Create a volume from a snapshot

If you want to access the data of a snapshot, without provisioning an entirely new identical instance from an image, you would first need to create a new volume based with the data in the snapshot.

When doing this, the new volume will be separate from the original volume and will forthwith provide its data in its own right.

The version of the data would be from the time when creating the snapshot.

The new volume can attach (see subsection of our guide Creating a persistent volume for more info on attaching a volume) to any instance or used as base to create an entirely new instance, if it’s a volume with bootable media on it.

Note

If your intent is to create a new instance based on a volume, using OpenStack Horizon there is an option in the dropdown on the row of each snapshot to use it as base for a new instance, this would be the easiest and fastest approach.

Cloud management portal

The cloud management portal cannot create a volume based on a snapshot but can create it based on a current volume. See Creating a persistent volume for more information.

OpenStack Horizon

To create a volume from a snapshot using OpenStack Horizon

  • Under Project, click Volumes and then Snapshots in the sidebar menu.

  • In the dropdown menu to the far right of the line corresponding to the snapshot you want to use as base, press Create volume (which is either the default option or in the dropdown list).

  • Name your new volume and optionally give it a description.

  • If you want to increase the size, enter the new size in the Size field.

  • Press Create volume

OpenStack Terminal Client

To create a volume from a snapshot using the OpenStack Terminal Client

  • Run this command: openstack volume snapshot list, save the ID of the snapshot you want to backup.

  • Run this command: openstack volume create --snapshot [SNAPSHOT_ID] [VOLUME_NAME], replacing the items in angle brackets with the ID from previous step and a descriptive name for the new volume.

  • Run this command to verify: openstack volume list, the new volume will have a Status of available when done.

See also