Managing Block Storage for VPC snapshots

You can manage existing snapshots in several ways. Rename existing snapshots to make them simpler to identify. Add user tags to snapshots for use by the VPC backup service. Enable of disable fast restore copies of a snapshot. Delete snapshots that you no longer need and free up space for new snapshots. Verify Cloud Identity and Access Management access. Verify snapshot statuses.

Naming snapshots

Consider naming the snapshot to indicate the volume that you copied. For example, my-volume would be my-volume-snapshot1. Also, for quick identification, consider naming boot volumes by adding boot as a prefix, such as boot_my-volume-snapshot1. As your list of snapshots grows, you can quickly identify the name and type of volume from which you created the snapshot.

Snapshot names adhere to the same requirements as volume names. Valid names can include a combination of lowercase alpha-numeric characters (a-z, 0-9) and the hyphen (-), up to 63 characters. Snapshot names must begin with a lowercase letter and must be unique across the VPC. The UI provides name checking as a convenience. For example, if you end a snapshot name with a hyphen (-), the UI notifies you of the error. It also checks for duplicate names.

When you create a cross-regional copy of a snapshot, the new snapshot is named [copy]-[source-snapshot-name]. For example, a cross-regional copy of the snapshot-my-volume-snapshot1_ is automatically named copy-my-volume-snapshot1 when it is placed in the target region. Cross-regional copies of snapshots are independent from the source snapshot and the source volume, and the copies can be managed like any other normal snapshot.

Renaming a snapshot in the UI

Use the following steps to rename a snapshot by using the UI.

Go to the list of snapshots. In the IBM Cloud console, go to the menu > VPC Infrastructure > Storage > Snapshots.
Click the name of a snapshot from the list.
Click the pencil icon.
Provide a new name for the snapshot, save, and confirm your changes.

Renaming a snapshot from the CLI

Prerequisites for issuing commands from the CLI

Before you can use the CLI, you must install the IBM Cloud CLI and the VPC CLI plug-in. For more information, see the CLI prerequisites.

Log in to IBM Cloud®.
```
ibmcloud login --sso -a cloud.ibm.com
```
This command returns a URL and prompts for a passcode. Go to that URL in your browser and log in. If successful, you get a one-time passcode. Copy this passcode and paste it as a response on the prompt. After successful authentication, you are prompted to choose your account. If you have access to multiple accounts, select the account that you want to log in as. Respond to any remaining prompts to finish logging in.
Select the current generation of VPC.
```
ibmcloud is target --gen 2
```

Renaming a snapshot from the CLI

You can rename a snapshot from the CLI.

To rename a snapshot, issue the ibmcloud is snapshot-update command and provide the snapshot ID and new name.

ibmcloud is snapshot-update SNAPSHOT_ID --name SNAPSHOT_NAME

See the following example.

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshot-update r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c --name snappy-snap-snap
Updating snapshot r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...

ID                     r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c
Name                   snappy-snap-snap
CRN                    crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:eu-de:a/a1234567::snapshot:r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c
Status                 stable
Clones                 Zone      Available   Created
                       eu-de-3   true        2023-02-17T20:28:53+00:00
                       eu-de-1   true        2023-02-17T18:53:57+00:00

Source volume          ID                                          Name
                       r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa   vicky-block-test1

Bootable               false
Encryption             provider_managed
Encryption key         -
Minimum capacity(GB)   20
Size(GB)               1
Resource group         ID                                 Name
                       a0eb5d9062af485fa5bb2c6999c74eac   test-snap

Created                2023-02-17T18:53:57+00:00
Captured at            2023-02-17T18:53:57+00:00
Tags                   -

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is snapshots.

Renaming a snapshot with the API

You can rename a snapshot by using the API.

Make a PATCH /snapshots call and specify the snapshot ID and new name of the snapshot.

curl -X PATCH \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/snapshots/7528eb61-bc01-4763-a67a-a414a103f96d?version=2022-01-12&generation=2" \
   -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}" \
   -d '{
     "name": "my-snapshot-renamed"
   }'

You can use the same call to rename a cross-regional copy. The cross-regional copy is independent from the source snapshot and source volume, and can be managed like any other snapshot.

