Create archive and standard disk snapshots

---

Create standard snapshots to periodically back up data from these types of disks:

• Zonal Persistent Disk volumes
• Regional Persistent Disk volumes
• Google Cloud Hyperdisk volumes

You can create snapshots from disks even while they are attached to running instances. Snapshots are global resources, so you can use them to restore data to a new disk or VM within the same project. You can also share snapshots across projects.

Before you begin

• If you haven't already, then set up authentication. Authentication is the process by which your identity is verified for access to Google Cloud services and APIs. To run code or samples from a local development environment, you can authenticate to Compute Engine by selecting one of the following options:
  

  Select the tab for how you plan to use the samples on this page:

  Console

  When you use the Google Cloud console to access Google Cloud services and APIs, you don't need to set up authentication.

  gcloud

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI, then initialize it by running the following command:

     gcloud init

     Note: If you installed the gcloud CLI previously, make sure you have the latest version by running gcloud components update.
  2. Set a default region and zone.

  Terraform

  To use the Terraform samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  Go

  To use the Go samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  Java

  To use the Java samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  Node.js

  To use the Node.js samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  Python

  To use the Python samples on this page in a local development environment, install and initialize the gcloud CLI, and then set up Application Default Credentials with your user credentials.

  1. Install the Google Cloud CLI.

  2. To initialize the gcloud CLI, run the following command:

     gcloud init

  3. If you're using a local shell, then create local authentication credentials for your user account:

     gcloud auth application-default login

     You don't need to do this if you're using Cloud Shell.

  For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

  REST

  To use the REST API samples on this page in a local development environment, you use the credentials you provide to the gcloud CLI.

  Install the Google Cloud CLI, then initialize it by running the following command:

  gcloud init

  For more information, see Authenticate for using REST in the Google Cloud authentication documentation.

Required roles and permissions

To get the permissions that you need to create a standard snapshot, ask your administrator to grant you the following IAM roles on the project:

• Compute Instance Admin (v1) (roles/compute.instanceAdmin.v1)
• To connect to a VM that can run as a service account: Service Account User (v1) (roles/iam.serviceAccountUser)

For more information about granting roles, see Manage access to projects, folders, and organizations.

These predefined roles contain the permissions required to create a standard snapshot. To see the exact permissions that are required, expand the Required permissions section:

Required permissions

The following permissions are required to create a standard snapshot:

• To create a snapshot of a zonal disk:
  • compute.snapshots.create on the project
  • compute.disks.createSnapshot on the disk
• To create a snapshot of a regional disk using the data on the disk:
  • compute.snapshots.create on the project
  • compute.instances.useReadOnly on the source VM
  • compute.disks.createSnapshot on the disk
• To create a snapshot of a regional disk from a replica recovery checkpoint:
  • compute.snapshots.create on the project
  • compute.disks.createSnapshot on the disk

You might also be able to get these permissions with custom roles or other predefined roles.

Prepare for creating snapshots

To prepare for creating Persistent Disk or Hyperdisk snapshots, do the following:

• Review Best practices for Compute Engine disk snapshots to prepare your disk for snapshotting.

• If you want to customize the default storage location for all your new snapshots, update the snapshot settings for your project. Google Cloud maintains a predefined default storage location value until you update the snapshot settings for the first time. This predefined location is the nearest multi-region to the source disk.

• Read Create schedules for disk snapshots to learn about creating a snapshot schedule and attaching it to your disks. Backing up your disks regularly with scheduled snapshots can reduce the risk of unexpected data loss.

• You can't create a snapshot of a Hyperdisk volume that's in multi-writer mode. Disable multi-writer mode for the disk, then create the snapshot.

Important: If you pause your applications before creating a snapshot, resume your workloads only after the snapshot resource reaches the UPLOADING status. For more information, see the table in Manually creating application consistent snapshots.

Create a snapshot of Persistent Disk volume

The instructions for creating snapshots of Persistent Disk volumes are different, depending on whether you are creating a snapshot of zonal Persistent Disk or regional Persistent Disk.

Create a snapshot of a zonal Persistent Disk volume

Caution: If you attempt to create a snapshot from a zonal Persistent Disk and the snapshot creation process fails, you won't be able to delete the original zonal Persistent Disk volume until you have cleaned up the failed snapshot and capture a clean snapshot. This failsafe helps to prevent the accidental deletion of source data in the event of an unsuccessful backup.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the VM instances page.

   Go to VM instances
   The remaining steps will appear automatically in the Google Cloud console.

2. Select the project that contains your VM instances.
3. In the Name column, click the name of the VM that has the disk to back up.
4. In Storage:
   • To back up the boot disk, in the Boot disk section, click the Name of the boot disk.
   • To back up an attached data disk, in Additional disks, click the Name of the disk.
5. Click Create snapshot.
6. In Name, enter a unique name to help identify the purpose of the snapshot, for example:
   • boot-disk-snapshot
   • attached-data-disk-snapshot
7. In Type, the default is a standard snapshot. Standard snapshots are best for long-term back up and disaster recovery.

   Choose Archive snapshot to create a more cost-efficient backup than standard snapshots, but with a longer data recovery time.

   For more information, see Snapshot type comparison.

8. In the Location section, choose your snapshot storage location. The predefined or customized default location defined in your snapshot settings is automatically selected. Optionally, you can override the snapshot settings and store your snapshots in a custom storage location by doing the following:

   1. Choose the type of storage location that you want for your snapshot.

      • Choose Multi-regional for higher availability at a higher cost.
        
      • Choose Regional snapshots for more control over the physical location of your data at a lower cost.

   2. In the Select location field, select the specific region or multi-region that you want to use. To use the region or multi-region that is closest to your source disk, choose a location from the section titled Based on disk's location.

