1. 2.
Log on to the CLI of the BIG-IP system. Backup the existing cs.dat file in order to keep the original by issuing the following command:
cp /usr/libdata/configsync/cs.dat /usr/libdata/configsync/cs.dat.original 3.
By default, the /usr file system is mounted in read-only mode. Before editing the cs.dat file we need to remount /usr as read-write. To do this, issue the following command:
mount –o remount,rw /usr 4.
Using a text editor, modify the cs.dat file
vi /usr/libdata/configsync/cs.dat 5.
At the end of the file, add the following entries:
“#Custom UCS keys save.[number].file = [Custom File] save.[number].file = /usr/libdata/configsync/cs.dat.original”
Replace [number] with a higher number than the last key being used. You can add as many entries as you need. Since we have modified the cs.dat file you should also include the cs.dat.original file in the UCS archive in order save the original one as well.
6.
Save the cs.dat file by hitting the ESC button and then typing the following:
!wq 7.
Remount the /usr file system as read-only by performing the following command:
mount –o remount,ro /usr 8.
Now both the custom file and the cs.dat file should be included in the UCS archive.
The Differences Between UCS and SCF The UCS and SCF are not configuration files like the bigip.conf or the bigip_base.conf. For example, like we previously mentioned, an SCF file is useful when you would like to transfer the configuration of one BIG-IP system to another. Since the SCF tells the tmsh utility to gather the output from all the commands that has built up the runningconfiguration, it will act as a clone of the configuration which can be transferred to a new BIG-IP system. The SCF file is not device dependent and does not contain any licensing or specific objects that might be unique on a device. UCS archives on the other hand do contain this information which makes them more optimal for backup of an existing BIG-IP that can be used for disaster recovery. However, using an UCS archive to restore a faulty BIG-IP that has been replaced is not a straightforward task which we’ll cover later in this chapter.
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