diff --git a/backup.sh b/backup.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2b385f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backup.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+
+# function definition
+function do_backup()
+{
+  wget -qO- --keep-session-cookies --save-cookies cookies.txt \
+    --no-check-certificate ${url}/diag_backup.php \
+    | grep "name='__csrf_magic'" | sed 's/.*value="\(.*\)".*/\1/' > csrf.txt
+
+  wget -qO- --keep-session-cookies --load-cookies cookies.txt \
+    --save-cookies cookies.txt --no-check-certificate \
+    --post-data "login=Login&usernamefld=${PFSENSE_USER}&passwordfld=${PFSENSE_PASS}&__csrf_magic=$(cat csrf.txt)" \
+    ${url}/diag_backup.php  | grep "name='__csrf_magic'" \
+    | sed 's/.*value="\(.*\)".*/\1/' > csrf2.txt
+
+  wget --keep-session-cookies --load-cookies cookies.txt --no-check-certificate \
+    --post-data "download=download${getrrd}&__csrf_magic=$(head -n 1 csrf2.txt)" \
+    ${url}/diag_backup.php -q -O ${destination}/config-${BACKUPNAME}-${timestamp}.xml
+  return_value=$?
+  if [ $return_value -eq 0 ]; then
+    echo "Backup saved as ${destination}/config-${BACKUPNAME}-${timestamp}.xml"
+  else
+    echo "Backup failed"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  rm cookies.txt csrf.txt csrf2.txt
+}
+
+# main execution
+# check for required parameters
+errors=0
+if [ -z "$PFSENSE_IP" ]; then echo "Must provide PFSENSE_IP" ; errors=$(($errors + 1)) ; fi
+if [ -z "$PFSENSE_USER" ]; then echo "Must provide PFSENSE_USER" ; errors=$(($errors + 1)); fi
+if [ -z "$PFSENSE_PASS" ]; then echo "Must provide PFSENSE_PASS" ; errors=$(($errors + 1)); fi
+if [ -z "$PFSENSE_SCHEME" ]; then echo "Must provide PFSENSE_SCHEME" ; errors=$(($errors + 1)); fi
+if [ -z "$BACKUPNAME" ]; then BACKUPNAME=$PFSENSE_IP; fi
+if [ $errors -ne 0 ]; then exit 1; fi
+
+# check for optional parameters
+if [ -z "$PFSENSE_CRON_SCHEDULE" ]; then cron=0 ; else cron=1 ; fi
+if [ -z "$PFSENSE_BACK_UP_RRD_DATA" ]; then
+  getrrd=""
+else
+  if [ "$PFSENSE_BACK_UP_RRD_DATA" == "0" ] ; then
+    getrrd="&donotbackuprrd=yes"
+  else
+    getrrd=""
+  fi
+fi
+if [ -z "$PFSENSE_BACKUP_DESTINATION_DIR" ]; then
+  destination="/data"
+else
+  destination="$PFSENSE_BACKUP_DESTINATION_DIR"
+fi
+
+# set up variables
+url=${PFSENSE_SCHEME}://${PFSENSE_IP}
+timestamp=$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)
+
+do_backup