9. To create a snapshot, click Create.

gcloud

You can create your snapshot in the storage location policy defined by your snapshot settings or using an alternative storage location of your choice. For more information, see Choose your snapshot storage location.

• To create a snapshot in the predefined or customized default location configured in your snapshot settings, use the gcloud compute snapshots create command.

  gcloud compute snapshots create SNAPSHOT_NAME \
      --source-disk-zone=SOURCE_ZONE \
      --source-disk=SOURCE_DISK_NAME \
      --snapshot-type=SNAPSHOT_TYPE
  

• Alternatively, to override the snapshot settings and create a snapshot in a custom storage location, include the --storage-location flag to indicate where to store your snapshot.

  gcloud compute snapshots create SNAPSHOT_NAME \
      --source-disk-zone=SOURCE_ZONE \
      --source-disk=SOURCE_DISK_NAME \
      --snapshot-type=SNAPSHOT_TYPE \
      --storage-location=STORAGE_LOCATION
  

  Replace the following:

  • SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
  • SOURCE_ZONE: The zone of the source disk.
  • SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the Persistent Disk volume from which you want to create a snapshot.
  • SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

  • STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.

    Use the --storage-location parameter only when you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.

  Note: Google recommends using the gcloud compute snapshots create command instead of the gcloud compute disks snapshot command because it supports more features, such as creating snapshots in a project different from the source disk project.

Terraform

To create a snapshot of the zonal Persistent Disk volume, use the google_compute_snapshot resource.

resource "google_compute_snapshot" "snapdisk" {
  name        = "snapshot-name"
  source_disk = google_compute_disk.default.name
  zone        = "us-central1-a"
}

To learn how to apply or remove a Terraform configuration, see Basic Terraform commands.

Go

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	compute "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"
	computepb "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1/computepb"
	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
)

// createSnapshot creates a snapshot of a disk.
func createSnapshot(
	w io.Writer,
	projectID, diskName, snapshotName, zone, region, location, diskProjectID string,
) error {
	// projectID := "your_project_id"
	// diskName := "your_disk_name"
	// snapshotName := "your_snapshot_name"
	// zone := "europe-central2-b"
	// region := "eupore-central2"
	// location = "eupore-central2"
	// diskProjectID = "YOUR_DISK_PROJECT_ID"

	ctx := context.Background()

	snapshotsClient, err := compute.NewSnapshotsRESTClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewSnapshotsRESTClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer snapshotsClient.Close()

	if zone == "" && region == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("you need to specify `zone` or `region` for this function to work")
	}

	if zone != "" && region != "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("you can't set both `zone` and `region` parameters")
	}

	if diskProjectID == "" {
		diskProjectID = projectID
	}

	disk := &computepb.Disk{}
	locations := []string{}
	if location != "" {
		locations = append(locations, location)
	}

	if zone != "" {
		disksClient, err := compute.NewDisksRESTClient(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("NewDisksRESTClient: %w", err)
		}
		defer disksClient.Close()

		getDiskReq := &computepb.GetDiskRequest{
			Project: projectID,
			Zone:    zone,
			Disk:    diskName,
		}

		disk, err = disksClient.Get(ctx, getDiskReq)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("unable to get disk: %w", err)
		}
	} else {
		regionDisksClient, err := compute.NewRegionDisksRESTClient(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("NewRegionDisksRESTClient: %w", err)
		}
		defer regionDisksClient.Close()

		getDiskReq := &computepb.GetRegionDiskRequest{
			Project: projectID,
			Region:  region,
			Disk:    diskName,
		}

		disk, err = regionDisksClient.Get(ctx, getDiskReq)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("unable to get disk: %w", err)
		}
	}

	req := &computepb.InsertSnapshotRequest{
		Project: projectID,
		SnapshotResource: &computepb.Snapshot{
			Name:             proto.String(snapshotName),
			SourceDisk:       proto.String(disk.GetSelfLink()),
			StorageLocations: locations,
		},
	}

	op, err := snapshotsClient.Insert(ctx, req)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to create snapshot: %w", err)
	}

	if err = op.Wait(ctx); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to wait for the operation: %w", err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Snapshot created\n")

	return nil
}

Java

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Disk;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.DisksClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Operation;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.RegionDisksClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Snapshot;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.SnapshotsClient;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

public class CreateSnapshot {

  public static void main(String[] args)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    // You need to pass `zone` or `region` parameter relevant to the disk you want to
    // snapshot, but not both. Pass `zone` parameter for zonal disks and `region` for
    // regional disks.

    // Project ID or project number of the Cloud project you want to use.
    String projectId = "YOUR_PROJECT_ID";

    // Name of the disk you want to create.
    String diskName = "YOUR_DISK_NAME";

    // Name of the snapshot that you want to create.
    String snapshotName = "YOUR_SNAPSHOT_NAME";

    // The zone of the source disk from which you create the snapshot (for zonal disks).
    String zone = "europe-central2-b";

    // The region of the source disk from which you create the snapshot (for regional disks).
    String region = "your-disk-region";

    // The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you
    // want to store your snapshot.
    // You can specify only one storage location. Available locations:
    // https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/locations#available-locations
    String location = "europe-central2";

    // Project ID or project number of the Cloud project that
    // hosts the disk you want to snapshot. If not provided, the value will be defaulted
    // to 'projectId' value.
    String diskProjectId = "YOUR_DISK_PROJECT_ID";

    createSnapshot(projectId, diskName, snapshotName, zone, region, location, diskProjectId);
  }

  // Creates a snapshot of a disk.
  public static void createSnapshot(String projectId, String diskName, String snapshotName,
      String zone, String region, String location, String diskProjectId)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {

