How to Take a Snapshot and Redeploy a Vultr Compute Instance

When a Vultr Compute instance experiences issues such as operating system corruption, failed updates, misconfigurations, or boot failures that cannot be resolved through standard troubleshooting, or when you need to perform migration, scaling, or testing, taking a snapshot and redeploying the instance provides a reliable way to restore functionality while preserving data.

This guide explains how to take a snapshot of a Vultr Compute instance and redeploy it, enabling a controlled recovery or migration process.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need to:

• Have a Vultr account with active billing.
• Run at least one active Vultr Compute instance.
• Have access to the Vultr Customer Portal, Vultr API with a valid API key, or Vultr CLI installed and configured.

Creating a Snapshot of a Vultr Compute Instance

A Snapshot is a point-in-time copy of the instance’s disk, including all files, system configurations, and settings. Follow the steps below to create a snapshot using the Vultr Customer Portal, API, or CLI.

Using Vultr Customer Portal

1. Navigate to Products and select Compute.

   

2. Click the target Vultr Compute instance to open its management page.

   

3. Go to the Snapshots tab.

   

4. Enter a descriptive name in the Label field.

   

5. Click Create Snapshot to take a new snapshot of your instance. Snapshot creation can take up to 30 minutes depending on the instance size.

   

6. Once completed, the snapshot appears in Orchestration > Snapshots, where it can be managed and monitored.

   

Using Vultr API

1. Send a GET request to the List Instances endpoint and note your target instance's ID.

   console Copy

   $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances" \
       -X GET \
       -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}"
   

2. Send a POST request to the Create Snapshot endpoint to create a new snapshot of the instance.

   console Copy

   $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/snapshots" \
       -X POST \
       -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}" \
       -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
       --data '{
           "instance_id" : "<instance-id>",
           "description" : "<label>"
       }'
   

3. Send a GET request to the List Snapshots endpoint to verify the newly created snapshot and note its ID.

   console Copy

   $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/snapshots" \
       -X GET \
       -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}"
   

Using Vultr CLI

1. List all available instances and note your target instance's ID.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli instance list
   

2. Create a new snapshot of the instance.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli snapshot create --id <instance-id>
   

3. Verify that the new snapshot has been created and note its ID.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli snapshot list
   

Redeploying a Vultr Compute Instance from a Snapshot

Redeploying an instance from a snapshot creates a new instance using the captured disk state. This process provisions the instance on new underlying hardware, preserving data, configurations, and installed applications. Follow the steps below to redeploy a Vultr Compute instance from a Snapshot using the Vultr Customer Portal, API, or CLI.

Using Vultr Customer Portal

1. Navigate to Products and select Compute.

   

2. Click Deploy.

   

3. Choose the instance Type, either Shared CPU or Dedicated CPU.

   

4. Select your desired Vultr Location to deploy the instance to.

   

5. Pick an instance Plan that meets your workload requirements.

   

6. Click Configure Software to set up the instance configuration.

   

7. Go to the Snapshot tab and select the snapshot to use for redeployment.

   

8. Select optional Server Settings such as SSH Keys or a Firewall Group.

   

9. Enter a new hostname in the Server Hostname field and a descriptive label in the Server Label field to identify the instance.

   

10. Select optional Additional Features to enable on the instance.

    

11. Review the Deploy Summary to confirm the instance configuration, then click Deploy to provision the instance.

    

Using Vultr API

1. Send a POST request to the Create Instance endpoint to deploy a new Vultr Compute instance from a Snapshot.

   console Copy

   $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances" \
       -X POST \
       -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}" \
       -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
       --data '{
           "region" : "<vultr-location>",
           "plan" : "<instance-plan>",
           "snapshot_id": "<snapshot-id>",
           "label" : "<instance-label>",
           "hostname": "<hostname>",
       }'
   

   Visit the Create Instance API page to view additional attributes you can apply on the Vultr Compute instance.

2. Send a GET request to the List Instances endpoint to verify the instance creation.

   console Copy

   $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/instances" \
       -X GET \
       -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}"
   

Using Vultr CLI

1. Create a new Vultr Compute instance from the captured snapshot.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli instance create --region <vultr-location> --plan <instance-plan> --snapshot <snapshot-id>  --label <instance-label> --host <hostname>
   

   Run vultr-cli instance create --help to view additional options you can apply on the Vultr Compute instance.

2. Verify that the instance has been successfully created.

   console Copy

   $ vultr-cli instance list
   

Conclusion

By following this guide, you created a snapshot of a Vultr Compute instance and redeployed it to restore the system on new infrastructure while preserving data, configurations, and applications. Beyond recovery, snapshots are also useful for scaling workloads, migrating to new regions, or testing changes in a controlled environment. For more details, refer to the Vultr Snapshots documentation.