Volume Backups

Overview

Volume backups write a complete copy of volume data to a separate backup target — typically an object storage bucket — providing protection against storage cluster failure. Unlike snapshots, backups are stored independently of the source volume and can survive the loss of the primary storage cluster. Backups support a full + incremental strategy to minimize storage usage and backup time after the initial full copy.

Prerequisites

The backup service must be enabled and configured by your administrator
Sufficient backup storage quota (openstack quota show)
The source volume must exist (attached or detached)

Snapshot vs Backup

Feature	Snapshot	Backup
Storage location	Same cluster as source	Separate backup target
Creation time	Seconds	Minutes (data copy)
Incremental support	Implicit (copy-on-write)	Yes — after first full backup
Survives cluster failure	No	Yes
Restore time	Seconds	Minutes
Long-term retention	Limited by cluster capacity	Yes
Use case	Fast checkpoints, cloning	Disaster recovery, compliance archival

Combine both strategies: use snapshots for frequent short-term checkpoints and backups for weekly full copies plus daily incrementals to a separate target.

Create a Full Backup

Dashboard
CLI

Navigate to Volumes

Navigate to Storage > Volumes.

Create backup

Click the More dropdown and select Data Protection > Create Backup on the target volume. Provide a name and select Full Backup from the backup mode radio buttons (default for the first backup). Click Confirm.

A full backup copies all data from the volume. Duration depends on volume size and available backup bandwidth — expect 1–5 minutes per 10 GiB for typical workloads.

Monitor progress

Navigate to Storage > Volume Backups. The backup status transitions through creating → available.

Backup status shows Available — full backup complete.

Authenticate

Source your credentials file to authenticate with the Xloud platform:

Load credentials

source openrc.sh

Your administrator provides the RC (credentials) file for your project. See CLI Setup for configuration details.

Create a full backup

Create full backup

openstack volume backup create \
  --name weekly-full-2026-03-18 \
  --description "Weekly full backup" \
  <volume-name-or-id>

Verify backup status

Check backup status

openstack volume backup show weekly-full-2026-03-18 -c status -c size

Expected: status = available

Full backup created and available for restore.

Create an Incremental Backup

After a full backup exists, incremental backups copy only the blocks that changed since the last backup — significantly reducing backup time and storage usage.

Dashboard
CLI

Create incremental backup

Click the More dropdown and select Data Protection > Create Backup on the target volume. Provide a name and select Increment Backup from the backup mode radio buttons. Click Confirm.

Incremental backups depend on the existence of a previous backup for the same volume. If no previous backup exists, the backup service automatically creates a full backup instead.

Verify

Navigate to Storage > Volume Backups and confirm the new backup appears with status Available.

Incremental backup complete — only changed blocks were copied.

Create incremental backup

openstack volume backup create \
  --name daily-incr-2026-03-18 \
  --incremental \
  <volume-name-or-id>

List all backups for a volume

List backups

openstack volume backup list --volume <volume-name-or-id>

Incremental backup available alongside the full backup chain.

Restore from a Backup

Restoring a backup to an existing volume overwrites that volume’s data. Select New Volume to restore to a fresh volume and verify data integrity before overwriting the original.

Dashboard
CLI

Navigate to Backups

Navigate to Storage > Volume Backups.

Restore the backup

Click the More dropdown and select Restore on the target backup.The dialog shows the source volume name and status. The backup is restored to the original volume it was created from.

The source volume must be in Available or In-use status for restore. If the volume is in-use, all attached instances must be shut off before restoring.

Click Confirm to start the restore.

Verify

The restored volume appears in the Volumes list with status Available. Attach it and verify the data before making any changes.

Volume restored from backup and ready for use.

List available backups

List backups

openstack volume backup list

Restore to a new volume

Restore backup to new volume

openstack volume backup restore \
  --name restored-from-backup-2026-03-18 \
  <backup-id>

Verify the restored volume

Check restored volume

openstack volume show restored-from-backup-2026-03-18 -c status -c size

Status available — backup restored to a new volume.

Backup Retention Strategy

Recommended retention schedule

For production volumes, Xloud recommends:

Frequency	Type	Retention
Weekly	Full backup	Keep 4 (1 month)
Daily	Incremental	Keep 7 (1 week)
Pre-change	Full backup	Keep until change is verified stable

Adjust retention to match your RTO/RPO requirements and backup quota limits.

Cleaning up old backups

List and delete outdated backups to free quota:

List all backups with dates

openstack volume backup list --long

Delete a backup

openstack volume backup delete <backup-id>

Deleting a backup from a backup chain (full + incrementals) may invalidate dependent incremental backups. Delete incrementals before deleting the full backup they depend on.

Next Steps

Volume Snapshots

Complement backups with fast point-in-time snapshots for short-term recovery

Backup Configuration (Admin)

Configure the backup service driver and target for your environment

Attach / Detach

Attach a restored volume and verify its data

Quota Management (Admin)

Manage backup quota limits across projects

Core Services

Other Services

Volume Backups

Overview

Snapshot vs Backup

Create a Full Backup

Navigate to Volumes

Create backup

Monitor progress

Authenticate

Create a full backup

Verify backup status

Create an Incremental Backup

Create incremental backup

Verify

Create incremental backup

List all backups for a volume

Restore from a Backup

Navigate to Backups

Restore the backup

Verify

List available backups

Restore to a new volume

Verify the restored volume

Backup Retention Strategy

Next Steps

Volume Snapshots

Backup Configuration (Admin)

Attach / Detach

Quota Management (Admin)

Core Services

Other Services

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Snapshot vs Backup

​Create a Full Backup

Navigate to Volumes

Create backup

Monitor progress

Authenticate

Create a full backup

Verify backup status

​Create an Incremental Backup

Create incremental backup

Verify

Create incremental backup

List all backups for a volume

​Restore from a Backup

Navigate to Backups

Restore the backup

Verify

List available backups

Restore to a new volume

Verify the restored volume

​Backup Retention Strategy

​Next Steps

Volume Snapshots

Backup Configuration (Admin)

Attach / Detach

Quota Management (Admin)

Overview

Snapshot vs Backup

Create a Full Backup

Create an Incremental Backup

Restore from a Backup

Backup Retention Strategy

Next Steps