    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
    // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After completing all of your requests, call
    // the `snapshotsClient.close()` method on the client to safely
    // clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (SnapshotsClient snapshotsClient = SnapshotsClient.create()) {

      if (zone.isEmpty() && region.isEmpty()) {
        throw new Error("You need to specify 'zone' or 'region' for this function to work");
      }

      if (!zone.isEmpty() && !region.isEmpty()) {
        throw new Error("You can't set both 'zone' and 'region' parameters");
      }

      // If Disk's project id is not specified, then the projectId parameter will be used.
      if (diskProjectId.isEmpty()) {
        diskProjectId = projectId;
      }

      // If zone is not empty, use the DisksClient to create a disk.
      // Else, use the RegionDisksClient.
      Disk disk;
      if (!zone.isEmpty()) {
        DisksClient disksClient = DisksClient.create();
        disk = disksClient.get(projectId, zone, diskName);
      } else {
        RegionDisksClient regionDisksClient = RegionDisksClient.create();
        disk = regionDisksClient.get(diskProjectId, region, diskName);
      }

      // Set the snapshot properties.
      Snapshot snapshotResource;
      if (!location.isEmpty()) {
        snapshotResource = Snapshot.newBuilder()
            .setName(snapshotName)
            .setSourceDisk(disk.getSelfLink())
            .addStorageLocations(location)
            .build();
      } else {
        snapshotResource = Snapshot.newBuilder()
            .setName(snapshotName)
            .setSourceDisk(disk.getSelfLink())
            .build();
      }

      // Wait for the operation to complete.
      Operation operation = snapshotsClient.insertAsync(projectId, snapshotResource)
          .get(3, TimeUnit.MINUTES);

      if (operation.hasError()) {
        System.out.println("Snapshot creation failed!" + operation);
        return;
      }

      // Retrieve the created snapshot.
      Snapshot snapshot = snapshotsClient.get(projectId, snapshotName);
      System.out.printf("Snapshot created: %s", snapshot.getName());

    }
  }
}

Node.js

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const diskName = 'YOUR_DISK_NAME';
// const snapshotName = 'YOUR_SNAPSHOT_NAME';
// const zone = 'europe-central2-b';
// const region = '';
// const location = 'europe-central2';
// let diskProjectId = 'YOUR_DISK_PROJECT_ID';

const compute = require('@google-cloud/compute');

async function createSnapshot() {
  const snapshotsClient = new compute.SnapshotsClient();

  let disk;

  if (!zone && !region) {
    throw new Error(
      'You need to specify `zone` or `region` for this function to work.'
    );
  }

  if (zone && region) {
    throw new Error("You can't set both `zone` and `region` parameters");
  }

  if (!diskProjectId) {
    diskProjectId = projectId;
  }

  if (zone) {
    const disksClient = new compute.DisksClient();
    [disk] = await disksClient.get({
      project: diskProjectId,
      zone,
      disk: diskName,
    });
  } else {
    const regionDisksClient = new compute.RegionDisksClient();
    [disk] = await regionDisksClient.get({
      project: diskProjectId,
      region,
      disk: diskName,
    });
  }

  const snapshotResource = {
    name: snapshotName,
    sourceDisk: disk.selfLink,
  };

  if (location) {
    snapshotResource.storageLocations = [location];
  }

  const [response] = await snapshotsClient.insert({
    project: projectId,
    snapshotResource,
  });
  let operation = response.latestResponse;
  const operationsClient = new compute.GlobalOperationsClient();

  // Wait for the create snapshot operation to complete.
  while (operation.status !== 'DONE') {
    [operation] = await operationsClient.wait({
      operation: operation.name,
      project: projectId,
    });
  }

  console.log('Snapshot created.');
}

createSnapshot();

Python

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

from __future__ import annotations

import sys
from typing import Any

from google.api_core.extended_operation import ExtendedOperation
from google.cloud import compute_v1


def wait_for_extended_operation(
    operation: ExtendedOperation, verbose_name: str = "operation", timeout: int = 300
) -> Any:
    """
    Waits for the extended (long-running) operation to complete.

    If the operation is successful, it will return its result.
    If the operation ends with an error, an exception will be raised.
    If there were any warnings during the execution of the operation
    they will be printed to sys.stderr.

    Args:
        operation: a long-running operation you want to wait on.
        verbose_name: (optional) a more verbose name of the operation,
            used only during error and warning reporting.
        timeout: how long (in seconds) to wait for operation to finish.
            If None, wait indefinitely.

    Returns:
        Whatever the operation.result() returns.

    Raises:
        This method will raise the exception received from `operation.exception()`
        or RuntimeError if there is no exception set, but there is an `error_code`
        set for the `operation`.

        In case of an operation taking longer than `timeout` seconds to complete,
        a `concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` will be raised.
    """
    result = operation.result(timeout=timeout)

    if operation.error_code:
        print(
            f"Error during {verbose_name}: [Code: {operation.error_code}]: {operation.error_message}",
            file=sys.stderr,
            flush=True,
        )
        print(f"Operation ID: {operation.name}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        raise operation.exception() or RuntimeError(operation.error_message)

    if operation.warnings:
        print(f"Warnings during {verbose_name}:\n", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        for warning in operation.warnings:
            print(f" - {warning.code}: {warning.message}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)

    return result


def create_snapshot(
    project_id: str,
    disk_name: str,
    snapshot_name: str,
    *,
    zone: str | None = None,
    region: str | None = None,
    location: str | None = None,
    disk_project_id: str | None = None,
) -> compute_v1.Snapshot:
    """
    Create a snapshot of a disk.

    You need to pass `zone` or `region` parameter relevant to the disk you want to
    snapshot, but not both. Pass `zone` parameter for zonal disks and `region` for
    regional disks.

