I went to the admin guide for 9.6 (version I am using today)
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/asa/asa96/configuration/general/asa-96-general-config/ha-contexts.html#ID-2171-0000033dHere are some lines that might help:
When you add a context URL, the system immediately loads the context so that it is running, if the configuration is available.
Enter the allocate-interface commands before you enter the config-url command. If you enter the config-url command first, the ASA loads the context configuration immediately. If the context contains any commands that refer to (not yet configured) interfaces, those commands fail.
The filename does not require a file extension, although we recommend using “.cfg”. The server must be accessible from the admin context. If the configuration file is not available, you see the following warning message:
WARNING: Could not fetch the URL url
INFO: Creating context with default config
For non-HTTP(S) URL locations, after you specify the URL, you can then change to the context, configure it at the CLI, and enter the write memory command to write the file to the URL location. (HTTP(S) is read only).
The admin context file must be stored on the internal flash memory.
Available URL types include: disknumber (for flash memory), ftp, http, https, or tftp.
To change the URL, reenter the config-url command with a new URL.
I understand there should be no impact, nevertheless I don't understand at all this: "When you add a context URL, the system immediately loads the context so that it is running, if the configuration is available" - why would it immediatelly load the context? After all it should be the path location for saving run to startup, right?!
