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Resume a crashed burp session

Christian | Last updated: Feb 25, 2016 07:02AM UTC

I just tested (scanned) a larger web shop in a maintenance window during last nicht. On my /tmp i had 30 g free, which was not sufficient. So burp crashed. Since there are a lot of tests and results documented in the /tmp/burpxxx directory: How can I resume, or at least restore the state? That would be tremendious helpful. Thanks.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Feb 25, 2016 10:22AM UTC

Hi Christian Thanks for your message. At the moment, unless you have saved your work in a state file, there is no way to recover your data in this situation. We are working on improving the way Burp saves your data to ensure this is not an issue for our users in the future. However, we do not currently have an ETA.

Burp User | Last updated: Mar 15, 2018 02:35PM UTC

Hello, I was wondering if you have fixed this issue? I had a power outage last night and have lost hours of active scanning for a test that is now over. I see the temp files, but can't figure out how to restore those files to pick up where I left off at when it crashed. I hope with 2 years passed you have a fix for this by now. Thanks!

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Mar 15, 2018 02:45PM UTC

Are you using Burp Projects? Burp project files hold all of the data and configuration for a particular piece of work. Data is saved incrementally into the file as you work. There is no need to specifically "save" your work when you are finished. - https://portswigger.net/burp/help/suite_burp_projects

Burp User | Last updated: Mar 15, 2018 03:27PM UTC

When I started Burp I started it as temporary. I didn't actually save a project as I thought I would be able to load the temporary file if something happened.

Burp User | Last updated: Mar 15, 2018 03:30PM UTC

When I started Burp I started it as a temporary project. I thought that I would be able to load that temporary project if anything were to happen. I'm now seeing that doesn't seem to be the case.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Mar 15, 2018 03:32PM UTC

Yes, you would need to be using a disk based project. Additionally, it's worth configuring your Automatic Project Backup via User options > Misc > Automatic Project Backup.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Mar 15, 2018 03:34PM UTC

Dan, which answer are you not happy with? Are you unhappy with the way temporary projects work?

Burp User | Last updated: Sep 18, 2019 03:30AM UTC

This is a stupid answer and a pretty bullsh!t situation to leave your paying customers in.

Michael | Last updated: Mar 03, 2024 08:25PM UTC

What Dan is not happy about, is that his initial request was not satisfied. It's 2024, and Dan's issue still persists, i just faced the same: - Burp stores temporary files in %appdata%\local\Temp - these files serve to keep the project data alive inside burp - users even get a message on next start, saying "there is project data in temp folder" - what (and others, including me) expect, is that burp picks up the project from the files that exist in temp folder - it should not be relevant how the project was created, the files to it exist, all burp needs to do, is to restore the project from the temp files. Unless there is an existing solution i have overseen, please forward this to development, or otherwise i will become the next unhappy Dan : -) Thanks and best.

Michael | Last updated: Mar 03, 2024 08:27PM UTC

I forgot to add: third step would be a crash (computer crash for example). Also: would be nice if we could edit messages here... feels a bit like stoneage using this community forum.

Hannah, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Mar 04, 2024 04:57PM UTC

Hi Michael Thank you for your post. Temporary project files are stored in memory, rather than on disk. Due to this, they are not able to persist information after they've been closed. A small amount of data is written to your temporary files, but this is not the same amount of data that would be saved to disk for an actual project file. We recently made some changes to the wording around project files when selecting the type of project file that you would like, to make this difference more obvious. We've raised a feature request to provide the option for a temporary project on disk. Overall, we would recommend using disk-based project files over temporary project files, as they do not have to hold as much data in memory, and therefore have better RAM performance in comparison to a temporary project file in memory. The autosave functionality also allows you to save data throughout your project as well, as opposed to just on close.

0nuul | Last updated: Apr 07, 2024 08:45AM UTC

i am facing the exact same problem as Dan here, i have 1.5 Gigabyte worth of files in the temp files, but cant restore them in burp or open them, i really needed that data back. kinda sucks

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