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Docs · vSoft-Network-Backup

Getting started with Network Backup

Install, add your Cisco devices, schedule backups, and protect the tool itself with Full System Backup.

Requirements

  • Windows 10 / 11 (64-bit).
  • Administrator rights to run the installer.
  • SSH reachability from this machine to the Cisco routers and switches you want to back up.

Install

  1. Download the latest installer from the Updates page and, optionally, verify its SHA-256: 
    certutil -hashfile CiscoConfigBackup-Beta-Setup.exe SHA256
  2. Run it as Administrator. It installs vSoft-Network-Backup as a Windows Service, so it keeps running in the background through reboots, logons and logoffs.
  3. Open the local HTTPS dashboard to sign in and start adding devices. The dashboard is self-hosted and reachable only from your own network.

Add devices

Add each Cisco router or switch with its address and credentials. Credentials go into an encrypted vault protected by Windows DPAPI — they are never stored in plain text and never shown back in the UI.

Approve the SSH host key The first connection to a new device asks you to approve its SSH host key explicitly. After that, a changed key is flagged rather than trusted silently, protecting you from man-in-the-middle swaps.

Schedules & history

Give each device a daily, weekly or custom schedule and configurations are pulled automatically — no manual exports. Every backup is kept, and the diff view compares any run with the previous one so configuration drift is easy to spot.

Built-in SFTP server

Alongside the standard SSH pull workflow, a built-in SFTP server gives devices and scripts a secure, central place to push backup files to.

Sign-in & security

  • Multi-factor authentication — admin sign-in supports TOTP codes from an authenticator app.
  • RADIUS & TACACS+ — sign-in can defer to your existing AAA infrastructure.
  • SIEM export — forward security-relevant audit events to a syslog/CEF-speaking SIEM; just set a destination. (VSoftSol Syslog Manager works well as that destination.)

Full System Backup & Restore

Protect the tool itself, not just your device configs. Go to Settings → Full System Backup:

  • Backup now downloads a .zip snapshot of the database, configuration and certificates — devices, credentials, schedules and settings — with no service downtime.
  • Restore from backup validates and stages an uploaded snapshot, then a SYSTEM-level scheduled task stops the service, takes an automatic pre-restore safety snapshot, applies the restore and restarts the service.
Safe by design If anything fails partway through a restore, it automatically reverts to the pre-restore safety snapshot. A progress page tracks the restore through the service restart.

Full System Backup is a same-machine disaster-recovery feature. Keep copies of the downloaded .zip files somewhere other than the server itself.

Updating

Use the in-app Check for Updates feature, or download the latest installer from the Updates page and run it as Administrator. Each release is published with its SHA-256 checksum so you can verify it before installing.

Collecting logs too? Read the Syslog Manager guide.