Overview

Maintaining reliable backups and a tested recovery process is essential for ensuring the continuity of application security services.

The GAJWAF Backup & Recovery Playbook provides a structured approach to protecting critical configuration data, securely preserving essential credentials and rebuilding a GAJWAF node following a failure, replacement or infrastructure disruption.

The playbook focuses on restoring not only the node itself but also its security policies, licensing, HTTPS certificates and ability to participate correctly in an existing GAJWAF cluster.

The guiding principle is simple: Back Up What You Can't Regenerate.

What You'll Learn

This playbook covers four essential stages of backup and recovery.

Step 1: Identify Critical Backup Components

Understand which GAJWAF components must be preserved to support successful recovery.

The guide identifies four essential items:

  • Site Configuration: Protected applications, security rules, exclusions and associated configuration settings.
  • Cluster Secret: The shared secret required for consistent security state across clustered GAJWAF nodes.
  • License: The license information needed to restore the node's licensed capabilities.
  • TLS Certificates and Private Keys: The credentials required to restore HTTPS services for protected applications.

The guide also discusses optional disk snapshots for preserving runtime information, including bans and learned traffic baselines.

Step 2: Establish a Reliable Backup Routine

Learn when and how to perform configuration exports and securely maintain backup copies.

The playbook recommends updating backups after significant configuration changes, securely storing credentials and certificates, and maintaining appropriate infrastructure snapshots.

It also explains why sensitive credentials should never be stored in unsecured files or source-code repositories.

Step 3: Rebuild and Restore a GAJWAF Node

Follow the documented recovery sequence for rebuilding a GAJWAF instance.

The process includes:

  • Deploying a fresh GAJWAF instance from the supported cloud marketplace.
  • Restoring the product license.
  • Reinstalling HTTPS certificates and private keys.
  • Importing the latest saved site configuration.
  • Restoring the correct cluster secret and node identity.
  • Verifying cluster participation and shared security state.
  • Confirming application availability and event processing before returning the node to service.

Step 4: Validate Backup and Recovery Procedures

A backup is only useful when it can be successfully restored.

The playbook explains how to test recovery using a separate GAJWAF instance, verify that restored configuration matches production and confirm that licensing, HTTPS services and cluster behavior operate correctly.

Periodic recovery testing helps identify missing backup components before an actual failure occurs.

Why This Playbook Matters

A node failure should not result in the permanent loss of security configuration or require administrators to rebuild application protection policies manually.

Following this playbook helps organizations:

  • Preserve critical GAJWAF security configurations.
  • Protect licensing information, TLS certificates and cluster credentials.
  • Reduce recovery complexity following infrastructure failures.
  • Rebuild failed or replacement nodes using documented procedures.
  • Restore consistent security behavior across clustered deployments.
  • Verify that backups are complete and recoverable.
  • Maintain operational records for backup and recovery activities.

Backup Register and Recovery Validation

The playbook includes a Backup Register to help administrators maintain a record of:

  • The items being backed up.
  • The date of the latest backup.
  • The secure storage location.
  • The responsible administrator.
  • Backup verification status.
  • The date and result of the latest recovery test.

A recovery sign-off section is also provided to document completed restoration activities.

Security Note: The backup register should record where sensitive credentials are stored, not the actual cluster secret, private keys or other confidential values.

Download the Playbook

Document: GAJWAF Playbook – Backup & Recovery
Document Version: 1.0
Document Type: Operations and Disaster Recovery Playbook
Publication: October 2026
Pages: 6
Intended Audience: GAJWAF Administrators

Attachment: GAJWAF_Playbook_Backup_Recovery.pdf

Download the attached PDF for detailed backup procedures, node restoration instructions, recovery validation steps and the backup register template.

Related Documentation

For additional guidance, refer to:

  • GAJWAF Playbook – Multi-Node Cluster Setup & Verification: Configure and verify cluster membership when restoring a node.
  • GAJWAF Playbook – Upgrade & Rollback: Manage software upgrades and recovery between GAJWAF versions.
  • GAJWAF Features & Configuration Guide: Understand licensing and high-availability clustering settings.
  • GAJWAF Quick Setup Guide – AWS & Azure: Deploy and access a new GAJWAF instance.

Technical Support

For assistance with GAJWAF backup, restoration, licensing or cluster configuration, contact GajShield Technical Support or your authorized GajShield partner.

Website: https://www.gajshield.com

GAJWAF: Different Applications. Different Protection. Shared Risk Intelligence.