Backing up the management software image to a secure FTP server

Use this information to back up the IBM® Flex System Manager management software image to a secure FTP (SFTP) server that has Secure Shell (SSH). The backup image includes all applied fixes, data on managed chassis, and any custom settings.

You can back up the management software image to an SFTP server by using either the Backup and Restore page in the web interface or the command-line interface (CLI).

Important: To backup the management software to an SFTP server, the destination server must have Linux with Secure Shell (SSH) enabled. Otherwise, the backup operation might fail.

For more information about backing up the software to a USB drive or the management node hard disk drive, see Backing up the management software image to a USB drive or Backing up the management software image to the hard disk drive.

Important: Do not power off the IBM Flex System Manager management node while a backup operation is in process. Otherwise, the backup will fail.

To back up the management software image to an SFTP server with the management software web interface, complete the following steps:

From the Home page, click the Administration tab.
On the Administration tab under Serviceability tasks, click Backup and Restore. The Backup and Restore page opens.
From the Backup and Restore page, click Backup Now. The Backup Now window opens.
Select SFTP Server.
Type the SFTP filepath, user name, and password; then, click OK.
Note: Please note that the following characters cannot be used in the directory paths for SFTP backups created using the web interface: '_', '#', '$', and '*'.

To back up the management software image with the backup command in the management software CLI, complete the following steps.

Important: A backup that is created with the backup command does not appear in the Recent Backups table on the Backup and Restore page in the management software web interface.

Open a CLI prompt.
Use the backup command with the SFTP server name, path, user name, and password (see the following example) to back up the software image to SFTP:
```
backup -l sftp -s [sftp server name] -d [path on sftp server] -u [sftp user name] -p [sftp_password]
```
A file named yyyymmddhhmmss.tar.gz(where yyyymmddhhmmss is the year, month, day, hour, minute, and second the file was created) is saved on the SFTP server.

See Restoring the management software image from a secure FTP server for information about how to restore the management software image from an SFTP server.