Restoring a volume from a snapshot

Creating a volume from the list of snapshots in the console

From the list of Block Storage for VPC snapshots, you can create a Block Storage for VPC volume and specify whether it's to be attached to a virtual server instance or unattached (stand-alone). If you choose to attach a data volume, you can select an existing virtual server instance or choose to create an instance. The new volumes are added to the list of Block Storage for VPC volumes.

1. Go to the list of Block Storage for VPC snapshots. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu icon > Infrastructure > Storage > Block Storage snapshots.

2. Either select a snapshot from the list or search for it by its CRN. It must be in a stable state.

3. From the Actions menu , select Create volume.

4. The snapshot's details are displayed in the Create a volume from snapshot sidepanel. Select one of the three options:

   • Do not attach- By selecting this option, you start to create a stand-alone volume
   • Attach new volume to an existing virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and select an existing server to attach it, too.
   • Attach new volume to a new virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and a new virtual server instance at the same time.

5. After the selection is made, click Configure volume.

   • If you chose the Do not attach or the Attach new volume to an existing virtual server options, you are taken to the Block storage volume for VPC provisioning page. The snapshot is preselected for you, and you have to complete the rest of the volume details:

     1. Review the Location information. The geography, region, and zone are inherited from the VPC (for example, North America, Dallas, Dallas-1). You can select a different location by clicking the Edit icon .

     2. In the Details section, you must specify the name of the volume and the resource group that the volume is to be added to. Optionally, you can add user and access management tags.

        • Specify a meaningful name for your volume. For example, provide a name that describes your compute or workload function. The volume name must begin with a lowercase letter. The volume name can be up to 63 lowercase alpha-numeric characters and include the hyphen (-). Volume names must be unique across the your VPC. You can edit the name later.
        • Specify a Resource group.
        • Specify user tags to organize your resources and for use by backup policies.
        • Specify access management tags that were created in IAM to help you manage access to your volumes.

     3. In the Optional configurations section, the snapshot is preselected for you.

        • You can also apply a backup policy to the new volume if you want to. Click Apply to see available policies and plans.
        • Review the Attach to existing virtual server section. If you want to create a standalone volume, verify that the Do not attach box is checked. If you want to attach the volume to an instance, remove the check from the box and select an existing virtual serverfrom the table.

     4. In the Profile section, you can specify the performance profile of your volume, its performance limits, and capacity. Remember that the storage generation value of the snapshot must match the storage generation value of the volume profile select.

        • You can select the sdp profile if your snapshot was created from a Generation 2 volume. Then, specify the capacity of your volume, the requested bandwidth limit, and the required IOPS. Volume size can range from 1 - 32,000 GB. You can specify IOPS in the range of 100 - 64,000. The throughput limit range is 1000-8192 Mbps.
        • If your snapshot is from a Generation 1 volume, you can select one of the tiered profiles. After you select general-purpose, 5iops-tier, or 10iops-tier, the next step is to specify the volume capacity. Volume size can be 10 - 16,000 GB.
        • If your snapshot is from a Generation 1 volume and your performance requirements don't fall within any of the IOPS tiers, you can select the custom profile. Then, specify the size of your volume and the IOPS in the appropriate range for the volume capacity. As you type the IOPS value, the console shows the acceptable range. You can also click the storage size link to see the size and IOPS ranges of the custom volume profile.

     5. In the Encryption at rest section, you can choose to keep the encryption with IBM-managed keys that is enabled by default on all volumes. Or you can choose to use your own encryption key by selecting your key management service: Key Protect or Hyper Protect Crypto Services. To locate your encryption key, select one of the following options:

        • Locate by Instance:
          1. Select the data encryption instance from the list. If you don't have an instance yet, you can click the link to create one.
          2. Select the data encryption key that is stored within the Key Protect instance to use for encrypting the volume.
        • Locate by CRN: enter the CRN of the customer root key to be used for encrypting the volume.

     6. When you're finished, click Create block storage volume.

        • If you're not ready to order yet or just looking for pricing information, you can add the information that you see in the side panel to an Estimate. For more information about how this feature works, see Estimating your costs.

     7. The Block Storage for VPC volumes page is shown, where a message indicates that the volume is being created (volume status is pending). A second message displays when the volume is created (volume status is available).

     8. To see details of the new volume, select the View resource link in the second message to go to the Volume details page.

     When you refresh the list of Block Storage volumes in the console, the new volume appears at the beginning of the list of volumes. For stand-alone volumes, the Attachment Type column is blank (-). The Actions menu at the end of a table row provides a link for attaching a Block Storage volume to an instance.

