Snapshots and backups for your VPS

Your VPS page in the panel has two ways to save the state of your server: snapshots and backups. They look alike, but they are made for different jobs.

Snapshot or backup?

	Snapshot	Backup
What it is	A saved point in time of your server that you can jump back to	A complete copy of the disks of your server
Best for	Just before a risky change, such as an upgrade	Regular protection of your data over days and weeks
Automatic	No, you make it by hand	Yes, with a schedule

A simple rule: take a snapshot before you change something, and let a backup schedule look after the rest.

Where to find them

1. Sign in to the panel and open Virtual Machines in the sidebar.
2. Click your server.
3. Scroll down to the cards Backups, Scheduled backups and Snapshots.

If a card is missing, that feature is not available for your server.

Create a snapshot

1. In the Snapshots card, click Create Snapshot.
2. Enter a Name, for example before-upgrade. Start with a letter and use only letters, digits and hyphens, no spaces.
3. Optional: add a Description (optional) so you still know later why you made it.
4. Optional: tick Include RAM state. The snapshot then also saves the running memory of the server, not only the disks. Such a snapshot gets the label RAM included in the list.
5. Click Create.

Roll back to a snapshot

Rolling back puts the server back exactly as it was when you took the snapshot. Everything that changed after that moment is lost.

1. In the Snapshots card, find the snapshot you want.
2. Click Rollback.

The rollback starts immediately, without a second confirmation, so check the name and date before you click.

You can roll back to every snapshot in the list, including the newest one with the label Active. So the simple flow works: create a snapshot, make your change, and roll back to that snapshot if it went wrong.

After a rollback to a snapshot without RAM state the server is stopped: click Start at the top of the page. A snapshot with RAM state continues running from the saved moment.

To remove a snapshot you no longer need, click Delete next to it. This also happens immediately.

Create a backup

1. In the Backups card, click Create Backup.
2. Choose a Mode:
   • Snapshot (no downtime): the server keeps running. The right choice in most cases.
   • Suspend (brief pause): the server is paused for a moment while the backup is made.
   • Stop (most consistent): the server is stopped for the backup. Useful for a busy database, for example.
3. Optional: add Notes (optional), for example "before migration".
4. Click Create Backup.

A backup takes longer than a snapshot, depending on the size of your disks. When it is done it appears in the list with its date, size and your notes.

Restore a backup

Restoring replaces the disks of your server with the contents of the backup. Anything written to disk since the backup was taken is lost.

1. In the Backups card, click Restore next to the backup you want.
2. If the server is running, the panel asks Stop the VM and restore?, because it has to stop the server first. Click Stop and restore to continue.
3. Wait until the restore is finished. The server stays stopped afterwards.
4. Click Start at the top of the page.

To remove a backup, click Delete next to it.

Back up automatically with a schedule

1. In the Scheduled backups card, click Add schedule.
2. Choose a Frequency: Every 6 hours, Daily (03:00), Weekly (Sun 03:00) or Monthly (1st, 03:00).
3. Choose a Mode. The options are the same as for a manual backup. Snapshot (no downtime) is the best fit for a schedule, because the server keeps running.
4. Under Backups to keep, enter how many backups you want to keep. After every scheduled backup, the schedule removes its own oldest backups until that many are left. Backups you made by hand are never deleted by a schedule. They do count toward the backup limit of your server if there is one, so with many manual backups a schedule can keep fewer than you entered.
5. Click Create schedule.

To stop a schedule, click Delete next to it. Backups that were already made stay in the list.

Limits

There can be a maximum number of snapshots and of backups per server. The panel then shows where you are right below the card title, as a counter such as "2 / 5".

• When you reach the limit, the button to create a new one is switched off. Delete an old snapshot or backup to make room.
• A schedule cannot keep more backups than your backup limit. The dialog tells you the limit under Backups to keep.

Good habits

• Take a snapshot before every upgrade or larger configuration change, and delete it once you are sure everything works.
• Test a restore once, at a quiet moment.
• Keep a separate copy of data you cannot afford to lose on your own computer or at another location.

New to your server? Set up your first VPS covers the basics, and Secure your VPS: the first ten minutes shows what to lock down first.