    Args:
        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you want
            to use to store the snapshot.
        disk_name: name of the disk you want to snapshot.
        snapshot_name: name of the snapshot to be created.
        zone: name of the zone in which is the disk you want to snapshot (for zonal disks).
        region: name of the region in which is the disk you want to snapshot (for regional disks).
        location: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you
            want to store your snapshot.
            You can specify only one storage location. Available locations:
            https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/locations#available-locations
        disk_project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project that
            hosts the disk you want to snapshot. If not provided, will look for
            the disk in the `project_id` project.

    Returns:
        The new snapshot instance.
    """
    if zone is None and region is None:
        raise RuntimeError(
            "You need to specify `zone` or `region` for this function to work."
        )
    if zone is not None and region is not None:
        raise RuntimeError("You can't set both `zone` and `region` parameters.")

    if disk_project_id is None:
        disk_project_id = project_id

    if zone is not None:
        disk_client = compute_v1.DisksClient()
        disk = disk_client.get(project=disk_project_id, zone=zone, disk=disk_name)
    else:
        regio_disk_client = compute_v1.RegionDisksClient()
        disk = regio_disk_client.get(
            project=disk_project_id, region=region, disk=disk_name
        )

    snapshot = compute_v1.Snapshot()
    snapshot.source_disk = disk.self_link
    snapshot.name = snapshot_name
    if location:
        snapshot.storage_locations = [location]

    snapshot_client = compute_v1.SnapshotsClient()
    operation = snapshot_client.insert(project=project_id, snapshot_resource=snapshot)

    wait_for_extended_operation(operation, "snapshot creation")

    return snapshot_client.get(project=project_id, snapshot=snapshot_name)

REST

You can create your snapshot in the storage location policy defined by your snapshot settings or using an alternative storage location of your choice. For more information, see Choose your snapshot storage location.

• To create a snapshot in the predefined or customized default location configured in your snapshot settings, make a POST request to the snapshots.insert method:

  POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID/global/snapshots
  {
      "name": "SNAPSHOT_NAME",
      "sourceDisk": "projects/SOURCE_PROJECT_ID/zones/SOURCE_ZONE/disks/SOURCE_DISK_NAME",
      "snapshotType": "SNAPSHOT_TYPE"
  }
  

• Alternatively, to override the snapshot settings and create a snapshot in a custom storage location, make a POST request to the snapshots.insert method and include the storageLocations property in your request:

  POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID/global/snapshots
  {
      "name": "SNAPSHOT_NAME",
      "sourceDisk": "projects/SOURCE_PROJECT_ID/zones/SOURCE_ZONE/disks/SOURCE_DISK_NAME",
      "snapshotType": "SNAPSHOT_TYPE",
      "storageLocations": [
          "STORAGE_LOCATION"
      ],
  }
  

Replace the following:

• DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID: The ID of project in which you want to create the snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
• SOURCE_PROJECT_ID: The ID of the source disk project.
• SOURCE_ZONE: The zone of the source disk.
• SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the Persistent Disk volume from which you want to create a snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

• STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.

  Use the storageLocations parameter only when you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.

Note: Google recommends using the snapshots.insert method instead of the disks.createSnapshot method because it supports more features, such as creating snapshots in a project different from the source disk project.

Create a snapshot of a regional Persistent Disk volume

You can create snapshots of your regional Persistent Disk volume in one of the following ways:

• By using the data on the source disk. To use this snapshot creation method, you must have a synced zonal replica available.
• By using the replica recovery checkpoint of a degraded disk. You can create snapshots from a checkpoint only by using the Google Cloud CLI or REST.

Important: Google recommends that you use the checkpoint to create standard snapshots only when your degraded replicated disk doesn't have a synced replica available. To avoid data loss, if your degraded disk has a synced replica available, always use the data on the disk to create your snapshot.

After you prepare the disk, you can create a snapshot. When creating a snapshot of a regional Persistent Disk, you must indicate the region where the source disk is located.

Caution: If you attempt to create a snapshot from a Regional Persistent Disk or Hyperdisk Balanced High Availability and the snapshot creation process fails, you won't be able to delete the original Regional Persistent Disk or Hyperdisk Balanced High Availability volume until you have cleaned up the failed snapshot and capture a clean snapshot. This failsafe helps to prevent the accidental deletion of source data in the event of an unsuccessful backup.

Console

1. Go to the Create a Snapshot page in the Google Cloud console.

   Go to the Create a Snapshot page
2. Enter a snapshot Name.

3. Select a Snapshot type. The default is a STANDARD snapshot, which is the best option for long-term back up and disaster recovery.

   Choose Archive snapshot for more cost-efficient data retention.

4. Optional: Enter a Description of the snapshot.
5. Under Source disk, select the existing disk that you want to create a snapshot of.

6. In the Location section, choose your snapshot storage location.

   The predefined or customized default location defined in your snapshot settings is automatically selected. Optionally, you can override the snapshot settings and store your snapshots in a custom storage location by doing the following:

   1. Choose the type of storage location that you want for your snapshot.

      • Choose Multi-regional for higher availability at a higher cost.
      • Choose Regional snapshots for more control over the physical location of your data at a lower cost.
   2. In the Select location field, select the specific region or multi-region that you want to use. To use the region or multi-region that is closest to your source disk, select Based on disk's location.
7. Click Create to create the snapshot.

gcloud

You can create a snapshot either by using the source disk's data or its replica recovery checkpoint.

From disk data

You can create a snapshot from your disk's data using the storage location policy defined by your snapshot settings or using an alternative storage location of your choice. For more information, see Choose your snapshot storage location.

