How to backup the whole iPhone as .ipws file?

[danswano]

Is there a way i can backup the while iPhone system and files as a .ipws file to restore it with itunes or pwnage tool

Backup the ystem with installed apps and settings instead of regular restore then install apps

i'm using 2.2, can someone help me with his knowledge ?

[afi]

good question

[moritz_schlarb]

I think that wouldn't work, if you mean AppStore-Apps.
Thats because the iPhone-Filesystem consists of two Partitions, the root-partition (/) and the var-partition (/var) (for more information about the unix partitioning scheme, ask google ).
All Appstore apps go to /var/mobile/Applications, whereas the Cydia apps go to /Applications, and and are therefore saved within the root-partition. The iPhone-Firmware-File (.ipsw) contains mainly the root-partition.
If you create a custom-firmware with pwnageTool or sn0wbreeze, you can select packages and sources you want to install to the image, thats because these are then directly stored on the root-partition.
Propably you CAN also save normal Apps to the firmware, but i don't know any information about that