Instance Snapshots

Overview

An instance snapshot captures the current state of an instance’s root disk as an image. Snapshots can be used to launch new instances with identical configurations, create backups before maintenance operations, or share instance states across projects.

Prerequisites

An instance in Active, Shutoff, or Suspended status
Sufficient image storage quota for the snapshot
Bare metal instances do not support snapshots

Create a Snapshot

Dashboard
CLI

Open the Create Snapshot dialog

Navigate to Compute > Instances. Click the More dropdown on the instance row, then select Create Snapshot under the Backups & Snapshots group.

Configure the snapshot

Field	Description
Instance	Current instance name (read-only)
Instance Snapshot Name	Name for the snapshot image (required)

For boot-from-volume instances, a read-only table of attached volumes is displayed showing which volumes will be included in the snapshot.

For boot-from-volume instances, the system checks snapshot quota. If insufficient quota is available, the submit button is disabled.

Create the snapshot

Click Confirm. The snapshot appears in Compute > Instance Snapshots with status Saving, transitioning to Active when complete.

Snapshot appears in the Instance Snapshots list with status Active.

Source credentials

source openrc.sh

Create an instance snapshot

openstack server image create \
  --name my-snapshot \
  <INSTANCE_ID>

Check snapshot status

openstack image show my-snapshot -c status

Snapshot status is active.

Manage Instance Snapshots

Dashboard
CLI

Navigate to Compute > Instance Snapshots in the sidebar. The list shows:

Column	Description
ID/Name	Snapshot identifier (clickable to view details)
Description	Optional description
Disk Format	Image format (e.g., QCOW2, RAW)
Status	Active, Saving, or Error
Created At	Creation timestamp

Available actions:

Action	Location	Description
Edit	First row action	Edit snapshot name and description
Create Instance	More dropdown	Launch a new instance from this snapshot (must be `Active`)
Create Volume	More dropdown	Create a block storage volume from the snapshot
Delete	More dropdown / batch	Delete the snapshot image

openstack image list --property image_type=snapshot

openstack image show <SNAPSHOT_ID>

openstack server create \
  --image <SNAPSHOT_ID> \
  --flavor <FLAVOR> \
  --network <NETWORK> \
  my-restored-instance

openstack image delete <SNAPSHOT_ID>

Next Steps

Launch an Instance

Create a new instance from a snapshot

Resize an Instance

Take a snapshot before resizing as a safety measure

Block Storage Snapshots

Create volume-level snapshots for persistent storage

Troubleshooting

Resolve snapshot creation failures

Core Services

Other Services

Overview

Create a Snapshot

Open the Create Snapshot dialog

Configure the snapshot

Create the snapshot

Manage Instance Snapshots

Next Steps

Launch an Instance

Resize an Instance

Block Storage Snapshots

Troubleshooting

​Overview

​Create a Snapshot

Open the Create Snapshot dialog

Configure the snapshot

Create the snapshot

​Manage Instance Snapshots

​Next Steps

Launch an Instance

Resize an Instance

Block Storage Snapshots

Troubleshooting

Overview

Create a Snapshot

Manage Instance Snapshots

Next Steps