Restoring a volume from a backup snapshot

Creating a volume from the list of snapshots

From the list of Block Storage for VPC snapshots, you can create a Block Storage for VPC volume and specify whether it is attached to a virtual server instance or unattached (stand-alone). If you choose to attach a volume, you can select an existing virtual server instance or choose to create an instance. The new volumes are added to the list of Block Storage for VPC volumes.

1. Go to the list of Block Storage for VPC snapshots. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu > Infrastructure Storage > Block Storage for VPC snapshots.

2. Select a backup snapshot from the list. The Created by column shows which snapshots were created by a backup policy. Snapshots must be in a stable state for restoration.

3. From the Actions menu , select Create volume.

4. The snapshot's details are displayed in the Create a volume from snapshot sidepanel. Select one of the three options:

   • Do not attach- By selecting this option, you start to create a stand-alone volume
   • Attach new volume to an existing virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and select an existing server to attach it, too.
   • Attach new volume to a new virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and a new virtual server instance at the same time.

5. After the selection is made, click Configure volume.

   • If you chose the Do not attach or the Attach new volume to an existing virtual server options, you are taken to the Block storage volume for VPC provisioning page. The snapshot is preselected for you, and you have to complete the rest of the volume details:

     1. Review the Location information. The geography, region, and zone are inherited from the VPC (for example, North America, Dallas, Dallas-1). You can select a different location by clicking the Edit icon .

     2. In the Details section, you must specify the name of the volume and the resource group that the volume is to be added to. Optionally, you can add user and access management tags.

        • Specify a meaningful name for your volume. For example, provide a name that describes your compute or workload function. The volume name must begin with a lowercase letter. The volume name can be up to 63 lowercase alpha-numeric characters and include the hyphen (-). Volume names must be unique across the your VPC. You can edit the name later.
        • Specify a Resource group.
        • Specify user tags to organize your resources and for use by backup policies.
        • Specify access management tags that were created in IAM to help you manage access to your volumes.

     3. In the Optional configurations section, the snapshot is preselected for you.

        • You can also apply a backup policy to the new volume if you want to. Click Apply to see available policies and plans.
        • Review the Attach to existing virtual server section. If you want to create a standalone volume, verify that the Do not attach box is checked. If you want to attach the volume to an instance, remove the check from the box and select an existing virtual serverfrom the table.

     4. In the Profile section, you can specify the performance profile of your volume, its performance limits, and capacity. Remember that the storage generation value of the snapshot must match the storage generation value of the volume profile select.

        • You can select the sdp profile if your snapshot was created from a Generation 2 volume. Then, specify the capacity of your volume, the requested bandwidth limit, and the required IOPS. Volume size can range from 1 - 32,000 GB. You can specify IOPS in the range of 100 - 64,000. The throughput limit range is 1000-8192 Mbps.
        • If your snapshot is from a Generation 1 volume, you can select one of the tiered profiles. After you select general-purpose, 5iops-tier, or 10iops-tier, the next step is to specify the volume capacity. Volume size can be 10 - 16,000 GB.
        • If your snapshot is from a Generation 1 volume and your performance requirements don't fall within any of the IOPS tiers, you can select the custom profile. Then, specify the size of your volume and the IOPS in the appropriate range for the volume capacity. As you type the IOPS value, the console shows the acceptable range. You can also click the storage size link to see the size and IOPS ranges of the custom volume profile.

     5. In the Encryption at rest section, you can choose to keep the encryption with IBM-managed keys that is enabled by default on all volumes. Or you can choose to use your own encryption key by selecting your key management service: Key Protect or Hyper Protect Crypto Services. To locate your encryption key, select one of the following options:

        • Locate by Instance:
          1. Select the data encryption instance from the list. If you don't have an instance yet, you can click the link to create one.
          2. Select the data encryption key that is stored within the Key Protect instance to use for encrypting the volume.
        • Locate by CRN: enter the CRN of the customer root key to be used for encrypting the volume.

     6. When you're finished, click Create block storage volume.

        • If you're not ready to order yet or just looking for pricing information, you can add the information that you see in the side panel to an Estimate. For more information about how this feature works, see Estimating your costs.

