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Working with Snapshots

Snapshots are instances or volumes frozen at a moment in time, able to be used in the future. Think of snapshots as a photograph of the state of an instance or volume. Anything done to an instance or volume after the snapshot is taken won't affect the snapshot. We can also create a new instance or volume from an existing snapshot, and continue from that point in time.

An instance snapshot is referred to as an image. Volume snapshots do not have a special name.

Images or Instance Snapshots

Creating an Image

Images are a helpful way to store the state of an instance for later use. Repeating tedious tasks like Software Installs can be avoided by taking a snapshot at a known-good point during set up of an instance environment, saving time in the future if something goes wrong. Images may also be shared with other users to simplify workflows and onboarding new collaborators. To create an image please follow the steps below. We assume you are already logged in at cloud.rc

  1. Navigate to "Compute" and then "Instances" in the left-hand navigation menu to open the "Instances" page.

  2. To take a snapshot of a particular instance, click the drop down menu under the "Actions" column in the row of the desired instance. Then click "Create Snapshot".

    !instances table with create snapshot button highlighted

  3. A dialog box will open. Fill in the "Snapshot Name" with a memorable name suitable for future reference, then click "Create Snapshot". See Naming Conventions.

    !create snapshot dialog

  4. You will be taken to the "Images" page, where your new image will appear in its own row in the table.

    !images page showing new image

    Note

    Notice the image has a size of zero bytes, which is expected and does not affect the ability to create instances. Images are a convenience pointer to the underlying volume snapshot, so they have no size themselves. The underlying volume snapshot does have a fixed size. To see the size of the underlying volume snapshot, click "Volumes" and then "Snapshots" in the left hand navigation menu.

Creating an Instance from an Image

To create an instance from an image, follow the directions below, assuming you have Created an Image.

  1. Navigate to "Compute" and then "Instances" in the left-hand navigation menu to open the "Instances" page.

  2. Click the "Launch Instance" button.

    !instances table with launch instance button highlighted

  3. A dialog box will open. Follow the instructions at Basic Instance Setup until you get to the "Source" tab.

  4. In the "Source" tab, select "Instance Snapshot" under the "Select Boot Source" drop down menu.

    !launch instance dialog on source tab with instance snapshot selected in select boot source drow down

  5. The "Available" table will change, and should contain your previously created instance snapshots.

  6. Press the up arrow in the appropriate row of the "Available" table to move that instance snapshot to the "Allocated" table.

    !launch instance dialog on source tab with snapshot in allocated table

    Note

    On the "Flavor" tab, only flavors with large enough disk capacity to hold the snapshot will be allowed. Flavors that are too small will show a yellow triangular caution symbol. Examples are shown below for a 40 GB instance snapshot.

    !example of flavors too small to hold an instance snapshot

  7. Continue following the instructions at Basic Instance Setup to start the instance.

Deleting an Image

To delete an image, return to the "Images" page using the left-hand navigation pane. In the table, find the row with the image you wish to delete, and click the drop-down arrow under "Actions" in that row. Then click "Delete Image" to open a confirmation dialog.

!Delete image entry highlighted in table row actions drop down menu.

Click "Delete Image" again to delete the image permanently.

!Delete image confirmation dialog.

Important

You will not be able to delete the image if it has an associated volume snapshot or volume. They will need to be removed or deleted first.

Volume Snapshots

Creating a Volume Snapshot

Volume snapshots are a helpful way to store the state of a volume for later use. They are used as the backing for Images, or Instance Snapshots, and have the same benefits. Most volume snapshots are created as part of an instance, but to create a volume snapshot directly please follow the steps below. We assume you are already logged in at cloud.rc

  1. Navigate to "Volumes" and then "Volumes" in the left-hand navigation menu to open the "Volumes" page.

  2. To take a snapshot of a particular volume, click the drop down menu under the "Actions" column in the row of the desired volume. Then click "Create Snapshot".

    !instances table with create snapshot button highlighted

  3. A dialog box will open. Fill in the "Snapshot Name" with a memorable name suitable for future reference, then click "Create Snapshot". See Naming Conventions.

    !create snapshot dialog

  4. You will be taken to the "Volume Snapshots" page, where your new snapshot will appear in its own row in the table.

    !volume snapshots page showing new snapshot

Deleting a Volume Snapshot

To delete a volume snapshot, return to the "Volume Snapshots" page using the left-hand navigation pane. In the table, find the row with the volume snapshot you wish to delete, and click the drop-down arrow under "Actions" in that row. Then click "Delete Volume Snapshot" to open a confirmation dialog.

!Delete volume snapshot entry highlighted in table row actions drop down menu.

Click "Delete Volume Snapshot" again to delete the volume snapshot permanently.

!Delete volume snapshot confirmation dialog.