Checkpoint: Recover / Recreate a Dead Checkpoint Smartcenter from Files in $FWDIR

Smartcenter dead, only the disk survives. All credit to RStewart from cpshared for sharing the knowledge found in sk article sk32508 article which unfortunately is internal only. I have only re-worded and re-formatted in places. If anything is wrong or missing, please let me know; I went through this process a couple of weeks ago and am now writing from memory ..

  • Take the following 3 files from the SC’s conf directory ($FWDIR/conf) :
    • objects_5_0.C
    • rulebases_5_0.fws
    • fwauth.NDB
  • Build a new SmartCenter of the same version
  • Install the Check Point software from the CD and reboot.
  • Go through sysconfig and configure the OS and the Check Point software. Set the hostname to match the CMA name as closely as you can.
  • Do not reboot and don’t start the products!
  • Put the 3 files above into $FWDIR/conf.
  • Reboot and once the server is up, check you can log in through the dashboard. If you can’t then either something very bad has happened or the instructions above weren’t followed to the T.

Once you have successfully logged in with dashboard, you can progress to the next phase:

  • Follow the process to rename a SmartCenter, which is found in the sk article: https://supportcenter.checkpoint.com/supportcenter/portal?eventSubmit_doGoviewsolutiondetails=&solutionid=sk42071

Once the above is complete you will need to do a brutal fwm sic_reset – this involves manually removing any certificates from the objects file.

  • Follow the sk article below to remove the certificates: https://supportcenter.checkpoint.com/supportcenter/portal?eventSubmit_doGoviewsolutiondetails=&solutionid=sk10451
  • Give it a reboot and you should be good to go

If you’re doing an upgrade from an unsupported version to R7x.x one, the following docs may be useful:

  • http://fireverse.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Upgrade-to-R70.pdf
  • http://fireverse.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Upgrade-to-R71.pdf
  • http://fireverse.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Upgrade-to-R75.gif

Original reference: https://www.cpshared.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1163.html

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.