File Menu

Save Changes

The save changes option will save the current configuration settings. Once settings have been changed, the current configuration will be restored if the system is restarted. If the system is restarted after making changes but without saving changes, the changes will be lost when the system is restarted.

Activate Changes

The activate changes option will cause the device to re-initialize certain settings which have been changed since the last time changes were activated (or the system was restarted). This includes ethernet or wireless interfaces, static or policy routing settings, static ARP, bridging (spanning tree protocol), and dns server options. All other changes either activate immediately or require different activation. For more information on these other changes, please see the advanced menu page for scripts (firewall, CBQ, NAT) and the system menu page for system services.

When activate changes is selected, the system will display a prompt asking "Do you wish to save your settings before activation?". Choosing yes will cause the system to perform a Save Changes prior to activating the changes, which choosing no will cause the system to activate the changes without saving. Finally, the dialog box also provides the opportunity to cancel, which will end the activate changes action without effect.

Activating changes without saving can be useful for making questionable changes to wireless interfaces on remote devices, when used in conjunction with the ping watchdog service. If ping watchdog is unable to re-establish communication with the network, it will reset the device after a specified period of time, thus reloading the old settings and reverting the changes that disconnected the device. This can allow some changes to remote units without needing to be physically at the unit's location to troubleshoot failed changes.

Reboot Machine

The reboot machine option will cause the device to shut down and reboot. Rebooting the machine is the only way to enable or disable connection tracking and also the only way to complete the firmware upgrade procedure. To reboot a device from a command line (instead of an SSH session), you can use starutil with the following syntax:

starutil {ip address} {password} [-p port] -reboot

{} = required information
[] = optional information

Exit

The exit option will end the SSH session. The exit option can also be accessed via keyboard shortcut by pressing Alt-X at any point in the SSH session.