Backup or restore a server

Backup

IMPORTANT: We strongly recommend creating a backup of your server prior to any major changes or upgrades.

To create a backup, you will use Google Cloud Platform’s snapshot feature. This feature creates a new snapshot of the disk, which can later be used to restore the server to an earlier state. Follow the steps below:

• Log in to the Google Cloud Console using the Google Account associated with your project.

• Select your project from the list of available projects.

• Click the “Hamburger” button on the left side of the top navigation bar:

  

• Navigate to the “Compute -> Compute Engine -> Snapshots” sub-menu.

• Select the “Create snapshot” button.

  

• Create a new snapshot of your instance disk by entering a name and description and then pressing the “Create” button

  

Your new snapshot will be created and will appear in the list of snapshots.

Restore

You can restore a server by initializing a new server from the corresponding snapshot. Follow these steps:

• Log in to the Google Cloud Console using the Google Account associated with your project.

• Select your project from the list of available projects.

• Click the “Hamburger” button on the left side of the top navigation bar:

  

• Navigate to the “Compute -> Compute Engine -> VM Instances” sub-menu.

• Click the “Create instance” button.

  

• Configure the new instance by entering a name, selecting the instance type and allowing HTTP and HTTPS connections.

• In the “Boot disk” tab, click the “Change…” button.

  

• In the resulting dialog, select the “Snapshots” tab and select the snapshot you wish to restore. Click the “Select” button once done.

  

• Click the “Create” button to create a new server instance from the snapshot.

Your new server will now be created from the snapshot.