This article advises on how to create a backup of the configuration on Juniper Networks switches or on the PC with access to CLI, without the need to have a remote archive server and configuration, although an FTP server can be used to store the configuration for later re-configuration in case it is needed.

The configuration of a Juniper Networks switch needs to be backed up for maintenance purposes in case something goes wrong during the activity, so that the same can be re-configured quickly without having configured archive remote hosts previously.

1) You can backup your configuration by generating a text file in “/var/tmp/” containing the entire configuration in set commands. To create the text file, you will use the command below, and you can download the file to a remote host or a PC via FTP or SCP just like transferring any file from the switch to the remote host/PC. Note that the file transfer can be done via USB drive as well.

user@switch > show configuration | display set | no-more | save /var/tmp/FILENAME.txt

2) The other way to back it up is by running the command below. Then you can copy all the set commands and paste them into a text file on your PC and save it.

user@switch > show configuration | display set | no-more