   • If you chose the Attach new volume to an existing virtual server option, you are taken to the Virtual server for VPC provisioning page. The snapshot is preselected for you, if it's s bootable snapshots, its data is used to create the boot volume. If it's a nonbootable snapshot, its data is used to create a data volume. You have to complete the rest of the instance details as described in Creating a virtual server instance with the UI.

Creating a volume from the snapshot details page in the console

Follow these steps to create a volume from the snapshot details page in the console.

1. Go to the list of Block Storage for VPC volumes and select a volume. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu icon > Infrastructure > Storage > Block Storage volumes.
2. On the Block Storage for VPC volume details page, select the Snapshots and Backups tab. A list of snapshots that were created manually or by backup policies is shown.
3. From the list, click the snapshot name to go to its details page.
4. From the Actions menu , select Create volume.
5. The snapshot's details are displayed in the Create a volume from snapshot sidepanel. Select one of the three options:
   • Do not attach- By selecting this option, you start to create a stand-alone volume
   • Attach new volume to an existing virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and select an existing server to attach it, too.
   • Attach new volume to a new virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and a new virtual server instance at the same time.
6. After the selection is made, click Configure volume. The configuration steps are the same as when you create a volume from the list of snapshots.

Creating volumes for a virtual server instance from a consistency group

Follow these steps to create volumes for virtual server instance from the consistency groups page in the console.

1. Go to the list of Block Storage for VPC snapshot consistency groups. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu icon > Infrastructure > Storage > Block Storage snapshots.

2. Select a snapshot consistency group from the list. It must be in a stable state.

3. From the Actions icon , select Create virtual server.

   • If the group has more than one bootable snapshot, you can choose the one that you want to use for the boot volume of the new virtual server instance. Then, click Configure virtual server.
   • If only one bootable snapshot is in the consistency group, you're taken directly to the VPC provisioning page.

4. The information about your region, profile, boot volume, and data volumes are populated in the New virtual server for VPC provisioning page.

   If you change the profile selection to Image or Existing volume, the boot volume snapshot is removed. The data volumes section is also populated with the nonbootable snapshots from the consistency group. You can remove a snapshot or create another data volume. However, if you removed a data volume and want to add it back, you must return to the step of selecting the consistency group again.

5. Configure other aspects of the virtual server instance such as networking and advanced features.

Creating a boot volume from a snapshot when you provision a virtual server instance in the console

Follow these steps to create a boot and a data volume from snapshots when you provision a new virtual server instance.

1. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu icon > Infrastructure > Compute> Virtual server instances.
2. Click Create and provision your new instance. For more information about the required fields, see the table in Creating virtual server instances in the console.
3. For the operating system, click Change image, then click the tab for Snapshots. The most recent bootable snapshot is listed.
   • If you want to use a different snapshot, click Edit. Either choose a bootable snapshot from the list or search for a specific snapshot by its CRN. Click Save. This action populates the snapshot data in the boot volume field on the provisioning page.
   • If you want to change the properties of the boot volume, such as the name, auto-delete feature, encryption, or tags, click the Edit icon . Change the property that you want and click Save. The boot volume information is updated on the provisioning page.
4. To create a data volume, under Data Volumes, click Create. A side panel is displayed.
   1. Select Import from snapshot. Expand the list to select a data snapshot. The most recent data snapshot is selected by default. However, you can select any snapshot from the list.
   2. The snapshot contains the properties of the original source volume, including the auto-delete status, tags, size, profile, and encryption. You can change all these properties. Keep in mind that you can change the volume name, profile, size, and IOPS later, but you cannot change the encryption type or CRK after the volume is created.
   3. Select a unique name, specify the size, and click Create. The data volume information is added in the Data volume list.
5. Review your selections for volumes, instance profile, SSH keys, networking, and so on.
6. If you are satisfied with your choices, click Create virtual server instance. The new instance is created with the volumes that you specified. The new instance appears in the list of virtual server instances.
7. To see the instance details, click the instance name. The volume or the volumes that you restored from snapshots are listed under Storage volumes. The camera icon indicates that the volume was created from a snapshot.

Creating a data volume from a snapshot for an existing virtual server instance with the UI

You can also create a data volume from a snapshot for an existing instance. Choose from the list of virtual server instances.

1. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu icon > Infrastructure > Compute > Virtual server instances.
2. From the list, click the name of an instance. The instance must be in a running state.
3. On the Instance details page, scroll to the list of Storage volumes and click Attach volumes. A side panel opens for you to define the volume attachment.
4. From the Attach storage volume panel, expand the list of Block Volumes, and select Create a data volume.
5. You can expand the list and select a snapshot, or search for a specific snapshot by its CRN.
6. The snapshot contains the properties of the original source volume, including the auto-delete status, tags, profile, and encryption. You can change all these properties. Keep in mind that you can change the volume name, profile, size, and IOPS later, but you cannot change the encryption type or CRK after the volume is created.
7. Select a unique name, specify the size, and click Save. The data volume information is added in the Data volume list.
8. Click Save. The side panel closes and messages indicate that the restored volume is being attached to the instance. The new volume appears in the list of Storage volumes. Hover over the camera icon to see the name of the snapshot from which it was created.

Before you begin

Before you can use the CLI, you must install the IBM Cloud CLI and the VPC CLI plug-in. For more information, see the CLI prerequisites.

1. Log in to IBM Cloud®.

   ibmcloud login --sso -a cloud.ibm.com
   

   This command returns a URL and prompts for a passcode. Go to that URL in your browser and log in. If successful, you get a one-time passcode. Copy this passcode and paste it as a response on the prompt. After successful authentication, you are prompted to choose your account. If you have access to multiple accounts, select the account that you want to log in as. Respond to any remaining prompts to finish logging in.

2. Gather information about the snapshot or snapshots that you want to use to restore a volume.

   • If you want to restore a volume from a single snapshot, locate the snapshot first and view its details. You can use the CLI to view all the snapshots of an account in a region and select from the list. Alternatively, you can also list all the snapshots of a specific volume and choose one from the output. Then, use the ibmcloud is snapshots SNAPSHOT_ID command to list the details of the chosen snapshot. If you want to restore a volume from a snapshot of another account, contact the snapshot's owner for the CRN of the snapshot.
   • If you want to restore an instance by restoring multiple volumes from a consistency group, you need to gather information about the snapshots in the consistency group. List all the consistency groups in the region. Then, take the ID of the consistency group and use it the ibmcloud is snapshots command to filter the output to the snapshots in the specified consistency group. See the following example.

   ibmcloud is snapshots --snapshot-consistency-group CONSISTENCY_GROUP_ID
   

Creating a boot volume from a snapshot for a new instance from the CLI

Run the ibmcloud is instance-create command with the source_snapshot property in the boot volume JSON. Specify the ID or name of a bootable snapshot. The restored boot volume is used to initialize the instance.

See the following example.

ibmcloud is instance-create my-instance-restore1 ea002578-ff10-41fe-9652-e63f7e0e3cba us-south-1 bx2-2x8 ba11a6f2-6c17-4fee-a4b5-5c016fe64376 --boot-volume '{"name":"boot-from-snapshot1","volume":{"name":"boot-from-snapshot1","profile":{"name":"general-purpose"},"source_snapshot":{"id":"d857c69f-d795-46ac-85e4-f26ca3001033"}}}'

A successful response looks like the following example.

Creating instance my-instance-restore1 in resource group under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...

ID               r006-eded6dcd-4f3c-4e79-a0cb-00f7c72f38cd
Name             my-instance-restore1
CRN              crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:us-south-1/a1234567::instance:7101_eded6dcd-4f3c-4e79-a0cb-00f7c72f38cd
Status           pending
Profile          bx2-2x8
Architecture     amd64
vCPUs            2
Memory           8
Network(Gbps)    4
Image            ID                                         Name
                 6f153c4d-6a9a-496d-8063-5c39932f6ded       ibm-centos-7-6-minimal-amd64-2
VPC              ID                                         Name
                 ea002578-ff10-41fe-9652-e63f7e0e3cba       my-vpc
Zone             us-south-1
Resource group   ID                                         Name
                 cdc21b72d4f557b195de988b175e3d81           Default

Created          2022-06-14T17:03:30+08:00
Boot volume      ID                                   Name                  Attachment ID                            Attachment name
                 0651dacb-4589-4147-86b3-a77544598f93 boot-from-snapshot1                  r006-abf9dd2b-9d5d-41f1-849d-55a8ab580ddb                            boot-from-snapshot1

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is instance-create.

Creating a data volume from a snapshot for a new instance from the CLI

When you create an instance by using the ibmcloud is instance-create command, specify the source_snapshot parameter and snapshot name or ID in the volume attachment.

See the following example.

ibmcloud is instance-create my-instance-restore1 ea002578-ff10-41fe-9652-e63f7e0e3cba us-south-1 bx2-2x8 ba11a6f2-6c17-4fee-a4b5-5c016fe64376 --volume-attach
'{
   "name":"datavol-from-snapshot",
   "volume":{
      "name":"datavol-from-snapshot",
      "profile":{
         "name":"general-purpose"
      },
      "source_snapshot":{
         "id":"6daaaa39-3d81-4d1d-81f8-e1f6a14f97f3"
      }
   }
}'

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is instance-create.

