Import/Export Global and App Settings

[PeterKW]

Is there a way of copying/exporting the Portmaster Global Settings from one Windows device to another?

Would copying and replacing the BBOLT file work in doing this? %ProgramData%\Safing\Portmaster\databases\core\bbolt

[dhaavi]

Hey @PeterKW, thanks for the great suggestion!

Is there a way of copying/exporting the Portmaster Global Settings from one Windows device to another?

The global settings are saved in config.json in %ProgramData%\Safing\Portmaster\. You can copy this file and restart the Portmaster.

Copying settings of a single application is not possible though, but we already have this planned and in the pipeline. For future reference, we are tracking this internally with CC#1550.

In order for others to find this, I'll update your suggestion.

Would copying and replacing the BBOLT file work in doing this? %ProgramData%\Safing\Portmaster\databases\core\bbolt

I would recommend against this.

[github-actions[bot]]

Assuming the original need was handled, this will be automatically closed now.

[dhaavi]

Sorry, issue was closed by misconfigured bot.

[ghost]

Summarizing Suggestions from other issues

• Add Import/Export (optionally password encrypted)]
• Syncing over devices (could be a paid feature)
• Copy and paste rules from one app settings to another
• Allow apps to inherit rules of other apps

[aberja]

Are you able to provide an update when the import/export function will be implemented?

[hruzgar]

I am also waiting for this feature as i am switching between many pcs. Simplewall is my only option at the moment. If portmaster implements this feature it will be groundbreaking!

[antv199]

Hello, are there any updates in regards to this? Thank you.

[graham00]

Years ago I was so frustrated with the firewall situation on Windows that I wrote a custom application that runs as a system service and continuously scans the windows firewall rules, removes anything that got added by applications without my consent, and makes sure a fixed set of rules are in place to only allow what I deem essential to talk both outbound or inbound.

I looked at simplewall, but it didn't quite do it for me. Portmaster on the other hand is awesome - just played around with it in a VM. I was particularly impressed by the ability to add an app profile with path prefix OR regex...amazing! That's particularly useful because some things like Windows Defender (one of the few built-in parts of Windows I want talking to the net) regularly reach out to the internet, update themselves, and then the binaries are located in a new folder path (with a different version string). I had to recode things in my custom program to scan for the latest copy and update the firewall rules, but with the prefix/regex based rules in Portmaster that's taken care of automatically! Portmaster is really my dream come true for firewalls...and just in time, too, since we need more control than ever before with how bad Windows 11/etc is getting.

The oooonly thing holding me back from using it everywhere is this import/export ability, since I have really long rulesets due to working from a default-blocked-outbound mode and I use many computers.

If I get the time at some point (not likely, but...) I might dive into the code base and see if I could help with implementation. Or if not I'll definitely switch if/when it gets implemented anyway. Either way, kudos on portmaster!

[Morasithil]

I've also been waiting for an export-import setting since a while. I guess config.json in %ProgramData%\Safing\Portmaster\ will have to do it for now.

[ThiagoRangel7]

@dhaavi any updates on this? Noticed you removed the next label, does it mean we won't see this feature in the near future?

[dhaavi]

We are now actively working on this.

[Flashwalker]

What to do if the application became broken and the interface is inaccessible because the main service fails to start and all you got is "Please reinstall" prompt. How can I reinstall Portmaster without wiping all settings? How do I make a backup of All settings?

[Raphty]

@Flashwalker you get asked during uninstall if you want to remove the data or not.

just make sure you configure this setting correct during uninstall.

The new installation will see the settings and integrate them

[Flashwalker]

@Flashwalker you get asked during uninstall if you want to remove the data or not.

just make sure you configure this setting correct during uninstall.

The new installation will see the settings and integrate them

I doubt that. I can't find any mention about the remove the data or not, in either the install.sh script, or the .INSTALL.sh script or the prerm (.deb pkg) script. (pre_remove won't even run if /opt/safing/portmaster/.installed-files doesn't exist).

Can you point out where that is?

[Flashwalker]

🤦‍♂️ omg

[dstark]

@dhaavi, is (or could there be) a way to import and export a full profile of rules for multiple applications? I have multiple computers on multiple networks with largely identical application sets. And after sorting out the rules on one machine, it would be helpful not to have to migrate the rules application-by-application to another.

Thanks so much!

[Raphty]

@dstark we have been a bit sidetracked with the kext and the UI rework, but the sync feature for plus and pro customers is worked on and will ship soon.

with that you can automatically sync against any folder and if that folder is then distributed using next cloud or syncthing, you can keep all your devices in sync.

[dstark]

the sync feature for plus and pro customers

@raphty, thanks so much for the update. Does this imply that free plan users won't have a way to send rules to a synced folder? Or will they just need to trigger the export manually?