• To create a snapshot in the predefined or customized default location configured in your snapshot settings, use the gcloud compute snapshots create command.

  gcloud compute snapshots create SNAPSHOT_NAME \
      --source-disk-region=SOURCE_REGION \
      --source-disk=SOURCE_DISK_NAME \
      --snapshot-type=SNAPSHOT_TYPE
  

• Alternatively, to override the snapshot settings and create a snapshot in a custom storage location, include the --storage-location flag to indicate where to store your snapshot.

  gcloud compute snapshots create SNAPSHOT_NAME \
      --source-disk-region=SOURCE_REGION \
      --source-disk=SOURCE_DISK_NAME \
      --snapshot-type=SNAPSHOT_TYPE \
      --storage-location=STORAGE_LOCATION
  

  Replace the following:

  • SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
  • SOURCE_REGION: The region of the source disk.
  • SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the Regional Persistent Disk or Hyperdisk Balanced High Availability volume from which you want to create a snapshot.
  • SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

  • STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.

    Use the --storage-location parameter only when you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.

  Note: Google recommends using the gcloud compute snapshots create command instead of the gcloud compute disks snapshot command because it supports more features, such as creating snapshots in a project different from the source disk project.

From checkpoint

You can create your snapshot using the replica recovery checkpoint (Preview) of a degraded disk . Your snapshot gets created as long as your incomplete replica is available.

To create a snapshot using the replica recovery checkpoint, use the gcloud compute snapshots create command . Include the --source-disk-for-recovery-checkpoint flag to specify that you want to create the snapshot using a replica recovery checkpoint. Exclude the --source-disk and --source-disk-region parameters.

gcloud compute snapshots create SNAPSHOT_NAME \
    --source-disk-for-recovery-checkpoint=SOURCE_DISK \
    --source-disk-for-recovery-checkpoint-region=SOURCE_REGION \
    --storage-location=STORAGE_LOCATION \
    --snapshot-type=SNAPSHOT_TYPE

Replace the following:

• DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID: The ID of project in which you want to create the snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
• SOURCE_PROJECT_ID: The project ID of the source disk whose checkpoint you want to use to create the snapshot.
• SOURCE_REGION: The region of the source disk whose checkpoint you want to use to create the snapshot.
• SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the source disk whose checkpoint you want to use to create the snapshot.
• STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storagemulti-region or the Cloud Storageregion where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.
  Use the only if you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.
• SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

You can use replica recovery checkpoint to create a snapshot only on degraded disks. If you try to create a snapshot from a replica recovery checkpoint when the device is fully replicated, you see the following error message:

The device is fully replicated and should not create snapshots out of a recovery checkpoint. Please
create regular snapshots instead.

The Google Cloud CLI waits until the operation returns a status of READY, FAILED, or reaches the maximum timeout and returns the last known details of the snapshot.

Terraform

The Terraform provider for Google Cloud doesn't support creating a snapshot of a regional Persistent Disk volume. To track this limitation, see the issue on GitHub.

Go

Go

Before trying this sample, follow the Go setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	compute "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1"
	computepb "cloud.google.com/go/compute/apiv1/computepb"
	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
)

// createSnapshot creates a snapshot of a disk.
func createSnapshot(
	w io.Writer,
	projectID, diskName, snapshotName, zone, region, location, diskProjectID string,
) error {
	// projectID := "your_project_id"
	// diskName := "your_disk_name"
	// snapshotName := "your_snapshot_name"
	// zone := "europe-central2-b"
	// region := "eupore-central2"
	// location = "eupore-central2"
	// diskProjectID = "YOUR_DISK_PROJECT_ID"

	ctx := context.Background()

	snapshotsClient, err := compute.NewSnapshotsRESTClient(ctx)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("NewSnapshotsRESTClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer snapshotsClient.Close()

	if zone == "" && region == "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("you need to specify `zone` or `region` for this function to work")
	}

	if zone != "" && region != "" {
		return fmt.Errorf("you can't set both `zone` and `region` parameters")
	}

	if diskProjectID == "" {
		diskProjectID = projectID
	}

	disk := &computepb.Disk{}
	locations := []string{}
	if location != "" {
		locations = append(locations, location)
	}

	if zone != "" {
		disksClient, err := compute.NewDisksRESTClient(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("NewDisksRESTClient: %w", err)
		}
		defer disksClient.Close()

		getDiskReq := &computepb.GetDiskRequest{
			Project: projectID,
			Zone:    zone,
			Disk:    diskName,
		}

		disk, err = disksClient.Get(ctx, getDiskReq)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("unable to get disk: %w", err)
		}
	} else {
		regionDisksClient, err := compute.NewRegionDisksRESTClient(ctx)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("NewRegionDisksRESTClient: %w", err)
		}
		defer regionDisksClient.Close()

		getDiskReq := &computepb.GetRegionDiskRequest{
			Project: projectID,
			Region:  region,
			Disk:    diskName,
		}

		disk, err = regionDisksClient.Get(ctx, getDiskReq)
		if err != nil {
			return fmt.Errorf("unable to get disk: %w", err)
		}
	}

	req := &computepb.InsertSnapshotRequest{
		Project: projectID,
		SnapshotResource: &computepb.Snapshot{
			Name:             proto.String(snapshotName),
			SourceDisk:       proto.String(disk.GetSelfLink()),
			StorageLocations: locations,
		},
	}

	op, err := snapshotsClient.Insert(ctx, req)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to create snapshot: %w", err)
	}

	if err = op.Wait(ctx); err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("unable to wait for the operation: %w", err)
	}

	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Snapshot created\n")

	return nil
}

Java

Java

Before trying this sample, follow the Java setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Disk;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.DisksClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Operation;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.RegionDisksClient;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.Snapshot;
import com.google.cloud.compute.v1.SnapshotsClient;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeoutException;

public class CreateSnapshot {

  public static void main(String[] args)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {
    // TODO(developer): Replace these variables before running the sample.
    // You need to pass `zone` or `region` parameter relevant to the disk you want to
    // snapshot, but not both. Pass `zone` parameter for zonal disks and `region` for
    // regional disks.

