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"Archive running-config"

To save a copy of the current running configuration to the Cisco IOS configuration archive, use the archive config command in privileged EXEC mode.

         archive config

The Cisco IOS configuration archive is intended to provide a mechanism to store, organize, and manage an archive of Cisco IOS configuration files in order to enhance the configuration rollback capability provided by the configure replace command. Before this feature was introduced, you could save copies of the running configuration using the copy running-config destination-url command, storing the target file either locally or remotely. However, this method lacked any automated file management. On the other hand, the Configuration Replace and Configuration Rollback feature provides the capability to automatically save copies of the running configuration to the Cisco IOS configuration archive. These archived files serve as checkpoint configuration references and can be used by the configure replace command to revert to previous configuration states.

The archive config command allows you to save Cisco IOS configurations in the configuration archive using a standard location and filename prefix that is automatically appended with an incremental version number (and optional timestamp) as each consecutive file is saved. This functionality provides a means for consistent identification of saved Cisco IOS configuration files. You can specify how many versions of the running configuration will be kept in the archive. After the maximum number of files has been saved in the archive, the oldest file will be automatically deleted when the next, most recent file is saved. The show archive command displays information for all configuration files saved in the Cisco IOS configuration archive.

Examples
The following example shows how to save the current running configuration to the Cisco IOS configuration archive using the archive config command. Before using the archive config command, you must configure the path command in order to specify the location and filename prefix for the files in the Cisco IOS configuration archive. In this example, the location and filename prefix is specified as disk0:myconfig as follows:

         Router# configure terminal

         Router(config)# archive

         Router(config-archive)# path flash:myconfig

You then save the current running configuration in the configuration archive as follows:

          Router# archive config

The show archive command displays information on the files saved in the configuration archive as shown in the following sample output:

         Router#show archive
         There are currently 3 archive configurations saved.
         The next archive file will be named flash:myconfig-3
         Archive # Name
         0
         1 flash:myconfig-1
         2 flash:myconfig-2 <- Most Recent
         3
         4
         5
         6
         7
         8
         9
         10
         11
         12
         13
         14

To restore the config, you can do the following:

          r1#configure replace flash:myconfig-2
         This will apply all necessary additions and deletions
         to replace the current running configuration with the
         contents of the specified configuration file, which is
         assumed to be a complete configuration, not a partial
         configuration. Enter Y if you are sure you want to proceed. ? [no]: y
         Total number of passes: 0
         Rollback Done

The archive command is great for keeping multiple copies of the running config in an archive.

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