SMA 100 series: Partial import or full import of settings/configuration?

03/26/2020 10 5633

DESCRIPTION:

This is a common query among the SonicWall SMA customers about doing a partial import or a full import/normal import of settings on the appliance. 

CAUSE:

Most likely situations when settings import is required are :
1) Migration from an old device to a new one.
2) Replication of settings across various devices in production and test beds.
3) Recovering the device after resetting.

RESOLUTION:

When can i do a partial import and why do i need it?
Only when you do not want the network settings (interface IPs , gateway , DNS , static routes, IP pool) to be imported on the appliance. It means everything from the configuration file will be retained except for the network settings. This is useful when moving the device across networks or during redeployment of new virtual appliance when a network conflict between an old device and the newly spun up appliance could cause confusion.

In one scenario where you have exported a settings file from an High Availability pair and you want to import this on a stand alone appliance, only partial import is allowed because the network configuration of the HA cluster is not acceptable on a stand alone appliance.

How can i do it?
1) Navigate to System > Settings and click on "Import".
2) Choose the settings file from local PC database
3) Before clicking on upload enable the "Import the settings partially" button.

What about full/normal import?
Everything gets copied from your old settings to the new one including the network specifics mentioned above. Here if the device already holds certain network configuration , it will be overridden by the new settings along with all the other settings.

A full import from HA pair to a stand alone appliance will not succeed as mentioned.