    // Project ID or project number of the Cloud project you want to use.
    String projectId = "YOUR_PROJECT_ID";

    // Name of the disk you want to create.
    String diskName = "YOUR_DISK_NAME";

    // Name of the snapshot that you want to create.
    String snapshotName = "YOUR_SNAPSHOT_NAME";

    // The zone of the source disk from which you create the snapshot (for zonal disks).
    String zone = "europe-central2-b";

    // The region of the source disk from which you create the snapshot (for regional disks).
    String region = "your-disk-region";

    // The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you
    // want to store your snapshot.
    // You can specify only one storage location. Available locations:
    // https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/locations#available-locations
    String location = "europe-central2";

    // Project ID or project number of the Cloud project that
    // hosts the disk you want to snapshot. If not provided, the value will be defaulted
    // to 'projectId' value.
    String diskProjectId = "YOUR_DISK_PROJECT_ID";

    createSnapshot(projectId, diskName, snapshotName, zone, region, location, diskProjectId);
  }

  // Creates a snapshot of a disk.
  public static void createSnapshot(String projectId, String diskName, String snapshotName,
      String zone, String region, String location, String diskProjectId)
      throws IOException, ExecutionException, InterruptedException, TimeoutException {

    // Initialize client that will be used to send requests. This client only needs to be created
    // once, and can be reused for multiple requests. After completing all of your requests, call
    // the `snapshotsClient.close()` method on the client to safely
    // clean up any remaining background resources.
    try (SnapshotsClient snapshotsClient = SnapshotsClient.create()) {

      if (zone.isEmpty() && region.isEmpty()) {
        throw new Error("You need to specify 'zone' or 'region' for this function to work");
      }

      if (!zone.isEmpty() && !region.isEmpty()) {
        throw new Error("You can't set both 'zone' and 'region' parameters");
      }

      // If Disk's project id is not specified, then the projectId parameter will be used.
      if (diskProjectId.isEmpty()) {
        diskProjectId = projectId;
      }

      // If zone is not empty, use the DisksClient to create a disk.
      // Else, use the RegionDisksClient.
      Disk disk;
      if (!zone.isEmpty()) {
        DisksClient disksClient = DisksClient.create();
        disk = disksClient.get(projectId, zone, diskName);
      } else {
        RegionDisksClient regionDisksClient = RegionDisksClient.create();
        disk = regionDisksClient.get(diskProjectId, region, diskName);
      }

      // Set the snapshot properties.
      Snapshot snapshotResource;
      if (!location.isEmpty()) {
        snapshotResource = Snapshot.newBuilder()
            .setName(snapshotName)
            .setSourceDisk(disk.getSelfLink())
            .addStorageLocations(location)
            .build();
      } else {
        snapshotResource = Snapshot.newBuilder()
            .setName(snapshotName)
            .setSourceDisk(disk.getSelfLink())
            .build();
      }

      // Wait for the operation to complete.
      Operation operation = snapshotsClient.insertAsync(projectId, snapshotResource)
          .get(3, TimeUnit.MINUTES);

      if (operation.hasError()) {
        System.out.println("Snapshot creation failed!" + operation);
        return;
      }

      // Retrieve the created snapshot.
      Snapshot snapshot = snapshotsClient.get(projectId, snapshotName);
      System.out.printf("Snapshot created: %s", snapshot.getName());

    }
  }
}

Node.js

Node.js

Before trying this sample, follow the Node.js setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment and replace these variables before running the sample.
 */
// const projectId = 'YOUR_PROJECT_ID';
// const diskName = 'YOUR_DISK_NAME';
// const snapshotName = 'YOUR_SNAPSHOT_NAME';
// const zone = 'europe-central2-b';
// const region = '';
// const location = 'europe-central2';
// let diskProjectId = 'YOUR_DISK_PROJECT_ID';

const compute = require('@google-cloud/compute');

async function createSnapshot() {
  const snapshotsClient = new compute.SnapshotsClient();

  let disk;

  if (!zone && !region) {
    throw new Error(
      'You need to specify `zone` or `region` for this function to work.'
    );
  }

  if (zone && region) {
    throw new Error("You can't set both `zone` and `region` parameters");
  }

  if (!diskProjectId) {
    diskProjectId = projectId;
  }

  if (zone) {
    const disksClient = new compute.DisksClient();
    [disk] = await disksClient.get({
      project: diskProjectId,
      zone,
      disk: diskName,
    });
  } else {
    const regionDisksClient = new compute.RegionDisksClient();
    [disk] = await regionDisksClient.get({
      project: diskProjectId,
      region,
      disk: diskName,
    });
  }

  const snapshotResource = {
    name: snapshotName,
    sourceDisk: disk.selfLink,
  };

  if (location) {
    snapshotResource.storageLocations = [location];
  }

  const [response] = await snapshotsClient.insert({
    project: projectId,
    snapshotResource,
  });
  let operation = response.latestResponse;
  const operationsClient = new compute.GlobalOperationsClient();

  // Wait for the create snapshot operation to complete.
  while (operation.status !== 'DONE') {
    [operation] = await operationsClient.wait({
      operation: operation.name,
      project: projectId,
    });
  }

  console.log('Snapshot created.');
}

createSnapshot();

Python

Python

Before trying this sample, follow the Python setup instructions in the Compute Engine quickstart using client libraries. For more information, see the Compute Engine Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Compute Engine, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for a local development environment.

from __future__ import annotations

import sys
from typing import Any

from google.api_core.extended_operation import ExtendedOperation
from google.cloud import compute_v1


def wait_for_extended_operation(
    operation: ExtendedOperation, verbose_name: str = "operation", timeout: int = 300
) -> Any:
    """
    Waits for the extended (long-running) operation to complete.

    If the operation is successful, it will return its result.
    If the operation ends with an error, an exception will be raised.
    If there were any warnings during the execution of the operation
    they will be printed to sys.stderr.

