Snapshots and backups

Take a snapshot if you want a point-in-time copy of a server or volume you can go back to later.

Gozunga Cloud does not have a Backups item in the Cloud menu. Snapshots are the portal mechanism. Use them before a risky change (package upgrade, Reinstall, Rescale), or when you want a clone of a disk. They are copies of disks. Database dumps, website files, and off-site copies belong in object storage, not on this page.

There are two snapshot lists, and they are not interchangeable:

• Server snapshots copy the instance root disk. The portal stores that copy as an image.
• Volume snapshots copy an extra volume attached to a server, not the root disk.

When you need this

• You are about to Reinstall, resize, or change the guest OS and want a disk you can go back to.
• You configured a server and want a second instance with the same root disk. Snapshot, then launch from that image.
• You have data on an extra volume and want a point-in-time copy of that volume only.

Server snapshots

Open the server: Cloud → Servers, click the name, then Snapshots. If none exist, the pane says There are no images. Click + Create a Snapshot.

There is no Restore button on this tab. After the snapshot exists, it is an image under Cloud → Images → My Images. To use it, create a new server from that image, or Reinstall the existing server from it. See Custom images and Creating and Managing Virtual Machines.

Volume snapshots

Extra volumes are not the flavor root disk. Their copies live under Cloud → Volumes, on the Snapshots tab. An empty project says There are no snapshots. How to create and attach the volume itself is Storage Options.

A volume snapshot does not replace a server snapshot. If you only snapshot the extra volume, the operating system on the root disk is not in that copy.

File backups

For files, application backups, and objects that are not a block device, use S3-compatible object storage. Create the bucket in the portal, then upload with the API. See Object storage in the portal, Using Cyberduck with Gozunga's Object Storage API, and Configuring s3cmd with Gozunga Cloud Files.