Overview
A snapshot captures the state of a volume at a specific point in time. Snapshots are and stored within the same storage cluster as the source volume. Creating a snapshot takes seconds — only metadata is recorded at creation time, with changed blocks tracked incrementally. Snapshots are ideal for pre-change checkpoints, test environment cloning, and fast volume recovery.Prerequisites
- An active project with snapshot quota available (
openstack quota show) - The source volume must exist (it can be attached or detached)
- For application-consistent snapshots of databases, quiesce writes or use a maintenance window before creating the snapshot
Snapshot vs Backup
| Feature | Snapshot | Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Storage location | Same cluster as source volume | Separate backup target |
| Creation time | Seconds (metadata + COW tracking) | Minutes (full data copy) |
| Incremental support | Implicit (copy-on-write) | Yes — after first full backup |
| Survives cluster failure | No | Yes |
| Restore time | Seconds (new volume from snapshot) | Minutes (data restore) |
| Use case | Fast recovery points, cloning | Long-term retention, disaster recovery |
Create a Snapshot
- Dashboard
- CLI
Navigate to Volumes
Log in to the Xloud Dashboard (
https://connect.<your-domain>) and navigate to
Project → Volumes → Volumes.Create snapshot
Locate the target volume and click Actions → Create Snapshot.Provide a descriptive name and optional description, then click
Create Volume Snapshot.
Restore from a Snapshot
Restoring creates a new independent volume pre-populated with the snapshot data. The original source volume and snapshot are unaffected.- Dashboard
- CLI
Create volume from snapshot
Click Actions → Create Volume on the desired snapshot. Configure the new
volume name, type, and availability zone, then click Create Volume.
The new volume size defaults to the snapshot size. You can specify a larger
size, but not smaller.
Attach the restored volume
The restored volume appears in the Volumes list with status Available.
Attach it to an instance and verify the data.
Volume restored from snapshot and ready for attachment.
Delete a Snapshot
- Dashboard
- CLI
Navigate to Project → Volumes → Snapshots. Click Actions → Delete Snapshot
on the target snapshot and confirm the deletion.
Troubleshooting
Snapshot stuck in 'creating' status
Snapshot stuck in 'creating' status
Cause: The storage backend did not complete the snapshot operation within the
expected timeout, or the volume is in an inconsistent state.Resolution:Wait a few minutes for backends under load. If the snapshot remains in
Check snapshot status
creating
for more than 10 minutes, contact your administrator — the backend may require
manual cleanup.Snapshot in 'error' status
Snapshot in 'error' status
Cause: The backend encountered an error during snapshot creation. Common causes
include insufficient storage capacity or backend driver issues.Resolution:Check available capacity on the storage cluster and retry. Do not repeatedly retry
on a degraded backend — resolve the underlying storage issue first.
Delete the failed snapshot
Cannot delete snapshot — 'snapshot has dependent volumes'
Cannot delete snapshot — 'snapshot has dependent volumes'
Cause: A volume was created from this snapshot and the backend tracks the
dependency. Some backends require the child volume to be deleted before the snapshot.Resolution: Delete the volumes created from the snapshot first, then delete
the snapshot.
Application-Consistent and File-Level Restore
For application-consistent snapshots with XAVS Guest Agent coordination (filesystem freeze, VSS provider for Windows, custom hooks) and agentless file-level restore, see the Compute snapshots guide. The file-level restore feature lets you browse and download individual files from any snapshot.Instance Snapshots and Backups
Application-consistent snapshots, XAVS Guest Agent integration, and agentless file-level restore from the Dashboard
Next Steps
Volume Backups
Create full and incremental backups for long-term retention and disaster recovery
Extend a Volume
Increase volume capacity before or after restoring from a snapshot
Attach / Detach
Attach a restored volume to a compute instance
Create a Volume
Create a new volume from an image, snapshot, or blank