Updating a snapshot with Terraform

To use Terraform, download the Terraform CLI and configure the IBM Cloud Provider plug-in. For more information, see Getting started with Terraform.

VPC infrastructure services use a regional specific endpoint, which targets to us-south by default. If your VPC is created in another region, make sure to target the appropriate region in the provider block in the provider.tf file.

See the following example of targeting a region other than the default us-south.

provider "ibm" {
  region = "eu-de"
}

To update a snapshot, use the ibm_is_snapshot resource. You can change the name of the snapshot, the fast restore zones, and tags. However, changing resource_group and source_volume values forces Terraform to destroy the snapshot and create a different snapshot.

resource "ibm_is_snapshot" "example" {
  name          = "my-snapshot"
  source_volume = ibm_is_volume.example.id
  }

For more information about the arguments and attributes, see ibm_is_snapshot.

Adding tags to a snapshot in the UI

You can add user tags and access management tags to your Block Storage for VPC snapshots. You can add user tags to an existing snapshot or when you create a snapshot. The tags can be used by a backup policy to create backups of the snapshot.

Adding user tags from the snapshots list screen

Use the following steps to add user tags from the snapshots list screen.

Go to the list of snapshots.
Locate an available snapshot created by user. (Snapshots that were created by a backup policy are identified as created by Backup policy.)
In the Tags column, snapshots with tags show a number that indicates the tags that are already applied. Snapshots without tags have an Add tags link. Click Add tags.
In the new window, type a tag in the User tags text box.
Click Save.

Adding tags from the snapshot details page

use the following steps to add tags from the snapshot details page.

Go to the list of snapshots.
Click the name of a snapshot in the list.
On the snapshot details page, click the Add tags link.
In the new window, enter a user tag or access management tag in the respective fields.
Click Save.

When the user tags are matched with a backup policy, a backup is triggered based on the backup plan schedule. For more information, see Creating a backup policy.

Adding tags to a snapshot from the CLI

You can add tags to a snapshot from the CLI.

Specify a snapshot-update command with the --tags option to add user tags to a volume.

Use the same option to add tags to a volume when you create a snapshot by using ibmcloud is snapshot-create.

The following example adds user tags env:test and env:prod to a volume that is identified by its ID.

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshot-update r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c --name snappy-snap-snap --tags env:test,env:prod
Updating snapshot r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...

ID                     r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c
Name                   snappy-snap-snap
CRN                    crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:eu-de:a/a1234567::snapshot:r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c
Status                 stable
Clones                 Zone      Available   Created
                       eu-de-3   true        2023-02-17T20:28:53+00:00
                       eu-de-1   true        2023-02-17T18:53:57+00:00

Source volume          ID                                          Name
                       r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa   vicky-block-test1

Bootable               false
Encryption             provider_managed
Encryption key         -
Minimum capacity(GB)   20
Size(GB)               1
Resource group         ID                                 Name
                       a0eb5d9062af485fa5bb2c6999c74eac   test-snap

Created                2023-02-17T18:53:57+00:00
Captured at            2023-02-17T18:53:57+00:00
Tags                   env:test,env:prod

When the user tags are matched with a backup policy, a backup is triggered based on the backup plan schedule. For more information, see Creating a backup policy.

Adding user tags to a snapshot with the API

You can add user tags to a snapshot by using the API.

Make a PATCH /snapshots call and specify the snapshot ID and user tags. The following example adds user tags env:test and env:prod to the snapshot.

curl -X PATCH \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/snapshots/7528eb61-bc01-4763-a67a-a414a103f96d?version=2022-01-12&generation=2" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}" \
    -d `{
       "user_tags": [
         "env:test",
         "env:prod"
       ]
    }'

When the user tags are matched with a backup policy, a backup is triggered based on the backup plan schedule. For more information, see Creating a backup policy.

Editing fast restore zones in the UI

Use the following steps to edit the zones where fast restore clones are stored by using the UI. You can add or remove zones as needed.

Select a snapshot from the list of snapshots.
From the overflow menu, click Edit fast restore.
From the side panel, select or deselect the zones for fast restore in your region. Review the billing update based on your selection.
Click Save. You're returned to the snapshots details page. The Fast restore section shows the new zone initially with a pending status.

