# Restoring backups

Restoring backups allows you to recover from the loss of the system configurations, or to relocate the SMC servers onto different hardware.

You can restore backups that were created in one operating system to an installation running on another operating system. You can also restore Management Server and Log Server backups that were created on a non-appliance installation to an SMC Appliance.

Note: In FIPS-compatible operating mode, you can only restore backups that were created for an SMC in FIPS-compatible operating mode. You cannot restore backups that were created in an SMC in FIPS-compatible operating mode on an SMC that is not in FIPS-compatible operating mode.

You can restore backups from the previous major version of the SMC in the current major version of the SMC. You might not be able to restore Backups taken from older versions. Generally, you can restore backups between versions that support direct upgrades between the versions. See the upgrade instructions in the Release Notes. If an intermediate upgrade is required between your current version and the newest version, upgrade the existing installation to the intermediate version to create a working backup.

When you restore a backup, the backup restoration process checks that there is enough disk space on the destination drive. Twice the size of the backup file is required. If there is not enough available disk space, the restoration fails.