    Args:
        operation: a long-running operation you want to wait on.
        verbose_name: (optional) a more verbose name of the operation,
            used only during error and warning reporting.
        timeout: how long (in seconds) to wait for operation to finish.
            If None, wait indefinitely.

    Returns:
        Whatever the operation.result() returns.

    Raises:
        This method will raise the exception received from `operation.exception()`
        or RuntimeError if there is no exception set, but there is an `error_code`
        set for the `operation`.

        In case of an operation taking longer than `timeout` seconds to complete,
        a `concurrent.futures.TimeoutError` will be raised.
    """
    result = operation.result(timeout=timeout)

    if operation.error_code:
        print(
            f"Error during {verbose_name}: [Code: {operation.error_code}]: {operation.error_message}",
            file=sys.stderr,
            flush=True,
        )
        print(f"Operation ID: {operation.name}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        raise operation.exception() or RuntimeError(operation.error_message)

    if operation.warnings:
        print(f"Warnings during {verbose_name}:\n", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
        for warning in operation.warnings:
            print(f" - {warning.code}: {warning.message}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)

    return result


def create_snapshot(
    project_id: str,
    disk_name: str,
    snapshot_name: str,
    *,
    zone: str | None = None,
    region: str | None = None,
    location: str | None = None,
    disk_project_id: str | None = None,
) -> compute_v1.Snapshot:
    """
    Create a snapshot of a disk.

    You need to pass `zone` or `region` parameter relevant to the disk you want to
    snapshot, but not both. Pass `zone` parameter for zonal disks and `region` for
    regional disks.

    Args:
        project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project you want
            to use to store the snapshot.
        disk_name: name of the disk you want to snapshot.
        snapshot_name: name of the snapshot to be created.
        zone: name of the zone in which is the disk you want to snapshot (for zonal disks).
        region: name of the region in which is the disk you want to snapshot (for regional disks).
        location: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you
            want to store your snapshot.
            You can specify only one storage location. Available locations:
            https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/locations#available-locations
        disk_project_id: project ID or project number of the Cloud project that
            hosts the disk you want to snapshot. If not provided, will look for
            the disk in the `project_id` project.

    Returns:
        The new snapshot instance.
    """
    if zone is None and region is None:
        raise RuntimeError(
            "You need to specify `zone` or `region` for this function to work."
        )
    if zone is not None and region is not None:
        raise RuntimeError("You can't set both `zone` and `region` parameters.")

    if disk_project_id is None:
        disk_project_id = project_id

    if zone is not None:
        disk_client = compute_v1.DisksClient()
        disk = disk_client.get(project=disk_project_id, zone=zone, disk=disk_name)
    else:
        regio_disk_client = compute_v1.RegionDisksClient()
        disk = regio_disk_client.get(
            project=disk_project_id, region=region, disk=disk_name
        )

    snapshot = compute_v1.Snapshot()
    snapshot.source_disk = disk.self_link
    snapshot.name = snapshot_name
    if location:
        snapshot.storage_locations = [location]

    snapshot_client = compute_v1.SnapshotsClient()
    operation = snapshot_client.insert(project=project_id, snapshot_resource=snapshot)

    wait_for_extended_operation(operation, "snapshot creation")

    return snapshot_client.get(project=project_id, snapshot=snapshot_name)

REST

You can create a snapshot either by using the source disk's data or its replica recovery checkpoint.

From disk data

You can create a snapshot from your disk's data using the storage location policy defined by your snapshot settings or using an alternative storage location of your choice. For more information, see Choose your snapshot storage location.

• To create a snapshot in the predefined or customized default location configured in your snapshot settings, make a POST request to the snapshots.insert method:

  POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID/global/snapshots
  {
    "name": "SNAPSHOT_NAME",
    "sourceDisk": "projects/SOURCE_PROJECT_ID/regions/SOURCE_REGION/disks/SOURCE_DISK_NAME",
    "snapshotType": "SNAPSHOT_TYPE"
  }
  

• Alternatively, to override the snapshot settings and create a snapshot in a custom storage location, make a POST request to the snapshots.insert method and include the storageLocations property in your request:

  POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID/global/snapshots
  {
    "name": "SNAPSHOT_NAME",
    "sourceDisk": "projects/SOURCE_PROJECT_ID/regions/SOURCE_REGION/disks/SOURCE_DISK_NAME",
    "snapshotType": "SNAPSHOT_TYPE",
    "storageLocations": [
        "STORAGE_LOCATION"
    ],
  }
  

Replace the following:

• DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID: The ID of project in which you want to create the snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
• SOURCE_PROJECT_ID: The ID of the source disk project.
• SOURCE_REGION: The region of the source disk.
• SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the Regional Persistent Disk or Hyperdisk Balanced High Availability volume from which you want to create a snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

• STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.

  Use the storageLocations parameter only when you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.

Note: Google recommends using the snapshots.insert method instead of the disks.createSnapshot method because it supports more features, such as creating snapshots in a project different from the source disk project.

From checkpoint

Alternatively, you can create your snapshot using the replica recovery checkpoint of a degraded disk. Your snapshot gets created as long as your incomplete replica is available.

To create a snapshot using the replica recovery checkpoint, make a POST request to the snapshots.insert method. Exclude the sourceDisk parameter and instead include the sourceDiskForRecoveryCheckpoint parameter to specify that you want to create the snapshot using the checkpoint.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID/global/snapshots

{
  "name": "SNAPSHOT_NAME",
  "sourceDiskForRecoveryCheckpoint": "projects/SOURCE_PROJECT_ID/regions/SOURCE_REGION/disks/SOURCE_DISK_NAME",
  "storageLocations": "STORAGE_LOCATION",
  "snapshotType": "SNAPSHOT_TYPE"
}

Replace the following:

• DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID: The ID of project in which you want to create the snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
• SOURCE_PROJECT_ID: The project ID of the source disk whose checkpoint you want to use to create the snapshot.
• SOURCE_REGION: The region of the source disk whose checkpoint you want to use to create the snapshot.
• SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the source disk whose checkpoint you want to use to create the snapshot.
• STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storagemulti-region or the Cloud Storageregion where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.
  Use the storageLocations parameter only if you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.
• SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

You can use replica recovery checkpoint to create a snapshot only on degraded disks. If you try to create a snapshot from a replica recovery checkpoint when the device is fully replicated, you see the following error message:

The device is fully replicated and should not create snapshots out of a recovery checkpoint. Please
create regular snapshots instead.