Fast restore information is updated when you refresh. Zone information is updated to show enabled or disabled, depending on your changes.

Creating a snapshot clone for fast restore from the CLI

To create a zonal copy of a snapshot, issue the ibmcloud is snapshot-clone-create command with the snapshot ID and the zone or zones where you want to create copies. The following command example creates the fast restore clone of r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 in the eu-de-3 zone.

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshot-clone-create r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146  --zone eu-de-3
Creating zonal clone of snapshot r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...

Zone        eu-de-3
Available   false
Created     2023-02-17T20:29:21+00:00
Href        https://eu-de.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/regions/eu-de/zones/eu-de-3

The snapshot clone appears to be unavailable while the snapshot clone is created. It takes only a few seconds. Issue the ibmcloud is snapshot-cl command with the snapshot ID and the clone target zone to see the new snapshot clone as available.

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshot-cl r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 eu-de-3
Getting zonal clone eu-de-3 of snapshot r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...

Zone        eu-de-3
Available   true
Created     2023-02-17T20:29:21+00:00

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is snapshot-clone-create.

Deleting a snapshot clone from the CLI

To delete a snapshot clone, issue the ibmcloud is snapshot-clone-delete command with the Snapshot ID and the zone where you want the snapshot copy removed. The following command example deletes the fast restore copy of the snapshot r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 in the eu-de-3 zone.

@cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshot-clone-delete r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 eu-de-3
This will delete zonal clone eu-de-3 for snapshot r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 and cannot be undone. Continue [y/N] ?> y
Deleting zonal clone eu-de-3 for snapshot r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146 under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...
OK
Deletion request for zonal snapshot clone eu-de-3 has been accepted.

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is snapshot-clone-delete.

Creating a snapshot clone for fast restore with the API

To create fast restore snapshots, you create a clone of the snapshot in a different zone. You then restore a volume from that clone.

In the API, you create a clone for an existing snapshot by making a PUT /snapshots/{id}/clones/{zone_name} call to clone the snapshot to the specified zone. See the following example.

curl -X PUT \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/snapshots/5e160469-0837-48a7-8973-e44c8d5fd85a/clones/us-south-1&version=2022-12-22&generation=2" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"

A successful response looks like the following example.

{
  "available": true,
  "created_at": "2022-12-22T20:35:38.600Z",
  "zone": {
    "href": "https://us-south.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/regions/us-south/zones/us-south-1",
    "name": "us-south-1"
  }
}

You can also specify the clone property when you create a snapshot of a volume. See the following example.

curl -X POST \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/snapshots?version=2022-12-12&generation=2" \
-H "Authorization: $iam_token" \
-d '{
    "clones": [
        {
        "zone": {
            "name": "us-south-1"
        }
        }
    ],
    "name": "my-snapshot2",
    "resource_group": {
        "id": "a342dbfb-3ea7-48d1-96e8-2825ec5feab4"
    },
    "source_volume": {
        "id": "8948ad59-bc0f-7510-812f-5dc64f59fab8"
    },
    "user_tags": [
        "env:test",
        "env:prod"
    ]
}'

A successful response looks like the following example.

{
  "bootable": false,
  "clones": [
      "available": true,
      "created_at": "2022-12-12T20:18:38.600Z",
      "zone": {
        "href": "https://us-south.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/regions/us-south/zones/us-south-1",
        "name": "us-south-1"
     }
  ],
  "created_at": "2021-12-12T20:18:18Z",
  "crn": "crn:[...]",
  "deletable": false,
  "encryption": "user_managed",
  "encryption_key": {
    "crn": "crn:[...]"
  },
}

Deleting a snapshot clone with the API

Make a DELETE /v1/snapshots/{id}/clones/{zone-name} call to delete a snapshot clone in the specified zone. You can't undo the delete when the snapshot clone is deleted.

See the following example.

curl -X DELETE \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/snapshots/fde0b8d5-2d75-4c28-af7d-12ffc3ae2a55/clones/us-south-1&version=2022-12-22&generation=2" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"

Creating a remote copy in the UI

Use the following steps to create cross-regional copies of snapshots from the Snapshots for VPC list or from the snapshot details page.

