troubleshooting during an impactful event as the result of monitoring something. This surely includes network device configuration change monitoring and notification. If you have tens or even hundreds of devices with multiple departments or groups accessing then it's important to have processes in place to approve network changes before implementing them. But regardless it's not a question of "if" config changes will ever break something, it's "when". And having automatic config change notifications can greatly shorten the time for restoration. Of course one of the first questions you ask when something is broke is, what has recently changed? This is where monitoring network device configuration changes can help.
Network config monitoring built-in to applications are usually basic, including features such as change notification via email including the actual changes (See Cattools, it does an awesome job emailing changes), quickly restore previous config, and current configs stored in a folder to use for compare. More advanced features usually come in separate programs from the same network monitoring companies.
Backup is an inherited feature because to compare you must keep a copy of the current config to compare against the next pulled config.
Network device configuration monitoring is included in the umbrella of "monitoring" as stated in above posts. Some other very popular network monitoring companies (or communities) below also think so, because the function is either native in their application or available as a plug-in, or separate program with more functionality.
WhatsUp Gold TotalView Plus has this feature built-in, and other versions have it available as an add-on
SolarWinds has this feature as a separate program called NCM (not the same as Cattools) that goes way beyond simple configuration change notification and backup.
- Cattools is from SolarWinds and is a cheaper basic program for configuration monitoring.
- SpiceWorks has this feature built-in and is free.
- Cacti has an available plug-in for this feature and is free.
- Nagios has an available plug-in for this feature and is free.
I've used and managed several of the programs above in production environments (Spiceworks, Cacti, and Whatsup Gold), and have tested with Nagios. We have since moved to PRTG and lost this feature, and currently use Cattools by Solarwinds. Cattools isn't very expensive but it would be nice to have this feature in PRTG so we could eliminate another program to manage and maintain.
There are only 3 features I feel that are mandatory in relation to PRTG:
- Device configuration monitoring with change notification via the normal PRTG methods
- Add config change events to "Logs" in PRTG and give a way to filter only config changes
- Have current configs stored on the PRTG server that can be used in case of complete device failure
Again #3 is inherit. These 3 basic features would give PRTG yet another edge over it's competition.
Take care all.
Last change on Oct 24, 2016 8:21:21 PM by
Accepted Answer
Votes:
1
Thomas is right here. Cacti and Nagios are both using plugins and it's the same way for PRTG.
It should be even easier, since you can use kron on the Cisco appliance to run commands on a schedule. So my approach would be:
- Install a TFTP server on your PRTG server and configure it accordingly
- Setup kron to execute the following command. Make sure it points to your PRTG server:
copy system:running-config tftp:[[[//location]/directory]/filename] - For every configuration, create a file sensor that triggers upon file content changes
- Use the following script to archive your configurations as they get updated as a notification with %sensor as parameter. Make sure that the sensor name matches the configuration file:
param($fileName = "Test.cfg")
#region configuration
[string]$date = (Get-Date -Format "ddMMyyyy-HH.mm.ss")
[string]$currentFile = [string]::Format("D:\prtg\router-config-backups\{0}",$fileName);
[string]$backupFileName = [string]::Format("{0}-{1}",$date,$fileName);
[string]$backupFilePath = [string]::Format("D:\prtg\router-config-backups\archive\{0}",$backupFileName);
#endregion
Copy-Item $currentFile $backupFilePath
You could also use a hardcoded name within the configuration, the solution above probably better.
Created on Oct 25, 2016 10:23:56 AM by
Last change on Jan 18, 2017 8:09:13 AM by
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0
Can you confirm that it actually works via kron? Then I could come up with something... ;)
Created on Oct 28, 2016 5:19:58 AM by
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0
We understand the need for this, but as mentioned above, PRTG mainly is a monitoring tool and as such monitoring related features have a higher priority.
Created on Jul 6, 2020 11:56:08 AM by
Disclaimer: The information in the Paessler Knowledge Base comes without warranty of any kind. Use at your own risk. Before applying any instructions please exercise proper system administrator housekeeping. You must make sure that a proper backup of all your data is available.
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