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Clone a VM from Snapshot

Taking a snapshot of a VM means saving the state and data of that VM at a specific time, such as files, configurations and disk size.

VM snapshots allow you to quickly roll back a VM to a previous state without having to create multiple VMs, specially if you are working in an environment where the state of the VM is repeatedly rolled back. If something goes wrong on your VM while performing upgrades or making changes in the VM settings or configuration, a VM snapshot can be used as a safe restoration point.

In this tutorial, we will illustrate how we can create a snapshot on whitesky.cloud BV from a disk or multiple disks, then clone a VM from that snapshot.

Differences between snapshots and backups

It might be confusing for you from the snapshot definition so here's how it differs from backups?

Snapshots can be used for backup and recovery purposes. They can be used to quickly restore a VM to a previous state in the event of data corruption or loss. Snapshots can also be used to create multiple copies of a VM to test different configurations or scenarios.

Create a snapshot on whitesky.cloud BV

You will need to have a VM on whitesky.cloud BV in order to take a snapshot of its disk. If you don't have a VM and don't know how to create one on whitesky.cloud BV, check the virtual machine documentation.

After creating your VM, open up the VM details page

  1. Under DISKs, select the boot disk that we want to take a snapshot from.
  2. You will see the disk details page, click TAKE SNAPSHOT in the top bar.

  3. Write the snapshot name, then click Create.

    Select the Checkbox under the snapshot name to take a snapshot for all the VM disks.

  4. After the snapshot is created successfully, you can find it under SNAPSHOTS on the disk details page.

Clone VM from Snapshot

Now to clone a VM from our previously created snapshot.

  1. Open your cloudspace details page.
  2. Click CREATE VM in the top bar.
  3. Choose Create from a snapshot option.
  4. Select the boot disk from your VM.
  5. You can see the snapshot that you previously created and are free to select it and proceed, or click the Clone all disks created along the selected one option to clone all the disks on your VM.
  6. Configure your compute size e.g vCPUs, Memory.
  7. You are free to add more data disks.
  8. Add your new VM configuration details e.g VM Name, Description (optional) and Private IP (optional).
  9. Click CREATE VIRTUAL MACHINE.

Now you have cloned your VM from a snapshot successfully.

See also