I have seen several discussion regarding backup up ACE contexts. The better solution will be for CatTools to natively support the appropriate ACE backup method. The problem with performing a sh run or the like is that not all of the ACE configuration is in it; items like certificates, keys and licenses are not included. So while you could use the sh run commands to restore an ACE, you will be lacking key information. To peform a full ACE back, you need to issue the command of:
backup all
That will backup all contexts, licenses, certificates and keys. This can take a few minutes to run. Once that is done, you will need to get the file off of the ACE, the command to do this is:
copy backup-all ftp: sftp: address
It will then ask several questions, like the filename (and enter will use the default) but it also wants to know the username (no default offered), the file transfer mode (the default is bin), passive mode (default is yes) and then the password to use for the FTP/SFTP server. Once that is done, it will transfer the file. Another nice option would be if CatTools could perform the backup and then the copy of it in a single job and be able to grab the filename used and then delete the file off of the device once the copy of the back-up is complete.
If you have an ACE, you should vote for this functionality. If you ever have to restore an ACE, this is what you will want to use. It takes a few minutes to perform the back up and in a restore, it takes a few minutes as well. No need to paste certificates and keys in manually; this could save you hours of work.
