Transfer an instance backup from one datacentre to another
This guide will show you how to transfer an instance backup from one datacentre to another while preserving the configuration and state of the instance
Last updated 1st April 2019
Objective
A situation may arise where you need to move your Public Cloud Instance from one datacentre to another, either because you would prefer to move to a newly available datacentre or because you want to migrate from OVHcloud Labs to Public Cloud.
This guide will show you how to transfer an Instance backup from one datacentre to another while preserving the configuration and state of the Instance.
Requirements
Before following these steps, it's recommended that you first complete this guide:
You will also need the following:
- a Public Cloud Instance in your OVHcloud account
- administrative (root) access to your instance/operating system via SSH
The commands in this guide are based on the OpenStack CLI, as opposed to the NOVA and GLANCE APIs.
Instructions
Create a backup
First, establish an SSH connection to your instance/OS and then run the following command to list your existing instances:
#root@server:~$ openstack server list
+--------------------------------------+-----------+--------+--------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| ID | Name | Status | Networks | Image Name |
+--------------------------------------+-----------+--------+--------------------------------------------------+--------------+
| aa7115b3-83df-4375-b2ee-19339041dcfa | Server 1 | ACTIVE | Ext-Net=51.xxx.xxx.xxx, 2001:41d0:xxx:xxxx::xxxx | Ubuntu 16.04 |
+--------------------------------------+-----------+--------+--------------------------------------------------+--------------+
Next, run the following command to create a backup of your Instance:
openstack server image create --name snap_server1 aa7115b3-83df-4375-b2ee-19339041dcfa
Download the backup
Next, run this command to list available Instances:
#root@server:~$ openstack image list
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------+
| ID | Name | Status |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------+
| 825b785d-8a34-40f5-bdcd-0a3c3c350c5a | snap_server1 | active |
| 3ff877dc-1a62-43e7-9655-daff37a0c355 | NVIDIA GPU Cloud (NGC) | active |
| a14a7c1e-3ac5-4a61-9d36-1abc4ab4d5e8 | Centos 7 | active |
| f720a16e-543b-42e5-af45-cc188ad2dd34 | Debian 8 - GitLab | active |
| d282e7aa-332c-4dc7-90a9-d49641fa7a95 | CoreOS Stable | active |
| 2519f0fb-18cc-4915-9227-7754292b9713 | Ubuntu 16.04 | active |
| b15789f8-2e2f-4f6c-935d-817567319627 | Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard - UEFI | active |
| ed2f327f-dbae-4f9e-9754-c677a1b76fa3 | Ubuntu 14.04 | active |
| 9c9b3772-5320-414a-90bf-60307ff60436 | Debian 8 - Docker | active |
Now identify the Instance backup from the list:
| 825b785d-8a34-40f5-bdcd-0a3c3c350c5a | snap_server1 | qcow2 | bare | 1598029824 | active |
Finally, run this command to download the backup:
#root@server:~$ openstack image save --file snap_server1.qcow 825b785d-8a34-40f5-bdcd-0a3c3c350c5a
Transfer the backup to another datacentre
To start the transfer process, you first need to load new environment variables.
If you are transfering your backup to a datacentre within the same project, you will need to change the OS_REGION_NAME variable.
#root@server:~$ export OS_REGION_NAME=SBG1
If you are transfering your backup to another project or account, you will have to reload the environment variables linked to that account using the following command:
#root@server:~$ source openrc.sh
To transfer the backup to the new datacentre, use this command:
#root@server:~$ openstack image create --disk-format qcow2 --container-format bare --file snap_server1.qcow snap_server1
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| checksum | 82cb7d57ec7278818bba0afcf802f0fb |
| container_format | bare |
| created_at | 2019-03-22T14:26:22Z |
| disk_format | qcow2 |
| file | /v2/images/1bf21cf3-8d39-40ae-b088-5549c31b7905/file |
| id | 0a3f5901-2314-438a-a7af-ae984dcbce5c |
| min_disk | 0 |
| min_ram | 0 |
| name | snap_server1 |
| owner | 4e03fd164d504aa3aa03938f0bf4ed90 |
| properties | direct_url='swift+config://ref1/glance/1bf21cf3-8d39-40ae-b088-5549c31b7905', locations='[{u'url': u'swift+config://ref1/glance/1bf21cf3-8d39-40ae-b088-5549c31b7905', u'metadata': {}}]' |
| protected | False |
| schema | /v2/schemas/image |
| size | 3004956672 |
| status | active |
| tags | |
| updated_at | 2019-03-22T14:41:05Z |
| virtual_size | None |
| visibility | private |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Create an Instance from your backup
To create an Instance from your backup, use the backup ID as the image with this command:
#root@server:~$ openstack server create --key-name SSHKEY --flavor 98c1e679-5f2c-4069-b4da-4a4f7179b758 --image 0a3f5901-2314-438a-a7af-ae984dcbce5c Server1_from_snap
Go further
- Join our community of users on https://community.ovh.com/en/.
- Transfer a volume backup from one datacentre to another
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