pfSense – How to Bulk Export Aliases for Import

pfsense

This seems like a simple thing but there doesn't appear to be an easy way (in the GUI). Before I dive into the file system level, I thought I'd ask — is there an easy export of aliases from pfSense?

The online help (https://doc.pfsense.org/index.php/Aliases) lists a bulk import but makes no mention of export or bulk saving. I have a long list of aliases and it would be nice for this to be done swiftly and repeatably.

I have the High Availability pfsync set up but it does not seem to transfer any aliases even though "Firewall aliases" is checked.

Thank you!

UPDATE: So at least part of the syncing issue is that the two firewalls I am syncing are on different versions of pfSense… but my project is to move all the config options from one to the other so I can upgrade it.

Best Answer

I was able to use Diagnostics / Backup & Restore / Backup & Restore to complete this task.

Diagnostics / Backup & Restore / Backup & Restore

Select "Aliases" under Backup area for both exporting and importing.

Restore

Obviously in the restore step you will need to upload the same file you downloaded in the backup step.

Note: this did wipe out all previously existing aliases on the destination firewall.

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