In the console, click the Navigation menu icon > VPC Infrastructure > Storage > Block Storage snapshots.
In the list of snapshots, find the snapshot that you want to duplicate in another region.
click the Actions menu () and select Copy snapshot.
Select the region where you want to create the copy.

You can have only one copy per region. If no regions are available for copies, the option Copy Snapshot is disabled.
Click Create.

Alternatively, click the snapshot's name to view its details. You can either access the Cop Snapshot option from the Actions menu or you can scroll to the remote copies card and click Create copy. The same provisioning panel opens where you can make the region selection.

Deleting remote region copy in the UI

Snapshot copies in a remote region are independent from the parent snapshot and the parent volume. You can delete them anytime by using the Snapshots for VPC list.

Use the following steps to delete a remote region copy by using the UI.

In the IBM Cloud console, go to the menu > VPC Infrastructure > Storage > Snapshots.
Click the Actions menu (ellipsis) in the row of the snapshot that you want to delete.
Select Delete.
Confirm the deletion and click Delete.

Creating a remote region copy from the CLI

You can create a cross-regional copy of a snapshot by using the snapshot-create command with the --source-snapshot-crn option and the source snapshot CRN, which creates a snapshot in the target region by using the CRN of a snapshot from the source region. The created snapshot uses the customer-defined encryption key if the CRN of an encryption key was also specified.

ibmcloud is snapshot-create --name my-cli-snapshot-crc --source-snapshot-crn crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:us-south:a/a1234567::snapshot:r006-b9590a48-63a3-445e-b819-3f2c0b82daf8

Creating snapshot my-cli-snapshot-crc under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...

ID                     r142-bd4532c0-e73c-44f9-a017-89e5368c521a
Name                   my-cli-snapshot-crc
CRN                    crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:us-east:a/a1234567::snapshot:r142-bd4532c0-e73c-44f9-a017-89e5368c521a
Status                 pending
Clones                 Zone   Available   Created

Source volume          ID                                          Name                   Remote Region
                       r006-be21061a-4dc6-4c9f-b17d-421838fde399   -remote-421838fde399   us-south

Snapshot Copies        ID   Name   Remote Region   CRN   Resource type

Bootable               true
Encryption             provider_managed
Encryption key         -
Source Snapshot        ID                                          Name                   Remote Region   CRN                                                                                                                        Resource type
                       r006-b9590a48-63a3-445e-b819-3f2c0b82daf8   cli-snap-crc-test-sn   us-south        crn:v1:bluemix:public:is:us-south:a/a1234567::snapshot:r006-b9590a48-63a3-445e-b819-3f2c0b82daf8   snapshot

Minimum capacity(GB)   100
Size(GB)               1
Source Image           ID                                          Name                   Remote Region
                       r006-24d856e2-6aec-41c2-8f36-5a8a3766f0d6   -remote-5a8a3766f0d6   us-south

Operating system       Name             Vendor   Version                 Family   Architecture   Display name
                       centos-7-amd64   CentOS   7.x - Minimal Install   CentOS   amd64          CentOS 7.x - Minimal Install (amd64)

Resource group         ID                                 Name
                       cdc21b72d4e647b195de988b175e3d82   Default

Created                2023-04-24T18:54:29+05:30
Captured at            2023-04-24T09:48:03+05:30
Tags                   -
Service Tags           -

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is snapshot-create.

Deleting a remote region copy from the CLI

You can delete a cross-regional copy of a snapshot by using the ibmcloud is snapshot-delete command with the snapshot ID.

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshot-delete r142-bd4532c0-e73c-44f9-a017-89e5368c521a
This will delete snapshot r142-bd4532c0-e73c-44f9-a017-89e5368c521a and cannot be undone. Continue [y/N] ?> y
Deleting snapshot r142-bd4532c0-e73c-44f9-a017-89e5368c521a under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...
    OK
Snapshot r142-bd4532c0-e73c-44f9-a017-89e5368c521a is deleted.

For more information about available command options, see ibmcloud is snapshot-delete.

