C-2
Cisco Intrusion Prevention System Sensor CLI Configuration Guide for IPS 7.2
OL-29168-01
AppendixC Troubleshooting
Preventive Maintenance
If you are a registered Cisco.com user, you can view the Bug Toolkit at this URL:
http://tools.cisco.com/Support/BugToolKit/action.do?hdnAction=searchBugs
To become a registered cisco.com user, go to this URL:
http://tools.cisco.com/RPF/register/register.do
Preventive Maintenance
This section describes how to perform preventive maintenance for your sensor, and contains the
following topics:
Understanding Preventive Maintenance, page C-2
Creating and Using a Backup Configuration File, page C-2
Backing Up and Restoring the Configuration File Using a Remote Server, page C-3
Creating the Service Account, page C-5

Understanding Preventive Maintenance

The following actions will help you maintain your sensor:
Back up a good configuration. If your current configuration becom es unusable, you can replace it
with the backup version.
Save your backup configuration to a remote system.
Always back up your configuration before you do a manual u pgrade. If you have auto upgrades
configured, make sure you do periodic backups.
Create a service account. A service account is needed for special debug situations directed by TAC.
Caution
You should carefully consider whether you want to create a service account. The service account
provides shell access to the system, which makes the system vulnerable. Analyze your situation to decide
if you want a service account existing on the system.
For More Information
For the procedure for backing up a configuration file, see Creating and Using a Backup
Configuration File, page C-2.
For the procedure for using a remote server to copy and restore the a configuration file, see Backing
Up and Restoring the Configuration File Using a Remote Server, page C-3.
For more information about the service account, see Creating the Service Account, page C-5.

Creating and Using a Backup Configuration File

To protect your configuration, you can back up the current configuration and then display it to confirm
that is the configuration you want to save. If you need to restore this configuration, you can merge the
backup configuration file with the current configuration or overwrite the current configuration file with
the backup configuration file.