How to Create and Use Snapshots of a Volume of a Gandi Cloud Server¶
Snapshots allow you to take an instant picture of your volume at a given point in time.
You can use a snapshot to rollback your volume to its state when the snapshot was created if you experiment or do a bad manipulation.
You can also create a new disk from the snapshot to retrieve data from it as needed.
Warning
A snapshot is a frozen version of your volume that allows you to restore it to a previous state. It should not be regarded as a backup of your volume. If your volume is deleted, all related snapshots will be deleted too.
A snapshot is stored on the very same disks as your volume, and it does not replace a backup policy with a real copy of the volume to a remote localization.
You can create a snapshot manually or set up your volume to create snapshots automatically. Below you can also find instructions on how to restore from a volume snapshot and how to delete existing snapshots.
Manual Snapshots¶
To create a manual snapshot follow these steps:
After logging in, click “Cloud” from the left menu.
Click on the name of the server where you wish to create the volume.
Click on the “Volumes” tab.
Click on the name of the volume you wish to edit.
Click “Create Manually” next to the green plus icon in the Snapshots section.
Create a name for your snapshot.
Review the cost of your snapshot. This cost will automatically be deducted from your current cloud credit.
Click the green “Create” button.
Automatic Snapshots¶
To set up automatic snapshots, or to change the schedule of existing automatic snapshots, follow these steps:
After logging in, click “Cloud” from the left menu.
Click on the name of the server where you wish to create the volume.
Click on the “Volumes” tab.
Click on the name of the volume you wish to edit.
Click “Change” in the snapshots section next to the current automatic snapshots schedule.
Choose the schedule that best fits your needs. Note that each snapshot will increase the monthly fee for the volume slightly.
Click “Edit.”
Restore from Snapshot¶
To restore a volume from an existing snapshot follow these steps:
After logging in, click “Cloud” from the left menu.
Click on the name of the server where you wish to create the volume.
Click on the “Volumes” tab.
Click on the name of the volume you wish to edit.
Click “Restore” next to the snapshot you wish to restore.
The next page will explain the steps you need to take to fully restore the volume.
Click “Restore” to continue the process.
You will be taken to the dialog to create a new volume. Make sure “Create from snapshot” is selected on top, then give the volume a new name.
Check to accept the Cloud service conditions.
Click “Create.”
Click “Cloud” from the left navigation menu.
Click on the name of the server where the volume you are replacing is attached.
Click “Stop” to stop the server.
Click on “Cloud” from the left navigation menu again.
Click on the “Volumes” tab.
Click on the name of the volume you just created from the snapshot.
Click “Attach.”
Select the server where the original volume was attached from the drop down list.
Click “Attach.”
Click “Cloud” from the left menu bar then click “Volumes” to return to your list of active volumes.
Click on name of the old volume you are replacing.
Click “Delete” from the bottom of the page.
Type in the name of the volume to confirm you are deleting the correct volume, then click “Delete.”
Click “Servers” then click the name of the “Server” you have been working with.
Click “Start” to start the server again.
Delete a Snapshot¶
Since snapshots consume server resources, and thus affect the price of your server, you may wish to delete old snapshots. You can do this by following these steps:
After logging in, click “Cloud” from the left menu.
Click on the name of the server where you wish to create the volume.
Click on the “Volumes” tab.
Click on the name of the volume containing the snapshot you wish to delete.
Click “Delete” next to the name of the snapshot you wish to delete.
Click “Delete” on the confirmation screen to finalize deleting the snapshot.