Creating a data volume from a snapshot for an existing instance from the CLI

For an existing instance, specify the ibmcloud is instance-volume-attachment-add command with the source-snapshot parameter, and the name or ID of the snapshot. To find the ID of the snapshot from the CLI, see View snapshots from the CLI.

See the following example.

ibmcloud is instance-volume-attachment-add data-vol-1 a67f49de-fccc-4e5c-824e-dcbd06d009af --profile general-purpose --source-snapshot 52de6e85-7068-4247-90fd-d2fa91fd9864

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is instance-volume-attachment-add.

Creating a stand-alone volume from a snapshot from the CLI

You can create a stand-alone Block Storage for VPC data volume from a snapshot from the CLI. The volume is not attached to a virtual server instance. When you run the ibmcloud is volume command, the response shows the attachment type as unattached. You can attach the volume to an instance later.

Use this option when you're not sure which virtual server instance you want to attach the volume to.

Run the ibmcloud is volume-create command and specify the snapshot parameter and name or ID of the snapshot. Run the ibmcloud is volume-create command and specify the snapshot parameter and the name, ID, or CRN of the snapshot. For more information, see Create a stand-alone Block Storage for VPC volume from a snapshot.

The following example creates a stand-alone data volume by using the CRN of a snapshot from another account.

ibmcloud is volume-create my-new-volume general-purpose us-east-1 --snapshot crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:eu-east-1:a/a7654321::snapshot:r014-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146

Creating volume my-new-volume under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...

ID                                     r014-dee9736d-08ee-4992-ba8d-3b64a4f0baac
Name                                   my-new-volume
CRN                                    crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:us-east-1:a/a1234567::volume:r014-dee9736d-08ee-4992-ba8d-3b64a4f0baac
Status                                 pending
Attachment state                       unattached
Capacity                               100
IOPS                                   3000
Bandwidth(Mbps)                        393
Profile                                general-purpose
Encryption key                         -
Encryption                             provider_managed
Resource group                         defaults
Created                                2024-07-15T16:14:59+00:00
Zone                                   us-east-1
Health State                           inapplicable
Volume Attachment Instance Reference   -
Active                                 false
Busy                                   false
Tags                                   -

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is volume-create.

Creating a boot volume when you provision an instance with the API

To restore a boot volume from a bootable snapshot when you create an instance, make a POST /instances request and specify the boot_volume_attachment property and the bootable snapshot ID in the source_snapshot subproperty.

See the following example.

curl -X POST \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/instances?version=2025-01-21&generation=2" \
-H "Authorization: $iam_token" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
  "zone": {
    "name": "us-south-2"
  },
  "resource_group": {
    "id": "6edefe513d934fdd872e78ee6a8e73ef"
  },
  "name": "my-virtual-server-instance",
  "vpc": {
    "id": "r006-01030e3c-2663-4f7d-ac55-651929dafe37"
  },
  "user_data": "",
  "profile": {
    "name": "bx2-2x8"
  },
  "keys": [
    {
      "id": "r006-d17665a1-1359-4cc1-b983-735754a1e908"
    }
  ],
  "volume_attachments": [],
  "boot_volume_attachment": {
    "volume": {
      "name": "my-virtual-server-instance-boot-1737500760000",
      "capacity": 100,
      "profile": {
        "name": "general-purpose"
      },
      "source_snapshot": {
        "id": "r006-daefc524-2643-4444-a22d-7c38144cc529"
      }
    },
    "delete_volume_on_instance_delete": true
  },
  "metadata_service": {
    "enabled": false
  },
  "primary_network_attachment": {
    "name": "eth0",
    "virtual_network_interface": {
      "allow_ip_spoofing": false,
      "auto_delete": true,
      "enable_infrastructure_nat": true,
      "primary_ip": {
        "auto_delete": true
      },
      "subnet": {
        "id": "0727-f24237f5-bdf0-4b94-ab4c-167a44b8bcb5"
      },
      "security_groups": [
        {
          "id": "r006-f380e7ba-b671-4232-9492-ecf59a0e6e1e"
        }
      ],
      "protocol_state_filtering_mode": "auto"
    }
  },
  "network_attachments": [],
  "reservation_affinity": {
    "policy": "automatic"
  },
  "volume_bandwidth_qos_mode": "weighted"
}'

