Saving a backup of the candidate configuration
to persistent storage on the firewall enables you to later revert
to that backup (see
Revert
Firewall Configuration Changes). This is useful for preserving
changes that would otherwise be lost if a system event or administrator
action causes the firewall to reboot. After rebooting, PAN-OS automatically
reverts to the current version of the running configuration, which
the firewall stores in a file named running-config.xml. Saving backups
is also useful if you want to revert to a firewall configuration
that is earlier than the current running configuration. The firewall
does not automatically save the candidate configuration to persistent
storage. You must manually save the candidate configuration as a
default snapshot file (.snapshot.xml) or as a custom-named snapshot
file. The firewall stores the snapshot file locally but you can
export it to an external host.
When you edit a setting
and click OK, the firewall updates the candidate
configuration but does not save a backup snapshot.
Palo
Alto Networks recommends that you back up any important configuration
to a host external to the firewall.