Creating a remote region copy with the API

You can create a cross-regional copy of a snapshot by making an API call in the target region. See the following example, where the target region is us-east and the original snapshot is in us-south.

POST https://us-east.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/snapshots
{
     "name": "my-snapshot",    // required
     "source_snapshot": {      // required
      	"crn": "crn:[...]"
     },
     "resource_group": {       // optional
       "id": "2d1bb5a8-40a8-447a-acf7-0eadc8aeb054"
     },
     "encryption_key"; "crn:[...]"     // optional
}

A successful response looks like the following example:

{
  "created_at": "2023-05-18T20:18:18Z",
  "deletable": false,
  "encryption": "user_managed",
  "encryption_key": {
    "crn": "crn:[...]"
  },
  "href": "https://us-east.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/snapshots/r139-f6bfa329-0e36-433f-a3bb-0df632e79263",
  "id": "r139-f6bfa329-0e36-433f-a3bb-0df632e79263",
  "lifecycle_state": "pending",
  "minimum_capacity": 100,
  "name": "my-snapshot",
  "operating_system": {
    "architecture": "amd64",
    "dedicated_host_only": false,
    "display_name": "Ubuntu Linux 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa Minimal Install (amd64)",
    "family": "Ubuntu Linux",
    "gpu_supported": [],
    "href": "https://us-south.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/operating_systems/ubuntu-20-04-amd64",
    "name": "ubuntu-20-04-amd64",
    "vendor": "Canonical",
    "version": "20.04 LTS Focal Fossa Minimal Install"
  },
  "resource_group": {
    "href": "https://resource-controller.cloud.ibm.com/v2/resource_groups/678523bcbe2b4eada913d32640909956",
    "id": "678523bcbe2b4eada913d32640909956",
    "name": "Default"
  },
  "resource_type": "snapshot",
  "service_tags": [],
  "size": 1,
  "source_image": {
    "crn": "crn:[...]",
    "remote": {
    	"region": {
    	   "name": "us-south",
    	   "hfef": "https://us-east.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/regions/us-south"
    	}
    }
    "href": "https://us-south.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/images/r006-32045dc2-b463-4cda-b424-bc3dcf51dfbb",
    "id": "r006-32045dc2-b463-4cda-b424-bc3dcf51dfbb",
    "name": "ibm-ubuntu-20-04-minimal-amd64-1"
  },
  "source_snapshot": {
    "crn": "crn:[...]",
    "remote": {
    	"region": {
    	   "name": "us-south",
    	   "hfef": "https://us-east.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/regions/us-south"
    	}
    }
    "href": "https://us-south.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/snapshots/r006-511a798c-5816-4082-8ecb-554a440f83de",
    "id": "r006-511a798c-5816-4082-8ecb-554a440f83de",
    "name": "my-snapshot-data"
  }
  "source_volume": {
    "crn": "crn:[...]",
    "remote": {
    	"region": {
    	   "name": "us-south",
    	   "hfef": "https://us-east.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/regions/us-south"
    	}
    },
    "href": "https://us-south.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/volumes/r006-411a798c-5816-4082-8ecb-554a440f83de",
    "id": "r006-411a798c-5816-4082-8ecb-554a440f83de",
    "name": "my-instance-data"
  }
  "user_tags": []
}

Deleting a remote-region copy of a snapshot with the API

Make a DELETE /snapshots/{id}in the target region where the remote copy is located.

curl -X DELETE https://us-east.iaas.cloud.ibm.com/v1/snapshots/{id}

Creating a cross-regional copy with Terraform

To create a copy of the snapshot in a remote region, use the ibm_is_snapshot resource. The following example creates a copy in the target region by using the ID of the source snapshot. The copy is going to be encrypted by the encryption key that is specified by its CRN.

resource "ibm_is_snapshot" "snapshot" {
  name 		      = "my-cross-regional-snapshot"
  source_snapshot = "r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146"
  encryption_key  = "crn:bluemix:public:kms:us-south:a/df0564dd126042ebb03e0224728ce939:4957299d-0ba0-487f-a1a0-c724a729b8b4:key:0cb88b98-9261-4d07-8329-8f594b6641b5"
}

For more information about the arguments and attributes, see ibm_is_snapshot.