Creating a data volume when you provision an instance with the API

To restore a data volume from a snapshot and attach it at boot time, make a POST /instances request and specify the data volume attachment and snapshot ID.

curl -X POST \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/instances?version=2022-06-14&generation=2" \
-H "Authorization: $iam_token" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
      "name": "my-server-name",
      "zone": {
         "name": "us-south-1"
      },
      "vpc": {
        "id": "4d27c489-8ad7-3c18-cbf4-2103d9f8da93"
      },
      "profile": {
         "name": "cx2-2x4"
      },
      "primary_network_interface": {
        "name": "region1example-net1",
        "subnet": {
           "id": ""
        }
      },
     "volume_attachments": [
        {
            "name": "restore-data-vol1",
            "delete_volume_on_instance_delete": true,
            "volume": {
                "profile": {
                    "name": "general-purpose"
                },
                "source_snapshot": {
                    "id": "bdcdc984-ba4e-4aef-84fb-e8448c3116b1"
                }
            }
        }
     ]
    "resource_group": {
        "id": "2fab2c7f-c09d-4c64-baf7-1453b7461493"
    }
}'

Creating a stand-alone data volume from a snapshot with the API

You can use the API to create a stand-alone volume from a snapshot. Use this option when you're not sure which virtual server instance you want to attach the volume to. Or, if you want to restore data from an unattached volume that was detached from an instance.

To restore a stand-alone data volume from a snapshot, make a POST /volumes request and specify the ID, CRN, or URL of the snapshot in the source_snapshot property. The restored volume capacity (in GBs) must be at least the snapshot's minimum_capacity.

The following example request creates a 100-GB volume that is based on a 5 IOPS/GB profile. It specifies a different root key than the original snapshot. The source snapshot is specified by ID.

curl -X POST \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/volumes/?version=2022-06-14&generation=2" \
-H "Authorization: $iam_token" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
     "name": "volume-from-snapshot-1",
     "capacity": 100,
     "profile": {
        "name": "5iops-tier"
     },
     "zone": {
        "name": "us-south-1"
     },
     "encryption_key":{
        "crn":"crn:[...]"
     },
     "source_snapshot:" {
        "id": "bdcdc984-ba4e-4aef-84fb-e8448c3116b1"
     }
   }`

If you want to restore a volume from a snapshot of another account, you can use the CRN to identify the snapshot by its CRN, instead of its ID.

Creating a boot volume when you provision an instance with Terraform

To restore a boot volume from a bootable snapshot when you create an instance, use the ibm_is_instance resource. The following example defines the new instance with the name my-server-name, and a cx2-2x4 profile, and creates the boot volume from the snapshot eb373975-4171-4d91-81d2-c49efb033753.

resource "ibm_is_instance" "example" {
  name    = "my-server-name"
  profile = "cx2-2x4"
  boot_volume {
    name     = "boot-restore"
    snapshot = eb373975-4171-4d91-81d2-c49efb033753
    tags     = ["dev:test"]
  }
  primary_network_interface {
    subnet = ibm_is_subnet.example.id
  }
  vpc  = 4d27c489-8ad7-3c18-cbf4-2103d9f8da93
  zone = "us-south-1"
  keys = [ibm_is_ssh_key.example.id]
}

For more information about the arguments and attributes, see ibm_is_instance.

Creating and attaching a data volume to an instance with Terraform

To restore a data volume from a nonbootable snapshot and attach the volume to an instance, use the ibm_is_instance_volume_attachment resource. See the following example.

resource "ibm_is_instance_volume_attachment" "example" {
  instance = ibm_is_instance.example.id

  name = "test-attachment-1"
  profile = "general-purpose"
  snapshot = "ibm_is_snapshot.example.id"
  delete_volume_on_attachment_delete = true
  delete_volume_on_instance_delete = true
  volume_name = "restore-data-vol1"
  }

For more information about the arguments and attributes, see ibm_is_instance_volume_attachment.

Creating a stand-alone data volume from a snapshot with Terraform

To create a volume from a snapshot, use the ibm_is_volume resource. The following example creates a volume from the snapshot bdcdc984-ba4e-4aef-84fb-e8448c3116b1 with the general-purpose performance profile.

resource "ibm_is_volume" "storage" {
  name            = "restore-data-vol1"
  profile         = "general-purpose"
  zone            = "us-south-1"
  source_snapshot = "ibm_is_snapshot.example.id"
}

If you want to restore a volume from a snapshot of another account, you can use the source_snapshot_crn argument to identify the snapshot by its CRN.

For more information about the arguments and attributes, see ibm_is_volume.