How to Clone a Vultr Cloud Compute Instance

A snapshot is a point-in-time copy of a Vultr instance's disk, including its data, configuration, and settings. Cloning a server from a snapshot creates an exact copy of an existing instance, useful for scaling a workload across additional servers or moving a server to a different region. Vultr supports snapshot-based cloning for instances running Windows and Linux-based operating systems.

This guide explains how to create a snapshot of an existing Vultr instance, restore that snapshot to a new instance, and update the network configuration on the new instance when required.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• Have access to the Vultr Console.
• Have an existing Vultr Cloud Compute instance to use as the source for the snapshot.

Create the Snapshot

While Vultr creates the snapshot, the instance enters a locked state and cannot be stopped or restarted until the process finishes. Snapshot creation time scales with the size of the instance.

1. Log in to the Vultr Console and select the instance you want to clone.
2. Open the Snapshots tab.
3. Enter a descriptive label for the snapshot.
4. Click Take Snapshot. Vultr redirects to the Snapshots page under Storage, where the new snapshot shows a Pending status until it finishes processing.

Restore the Snapshot to a New Instance

Restoring a snapshot to a new instance copies the exact data and configuration of the source instance. Vultr can only restore a snapshot to a disk equal to or larger than the source instance's disk. If the destination disk has a single partition, Vultr expands it automatically to use any additional space. Vultr supports two ways to get the snapshot onto a new instance.

Once the instance finishes deploying, it becomes an exact replica of the source instance. If the source instance used DHCP, the network configuration is already complete. If the source instance used a static IP address, continue to the next step to update the network configuration.

Update the Network Configuration

Network configuration steps differ across Linux distributions and Windows.

Linux

Set the IP address, gateway, and netmask to the values shown in the Vultr Console for the new instance.

• On Debian or a Debian-derived distribution that still uses ifupdown, edit the network configuration in /etc/network/interfaces.
• On Ubuntu 18.04 and later, Netplan manages the network configuration. Edit the YAML file in /etc/netplan/ and run sudo netplan apply to load the changes.
• On RHEL, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, or Fedora, NetworkManager manages the network configuration. Use nmcli or nmtui to update the connection, or edit the keyfile directly in /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/. RHEL 9 and later store connections here instead of the legacy ifcfg files in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/.

Windows

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Open Network and Sharing Center.
3. Click Change Adapter Settings.
4. Right-click the network interface that has the old IP address, then click Properties.
5. Replace the old IP address with the new one, using the gateway IP address and netmask shown in the Vultr Console.

Conclusion

You have successfully cloned a Vultr virtual server using a snapshot, restored it to a new instance, and updated the network configuration when required. For more information about managing network settings on a Vultr instance, refer to How to Configure Networking on Vultr Cloud Servers.