Deleting a remote region copy with Terraform

Use the terraform destroy command to conveniently destroy a remote object such as a cross-regional copy of a snapshot. The following example shows the syntax for deleting a snapshot. Substitute the actual ID of the snapshot in for ibm_is_snapshot.example.id.

terraform destroy --target ibm_is_snapshot.example.id

For more information, see terraform destroy.

Deleting snapshots in the UI

You can delete any snapshot for a volume or all snapshots for a volume. To be able to delete a snapshot, it must meet to the following prerequisites:

Be in a stable or pending state.
Not be actively restoring a volume.

An easy way to determine whether you can delete a snapshot is to look in the console for the list of snapshots and check its status. You can delete all snapshots for a volume. Deleting all snapshots requires further confirmation in the UI.

Deleting a single snapshot in the UI

You can delete a snapshot from the list of all snapshots by using the following steps.

Go to the list of all snapshots. In the IBM Cloud console, go to the menu > VPC Infrastructure > Storage > Snapshots.
Click the Actions menu (ellipsis) in the row of the snapshot that you want to delete.
Select Delete.
Confirm the deletion and click Delete.

You can also delete a snapshot from the details page of a Block Storage for VPC volume.

Go to the list of all Block Storage for VPC volumes. In the IBM Cloud console, click the Navigation menu icon > VPC Infrastructure > Storage > Block Storage volumes.
Select a volume from the list, and click the volume name to go to the volume details page.
Click Snapshots. A list of snapshots that are taken of this volume is displayed, and you can take the following actions:
- Click Delete all to delete all snapshots for this volume.
- Click the Actions menu (ellipsis) to delete a specific snapshot.
Select Delete. If the snapshot is actively restoring a volume, the delete operation does not work.
Confirm the deletion.

Deleting all snapshots for a volume in the UI

To delete all snapshots for a volume in the UI, follow these steps.

Go to the list of all snapshots. In the IBM Cloud console, go to the menu > VPC Infrastructure > Storage > Snapshots.
Click the row to select the snapshot that you want to delete.
From the Actions menu (ellipsis), select Delete all for volume.
Confirm the deletion by typing delete and then click Delete.

Deleting snapshots from the Block Storage for VPC details page in the UI

You can delete the most recently created snapshot from the list of snapshots from the Block Storage for VPC volume details page. Optionally, you can delete all snapshots from this view.

Go to the list of all Block Storage for VPC volumes. In the IBM Cloud console, go to the menu > VPC Infrastructure > Storage > Block Storage volumes.
Select a volume from the list and click the volume name to go to the volume details page.
Click Snapshots to see a list of snapshots taken of this volume.
Click Delete all to delete all snapshots for this volume.
Alternatively, select a single snapshot in the list for deletion and then:
1. Click the Actions menu (ellipsis).
2. Select Delete from the overflow menu.
3. Confirm the deletion.

Deleting snapshots from the CLI

You can delete any snapshot for a volume or all snapshots for a volume. To be able to delete a snapshot, it must meet to the following prerequisites:

Be in a stable or pending state.
Not be actively restoring a volume.

Deleting a single snapshot from the CLI

Use the following steps to delete a single snapshot by using the CLI.

List the snapshots that are available for a volume to confirm the ID of the snapshot that you want to delete.

ibmcloud is snapshots --volume VOLUME [--resource-group-id RESOURCE_GROUP_ID | --resource-group-name RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME]

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshots --volume  r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa
Listing snapshots in all resource groups and region eu-de under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...
ID                                          Name                             Status   Source volume                               Bootable   Resource group   Created
r138-7cac80af-63bb-4a1b-83dd-5f6d550a5db7   bear-peroxide-viewable-oxidant   stable   r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa   false      test-snap        2023-02-17T18:49:48+00:00
r138-4463eb2c-4913-43b1-b9bf-62a94f74c146   cli-snapshot-test                stable   r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa   false      defaults         2023-02-17T20:15:43+00:00
r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c   snappy-snap-snap                 stable   r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa   false      test-snap        2023-02-17T18:53:57+00:00

Run the snapshot-delete command and specify the ID of the snapshot. To delete multiple snapshots, you must specify all of their IDs in the same command.
```
ibmcloud is snapshot-delete SNAPSHOT_ID
```

Confirm the deletion of the snapshot. The response message indicates that the snapshot is deleted.