Create a snapshot of a Hyperdisk

Caution: If you attempt to create a snapshot from a Hyperdisk and the snapshot creation process fails, you won't be able to delete the original Hyperdisk volume until you have cleaned up the failed snapshot and capture a clean snapshot. This failsafe helps to prevent the accidental deletion of source data in the event of an unsuccessful backup.

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the VM instances page.

   Go to VM instances

2. Select the project that contains your VM instances.

3. In the Name column, click the name of the VM that has the Hyperdisk to back up.

4. In Storage, in Additional disks, click the Name of the attached Hyperdisk.

5. Click Create snapshot.

6. In Name, enter a unique name to help identify the purpose of the snapshot, for example hyperdisk-data-snapshot.

7. In Type, the default is a regular snapshot, which is best for long-term back up and disaster recovery.

8. In the Location section, choose your snapshot storage location.

   The predefined or customized default location defined in your snapshot settings is automatically selected. Optionally, you can override the snapshot settings and store your snapshots in a custom storage location by doing the following:

   1. Choose the type of storage location that you want for your snapshot.

      • Choose Multi-regional for higher availability at a higher cost.
      • Choose Regional snapshots for more control over the physical location of your data at a lower cost.

   2. In the Select location field, select the specific region or multi-region that you want to use. To use the region or multi-region that is closest to your source disk, select Based on disk's location.

9. Click Create.

gcloud

You can create your snapshot in the storage location policy defined by your snapshot settings or using an alternative storage location of your choice. For more information, see Choose your snapshot storage location.

You must specify a snapshot name. The name must be 1-63 characters long, and comply with RFC 1035.

• To create a snapshot in the predefined or customized default location configured in your snapshot settings, use the gcloud compute snapshots create command.

  gcloud compute snapshots create SNAPSHOT_NAME \
      --source-disk-zone=SOURCE_ZONE \
      --source-disk=SOURCE_DISK_NAME \
      --snapshot-type=SNAPSHOT_TYPE
  

• Alternatively, to override the snapshot settings and create a snapshot in a custom storage location, include the --storage-location flag to indicate where to store your snapshot.

  gcloud compute snapshots create SNAPSHOT_NAME \
      --source-disk-zone=SOURCE_ZONE \
      --source-disk=SOURCE_DISK_NAME \
      --snapshot-type=SNAPSHOT_TYPE \
      --storage-location=STORAGE_LOCATION
  

  Replace the following:

  • SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
  • SOURCE_ZONE: The zone of the source disk.
  • SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the Hyperdisk volume from which you want to create a snapshot.
  • SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

  • STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.

    Use the --storage-location parameter only when you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.

  Note: Google recommends using the gcloud compute snapshots create command instead of the gcloud compute disks snapshot command because it supports more features, such as creating snapshots in a project different from the source disk project.

  The gcloud CLI waits until the operation returns a status of READY or FAILED, or reaches the maximum timeout and returns the last known details of the snapshot.

REST

You can create your snapshot in the storage location policy defined by your snapshot settings or using an alternative storage location of your choice. For more information, see Choose your snapshot storage location.

You must specify a snapshot name. The name must be 1-63 characters long, and comply with RFC 1035.

• To create a snapshot in the predefined or customized default location configured in your snapshot settings, make a POST request to the snapshots.insert method:

  POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID/global/snapshots
  {
      "name": "SNAPSHOT_NAME",
      "sourceDisk": "projects/SOURCE_PROJECT_ID/zones/SOURCE_ZONE/disks/SOURCE_DISK_NAME",
      "snapshotType": "SNAPSHOT_TYPE"
  }
  

• Alternatively, to override the snapshot settings and create a snapshot in a custom storage location, make a POST request to the snapshots.insert method and include the storageLocations property in your request:

  POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID/global/snapshots
  {
      "name": "SNAPSHOT_NAME",
      "sourceDisk": "projects/SOURCE_PROJECT_ID/zones/SOURCE_ZONE/disks/SOURCE_DISK_NAME",
      "snapshotType": "SNAPSHOT_TYPE",
      "storageLocations": [
          "STORAGE_LOCATION"
      ],
  }
  

Replace the following:

• DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID: The ID of project in which you want to create the snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_NAME: A name for the snapshot.
• SOURCE_PROJECT_ID: The ID of the source disk project.
• SOURCE_ZONE: The zone of the source disk.
• SOURCE_DISK_NAME: The name of the Hyperdisk volume from which you want to create a snapshot.
• SNAPSHOT_TYPE: The snapshot type, either STANDARD or ARCHIVE. If a snapshot type is not specified, a STANDARD snapshot is created.

• STORAGE_LOCATION: Optional: The Cloud Storage multi-region or the Cloud Storage region where you want to store your snapshot. You can specify only one storage location.

  Use the storageLocations parameter only when you want to override the predefined or customized default storage location configured in your snapshot settings.

Note: Google recommends using the snapshots.insert method instead of the disks.createSnapshot method because it supports more features, such as creating snapshots in a project different from the source disk project.

What's next

• Learn how to create scheduled snapshots for disks.
• Learn how to view, delete, and share disk snapshots.
• Learn how to create a disk image from your snapshot.