     7. The Block Storage for VPC volumes page is shown, where a message indicates that the volume is being created (volume status is pending). A second message displays when the volume is created (volume status is available).

     8. To see details of the new volume, select the View resource link in the second message to go to the Volume details page.

     When you refresh the list of Block Storage volumes in the console, the new volume appears at the beginning of the list of volumes. For stand-alone volumes, the Attachment Type column is blank (-). The Actions menu at the end of a table row provides a link for attaching a Block Storage volume to an instance.

   • If you chose the Attach new volume to an existing virtual server option, you are taken to the Virtual server for VPC provisioning page. The snapshot is preselected for you, if it's s bootable snapshots, its data is used to create the boot volume. If it's a nonbootable snapshot, its data is used to create a data volume. You have to complete the rest of the instance details as described in Creating a virtual server instance with the UI.

Hover over the name of a volume that is attached to an instance in the instance details. The text shows whether the volume was created from a backup or regular snapshot.

Creating a volume from the snapshot details page

Use the following steps to create a volume from the snapshot details page.

1. Go to the list of Block Storage for VPC volumes. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu > Infrastructure Storage > Block Storage for VPC snapshots.

   You can go to the backup snapshots details page in other ways. For example, when you view a list of backup jobs, you can click the snapshots link for a backup job and go to the details page.

2. On the volume details page, select the Snapshots and Backups tab. A list of snapshots that were created by backup policies or manually is shown in the list. Cross-regional copies of snapshots are included in the list, too.

3. From the list, click the backup snapshot name to go to its details page.

4. From the Actions menu , select Create volume.

5. The snapshot's details are displayed in the Create a volume from snapshot sidepanel. Select one of the three options:

   • Do not attach- By selecting this option, you start to create a stand-alone volume
   • Attach new volume to an existing virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and select an existing server to attach it, too.
   • Attach new volume to a new virtual server - By choosing this option, you create a volume and a new virtual server instance at the same time.

6. After the selection is made, click Configure volume. The configuration steps are the same as when you create a volume from the list of snapshots.

Creating a volume from a backup snapshot when you provision an instance

Follow these steps to create a boot and data volume from snapshots when you provision a new virtual server instance.

1. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu icon > Infrastructure > Compute > Virtual server instances.

2. Click Create and provision your new instance with the information from the table in Creating virtual server instances in the console.

3. For the boot volume with the operating system, click the tab for Snapshots.

   1. The most recent bootable snapshot is listed. To select a different bootable snapshot and create a boot volume, click Change.
   2. From the list of snapshots, select a bootable snapshot for your instance's operating system and click Save. This action imports snapshot data to the boot volume. The new boot volume is created from the snapshot and is listed under Boot Volume on the instance provisioning page.

4. To create a data volume, under Data Volumes, click Create. A side panel displays for creating a new data volume.

   1. Select Import from snapshot. Expand the list to select a data snapshot. The most recent data snapshot is selected by default. Optionally, select a different snapshot from the list. The snapshot contains the properties of the original source volume, including the IOPS tier and encryption.
   2. Optionally, change the size of the volume.
   3. Click Save. The new data volume is created from the snapshot. It is attached to the instance, and shown in the Data volume list.

5. When you're finished provisioning your new instance, click Create virtual server instance. The new instance appears in the list of virtual server instances.

After the instance is created, you can click the instance name to see the instance details. The boot volume that you restored from the backup snapshot is listed under Storage volumes. The camera icon indicates that the volume was created from a snapshot.

Creating a data volume from a backup snapshot for an existing virtual server instance

You can create a data volume from a snapshot for an existing instance. Choose from the list of virtual server instances.

1. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu > Infrastructure Compute > Virtual server instances.

2. From the list, click the name of an instance. The instance must be in a Running state.

3. On the Instance details page, scroll to the list of Storage volumes and click Attach volumes. A side panel opens for you to define the volume attachment.

4. From the Attach data volume panel, expand the list of Block volumes, and select Create a data volume.

5. Select Import from snapshot. Expand the Snapshot list and select a backup snapshot.

6. Optionally, increase the size of the volume within the specified range.

7. Click Save. The side panel closes and messages indicate that the restored volume is being attached to the instance.

The new volume appears in the list of Storage volumes. Hover over the camera icon to see the name of the backup snapshot from which it was created.