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshot-delete r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c
This will delete snapshot r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c and cannot be undone. Continue [y/N] ?> y
Deleting snapshot r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...
OK
Snapshot r138-e6664842-b370-496a-9ae7-da3fb647707c is deleted.

For more information about available command options, ibmcloud is snaphot-delete.

Deleting all snapshots from the CLI

Use the following steps to delete all snapshots by using the CLI.

List all snapshots.

ibmcloud is snapshots --volume VOLUME [--resource-group-id RESOURCE_GROUP_ID | --resource-group-name RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME | --all-resource-groups]

Enter the snapshots-delete command and specify the volume ID.
```
ibmcloud is snapshots-delete --volume VOLUME_ID
```

Confirm the deletion of the snapshots. The response message indicates when the snapshot deletion request is accepted and the snapshots are being deleted.

cloudshell:~$ ibmcloud is snapshots-delete --volume  r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa
This will delete snapshot by volume r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa and cannot be undone. Continue [y/N] ?> y
Deleting snapshot by volume r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa under account Test Account as user test.user@ibm.com...
OK
Deletion request for snapshots by volume r010-df8ffd90-f2e5-470b-83d7-76e64995a1aa has been accepted.

For more information about available command options, ibmcloud is snaphot-delete.

Deleting snapshots with the API

You can delete any snapshot for a volume or all snapshots for a volume. To be able to delete a snapshot, it must meet to the following prerequisites:

Be in a stable or pending state.
Not be actively restoring a volume.

Deleting a single snapshot with the API

Make a DELETE /snapshots/{snapshot_ID} call to delete a specific snapshot by ID.

curl -X DELETE \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/snapshots/7528eb61-bc01-4763-a67a-a414a103f96d?version=2022-12-22&generation=2" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"

Deleting all snapshots for a volume with the API

Make a DELETE/snapshots call and specify the source volume ID for the source_volume.id parameter in the request.

curl -X DELETE \
"$vpc_api_endpoint/v1/snapshots?source_volume.id=_volume-id_&version=2022-12-22&generation=2" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}"

Deleting snapshots with Terraform

You can delete any snapshot for a volume or all snapshots for a volume. To be able to delete a snapshot, it must meet to the following prerequisites:

Be in a stable or pending state.
Not be actively restoring a volume.

Deleting a single snapshot with Terraform

Use the terraform destroy command to conveniently destroy a remote object such as a single snapshot. The following example deletes my-snapshot.

terraform destroy --target ibm_is_snapshot.my-snapshot

For more information, see terraform destroy.

Deleting all snapshots for a volume with Terraform

To delete all snapshots of a volume with terraform, use the ibm_is_volume resource.

resource "ibm_is_volume" "storage" {
  name                 = "example-volume"
  profile              = "general-purpose"
  zone                 = "us-south-1"
  delete_all_snapshots = true
}

For more information about the arguments and attributes, see ibm_is_volume.

Activity Tracker events for snapshots

When you initiate activity on a snapshot, specific Activity Tracker events are generated. These activities include creating, listing, modifying, and deleting snapshots. For more information about the Activity Tracker events, see Snapshots events.

Activity Tracker JSON examples for snapshot events

The following example shows the JSON output of an Activity Tracker event that was generated after you successfully created a snapshot. The name that you gave the snapshot appears in the response message and reason code Created.

