Manage Your Firewalla: Migration, Recovery, and Pairing with a new phone Newsletter - Aug 16, 2023

Upgrading and Managing your Firewalla

If you're replacing or upgrading your Firewalla box, there are several ways to conveniently transfer your box settings. With Gold SE boxes shipping soon (now if you're in our beta program!), we wanted to review the basics of setting up and managing your Firewalla.

With Firewalla, you can:

• Easily carry over settings from your last Firewalla when you upgrade.
• Choose if you want to migrate data during or after initial installation. 
• Give others management privileges by pairing their phones to your Firewalla.

I'm upgrading my Firewalla. How do I replace my old box?

If you're replacing your current Firewalla with another Firewalla, you can use our Replace feature to quickly migrate your data. Note that this feature only works for Purple and Gold boxes with the same number of ports (e.g., Gold to Gold SE or Purple to Purple SE).

To replace your box, open the Firewalla app:

• Tap the "+" button on the app's main page and select the box model. 
• Power up your new box, wait for the app to find it, then scan the QR code. The app will check for any backup configurations of boxes of the same model. 
• Choose Replace an old box to install the configurations from an existing box.

• Select the box you want to migrate from.
• Choose what data you'd like to migrate. The migrated data will be appended to your new box's data. After migration is complete, your box's data will be reloaded.

If you use this post-installation migration feature, you can selectively transfer Devices, Device Groups, IP Reservation, Port Forwardings and DMZ, Rules, Alarm Settings, and Feature Settings. However, other data, such as VPN settings, network flows, and alarms, will not be migrated.

I've reset my box. How can I restore my settings?

If your box has been reset and you'd like to set it up in the same network environment with all the same data, you can choose Restore from backup during installation. Note that this feature is only available for Purple and Gold boxes.

To restore your box using backup data:

• Open the Firewalla app, tap the "+" button and select the box model. 
• Wait for the app to find your box, then scan its QR code. 
• If there are any backup configurations for the same box, you can choose to Restore from backup. The app will show a list of configurations to be restored.

Bonus: Pairing a new phone with your Firewalla

Although we recommend limiting access to your Firewalla box for security, you might occasionally need to grant another person (such as your spouse or business partner) permission to manage your Firewalla.

If you can access the phone already paired with your box:

• Launch the Firewalla app and tap on the box you want to share access to.
• Tap into Settings, then tap Advanced.
• Tap Allow Additional Pairing and turn on Additional Pairing to generate a QR code. 
• Scan the QR code using the phone you want to share access with.

If you don't have access to your original paired phone:

• If you have a Red, Blue, Blue Plus, or Purple: 
  • Pull the power plug from the Firewalla Box, then reconnect it.
  • Wait 6-8 min (don't wait too long, or the pairing process will shut down).
  • Launch the Firewalla app on your new phone.
  • Tap the "+" icon and follow the initial pairing process. 
• If you have a Gold: 
  • Make sure the Red Security Dongle is securely plugged into the USB port on your Gold.
  • Get close to the box and launch the Firewalla app on your phone. Make sure your phone has Bluetooth turned on.
  • Tap the "+" icon and follow the initial pairing process.

This is part of our Firewalla Weekly Newsletter. You can sign up here https://firewalla.com/weekly.