OpenClash Backup: Download and Check the Archive

There is more to save than the active YAML file

Before updating the plugin or changing rules, downloading the active YAML file may seem like enough. But that file is only part of the configuration: subscription update settings, plugin options and custom files may be stored elsewhere. To preserve the current OpenClash configuration, first distinguish an individual configuration download from the plugin's full backup.

This guide was checked against the official source and release notes for OpenClash v0.47.156. The menu paths refer to the Simplified Chinese LuCI interface; the English labels Config Manage and Backup help identify the controls. This does not mean that an English interface was separately verified. OpenClash is a maintained OpenWrt plugin, not Clash Verge Rev for Windows or Clash for Windows. You must already be able to sign in to your router and open this plugin version. This guide does not install firmware or a core, and layouts may differ across OpenWrt-derived firmware.

You do not choose a CPU architecture to download a backup, but the archive may contain a core built for the original device's architecture. Record the router model, firmware version, CPU architecture and OpenClash version. Do not treat this archive as a universal installer for another device. The steps below cover downloading and local inspection only, not uploading a backup for restoration.

Use Backup on the Config Manage page

Finish editing settings and wait for subscription updates or other configuration changes to complete before starting. A backup reads the files on disk at that time, not unsaved text in an editor. It is also not a system snapshot that guarantees every file represents exactly the same instant. Avoid upgrading the plugin or rewriting configuration while the download is in progress.

Sign in to your own router's LuCI interface. Under the services menu, open OpenClash and locate the configuration management page, identified by Config Manage.
Find Backup in the file operations area. You do not need to select a local file or change the upload file type.
Click Backup once and wait for the browser to finish downloading. The browser controls the save location; the button becoming available again does not prove that the download is complete.
On your computer, confirm that the download is a .tar.gz file and keep the original copy. If the browser asks where to save it, choose a folder that is not publicly shared.

Uploading is not the next backup step: in this version, the backup button directly requests a full backup. The nearby upload file type selector and upload control send files back to the router. Do not select a backup-file upload type and upload something just to obtain a backup.

The normal response filename starts with Backup-OpenClash-, followed by the device name, system-reported architecture and time, and ends in .tar.gz. The time comes from the router's clock. If the frontend cannot obtain the response filename, it may instead use Backup-OpenClash.tar.gz. A filename helps organize your copies, but does not by itself establish an accurate creation time or complete contents.

What does a full backup contain?

In this version, the full backup operation copies /etc/config/openclash to /etc/openclash/openclash, archives the current contents of /etc/openclash/, and removes that temporary copy after outputting the archive. Paths inside the archive generally begin with ./, rather than the full /etc/openclash/ path.

Archive entry	What to check	What it does not mean
`./openclash`	The copied plugin UCI settings file is present	This is another proxy core executable
`./config/`	The YAML filenames you intended to preserve are present	This directory alone contains every plugin setting
`./custom/`, `./overwrite/`, `./proxy_provider/`, `./rule_provider/`	The custom files and provider data you actually use are accounted for	Every device must have the same files and quantities
`./core/` and data files	Distinguish regular files from symbolic links to other locations	A listed name proves the actual core or data was fully included

This table is a set of checks, not a directory template that every device must match. Contents vary with your setup. Archiving this directory does not also back up OpenWrt system configuration files such as /etc/config/network and /etc/config/firewall, all router firmware or other plugins. It is not a substitute for an OpenWrt system backup.

Small-flash mode needs separate attention: some cores or data may reside in /tmp/etc/openclash, with symbolic links in the original directory. A name appearing in the backup does not prove that the actual data at the link target is included. It therefore cannot guarantee that the plugin will run immediately after an offline restore. This guide does not ask you to disable small-flash mode or change existing storage paths.

Inspect the file locally; do not restore it just to test it

Open your downloaded file with a trusted local archive viewer. Browse the contents first without running any included programs. Some tools show the outer gzip layer before the tar archive inside; this is not necessarily an error. Look for ./openclash and the expected files under ./config/, and watch for unreadable-content, unexpected-end or corruption warnings.

There is only one YAML file: this is usually not the full plugin backup described here. Return to Config Manage and confirm that you used Backup. Renaming a file to give it a .tar.gz extension does not create a backup archive.
The download contains a web page or login page: confirm that your LuCI session is still signed in and that the management address is correct, then download again. A page returned after a session expires is not a backup.
The archive is damaged or expected files are missing: retain an earlier readable copy instead of overwriting your only backup. Let ongoing configuration changes finish, then download again. If the problem persists, stop before proceeding with an upgrade or restoration.
The size differs from someone else's backup: cores, rule sets and device storage arrangements all affect size. There is no universal normal size in megabytes, and a plausible size does not prove recoverability.

Being able to open the contents list is only an initial check. It does not establish that YAML syntax is valid, subscriptions remain active, nodes can connect or a restoration has succeeded. In v0.47.156, backup data is streamed through a pipeline rather than first writing the entire compressed archive to /tmp, but the plugin settings are temporarily copied. This does not mean the operation performs no disk writes, uses no memory or is guaranteed to succeed with insufficient free space.

Keep a private, unchanged copy before making further changes

Save a short note with the backup: router model, firmware and plugin versions, architecture, save date and whether small-flash mode was enabled. Keep an unchanged original in private storage you control, not only on a router you are about to reinstall. Do not replace a known usable copy until you have checked the new file.

Treat the backup as potential account data: configuration files and plugin settings may contain subscription tokens, node passwords or controller secrets. Do not upload the full archive to an online extraction service, public file share, group chat or GitHub issue. Share only redacted error messages and the minimum relevant excerpts when asking for help.

If you later need to restore a backup, first save the configuration that is current at that point. Check the device, architecture and version limits, and prepare a way to reinstall the matching plugin or retrieve a known working configuration. The official upload-and-restore operation writes plugin files and settings; it is not a read-only preview or a system rollback guaranteed to reproduce every old file byte for byte. This guide does not provide steps for overwriting configurations across devices or versions.

The goal is a backup with a known origin, readable contents and a scope you understand. Downloading and inspecting it does not require changing proxy mode, updating the core or uploading a file. There is no need to overwrite a working router's configuration immediately just to prove that the backup exists.

Official sources and version scope

Version numbers, filenames, and interface labels can change. Confirm them in the linked project documentation before making changes.