Managing disk snapshots in Compute

A disk snapshot captures a point-in-time copy of a disk. This is an instant disk backup that allows you to:

Clone and recover a certain state of the disk.
Eliminate data loss risks.
Prevent accidental deletion, corruption and security incidents.
Make a copy of a disk before risky operations, such as software upgrades, patches or configuration changes, so you can roll back in case of issues.
Fulfill compliance requirements for immutable system versions, if applicable.

To clone a disk state, create a snapshot. To restore a disk state, create a new disk from a snapshot. Snapshots support both boot and additional disks. They also support all disk types: SSD, SSD Non-replicated and SSD IO M3. Every snapshot is only available in the project where it was created. Therefore, you can only work with snapshots and disks within the project. Nebius AI Cloud charges for a complete copy of a disk and applies separate pricing for snapshots. For more information, see Compute pricing.

Prerequisites

Make sure you are in a group that has at least the editor role within your tenant or project; for example, the default editors group. You can check this in the Administration → IAM section of the web console.

How to create a snapshot

To create a snapshot, you don’t need to stop a virtual machine.

Web console
CLI

In the sidebar, go to Storage → Disks.
In the list of disks, find the disk that you want to create a snapshot for.
In the line of the required disk, click → Create snapshot.
In the window that opens, specify the name and optionally the description of the snapshot. The ID of the selected disk is prefilled in the Source disk field.
Click Create snapshot.

Once you create a snapshot, it appears on the disk page. There, you can find all snapshots created for a given disk.

Run the following command:

nebius compute disk-snapshot create \
   --name <snapshot_name> \
   --description <snapshot_description> \
   --source-disk-id <disk_ID>

The command contains the following parameters:

--name: Snapshot name.
--description (optional): Snapshot description.
--source-disk-id: ID of the disk that you want to create a snapshot for. To get the disk ID, run nebius compute disk list.

How to create a disk from a snapshot

After you prepare a snapshot, you can create a disk based on this snapshot. Thus, you restore the needed disk state with data integrity verified. To create a disk from a snapshot:

Web console
CLI

In the sidebar, go to Storage → Disks → Snapshots.
In the line of the required snapshot, click → Create disk.
On the disk creation page that opens, check the Disk source type and Snapshot fields. They are prefilled:
- Disk source type: Snapshot.
- Snapshot: ID of the selected snapshot.
Set other needed fields for the disk and click Create disk.

Run the following command:

nebius compute disk create \
   --name <disk_name> \
   --type network_<ssd|ssd_non_replicated|ssd_io_m3> \
   --size-gibibytes <size> \
   --block-size-bytes <block_size> \
   --source-snapshot-id <snapshot_ID>

To get the snapshot ID, run nebius compute disk-snapshot list.

After you create the disk, you can create a virtual machine with it.

How to update a snapshot

In the web console, you can only change the snapshot name. In the CLI, you can change the snapshot name and description.

Web console
CLI

In the sidebar, go to Storage → Disks → Snapshots.
In the line of the required snapshot, click → Settings.
On the page of the snapshot settings that opens, update the snapshot name and click Save changes.

Run the following command:

nebius compute disk-snapshot update \
   --name <snapshot_name> \
   --description <snapshot_description> \
   --source-disk-id <disk_ID>

In the command, specify the ID of the disk that you want to create a snapshot for. To get the disk ID, run nebius compute disk list.

How to delete a snapshot

Web console
CLI

In the sidebar, go to Storage → Disks → Snapshots.
In the line of the required snapshot, click → Delete.
In the window that opens, confirm the deletion.

Run the following command:

nebius compute disk-snapshot delete <snapshot_ID>

To get the snapshot ID, run nebius compute disk-snapshot list.

​Prerequisites

​How to create a snapshot

​How to create a disk from a snapshot

​How to update a snapshot

​How to delete a snapshot

Prerequisites

How to create a snapshot

How to create a disk from a snapshot

How to update a snapshot

How to delete a snapshot