{
    "eventTime": "2022-02-22T17:59:07.57+0000",
    "action": "is.snapshot.create",
    "outcome": "success",
    "message": "Block Storage Snapshots for VPC: create my-snapshot-1",
    "initiator": {
        "id": "ABCid-45B7R6TVH4",
        "typeURI": "service/security/account/user",
        "name": "myname@mycompany.com",
        "host": {
            "address": "192.0.2.0"
        },
        "credential": {
            "type": "token"
        }
    },
    "target": {
        "id": "crn:v1::public:is::a/cf27ad23-60e6-47d8-a4c1-b63ac14488f1::snapshot:09ca2bab-c5c4-4c06-b034-dda9bbeb859c",
        "typeURI": "is.snapshot/snapshot",
        "name": "my-snapshot-1"
    },
    "observer": {
        "name": "ActivityTracker"
    },
    "reason": {
        "reasonCode": 201,
        "reasonType": "Created"
    },
    "severity": "normal",
    "requestData": {
        "generation": "2"
    },
    "responseData": {
        "responseURI": "/v1/snapshots/09ca2bab-c5c4-4c06-b034-dda9bbeb859c"
    },
    "dataEvent": false,
    "logSourceCRN": "crn:v1::public:is::a/cf27ad23-60e6-47d8-a4c1-b63ac14488f1::snapshot:09ca2bab-c5c4-4c06-b034-dda9bbeb859c",
    "saveServiceCopy": true
}

The following example shows an event that was generated when you list snapshot details by ID:

{
    "eventTime": "2022-01-16T17:55:25.60+0000",
    "action": "is.snapshot.read",
    "outcome": "success",
    "message": "Block Storage Snapshots for VPC: read my-snapshot-2",
    "initiator": {
        "id": "IBMid-50A7R6DVH5",
        "typeURI": "service/security/account/user",
        "name": "myuser@mycompany.com",
        "host": {
            "address": "192.0.2.0"
        },
        "credential": {
            "type": "token"
        }
    },
    "target": {
        "id": "crn:v1::public:is::a/ef0574dd126031eba03e554728ab939::snapshot:4e3252d7-cf32-4586-93e9-f7d9a497bed4",
        "typeURI": "is.snapshot/snapshot",
        "name": "my-snapshot-2"
    },
    "observer": {
        "name": "ActivityTracker"
    },
    "reason": {
        "reasonCode": 200,
        "reasonType": "OK"
    },
    "severity": "normal",
    "requestData": {
        "generation": "2"
    },
    "responseData": {
        "responseURI": "/v1/snapshots/4e3252d7-cf32-4586-93e9-f7d9a497bed4"
    },
    "dataEvent": false,
    "logSourceCRN": "crn:v1::public:is::a/ef0574dd126031eba03e554728ab939::snapshot:4e3252d7-cf32-4586-93e9-f7d9a497bed4",
    "saveServiceCopy": true
}

IAM roles for creating and managing snapshots

Snapshots require IBM Cloud® Identity and Access Management (IAM) permissions for role-based access control. Table 1 describes these roles as they pertain to snapshots actions.

Table 1. IBM Cloud® Identity and Access Management roles for snapshots.
Snapshot action	IAM role
Create snapshots	Administrator, editor
Delete snapshots	Administrator, editor
Create a volume from a snapshot^[1]	Administrator, editor, operator
List snapshots	Administrator, editor, operator, viewer
View snapshot details	Administrator, editor, operator, viewer

Snapshot lifecycle states

Table 2 describes the snapshot states in the snapshot lifecycle.

Table 2. Snapshot lifecycle states
Snapshot status	Explanation
Stable	The snapshot is available for restoring a volume.
Waiting	Snapshot information is being retrieved.
Pending	While the snapshot is being created, the percentage completed displays.
Failed	The snapshot failed to br created, the volume can't be restored from a snapshot.
Suspended	Snapshot is temporarily unavailable.
Updating	You changed something about the snapshot and it is being updated.
Deleting	The snapshot is being deleted.
Deleted	The snapshot was deleted and is not available to restore volumes.

Managing security and compliance

The Snapshot for VPC service is integrated with the IBM Cloud® Security and Compliance Center to help you manage security and compliance for your organization. For snapshots, you can set up a goal that checks whether snapshots are encrypted by using customer-managed keys. By using the Security and Compliance Center to validate the snapshot resource configurations in your account against a profile, you can identify potential issues as they arise.

Because snapshots are created from Block Storage for VPC volumes, Block Storage for VPC goals provide an extra level of security. For more information, see Getting started with Security and Compliance Center. For more information about creating security and compliance goals, see Defining rules in the Security and Compliance Documentation.

Next steps

You can Restore a volume from a snapshot.

Administrator and editor privileges are needed on the volume. ↩︎