What snapshots are
A snapshot captures the state of your VM disk at the moment it is taken. Restoring a snapshot reverts the disk to that state; data written after the snapshot is lost.
When to take a snapshot
- Before installing a major OS update.
- Before editing system configuration files.
- Before installing experimental software or one-click apps.
- Before a database migration.
Taking a snapshot
- Open the VPS service page and click the Snapshots card under Actions.
- Click Create Snapshot, optionally enter a name (for example "before-php-upgrade"), and confirm.
Snapshots use storage and are billed by size. The Snapshots page shows the current rate before you create one.
Restoring a snapshot
Click Restore next to the snapshot you want to roll back to and confirm. The disk is reverted and the VPS restarts automatically.
Restoring is destructive: any data written after the snapshot was taken is lost. If you want to keep the current state too, take a fresh snapshot before restoring.
Snapshots vs. backups
Snapshots live on the same host as your VM. They are great for quick rollbacks but should not be your only protection against hardware failure. For off-site copies, add daily automatic backups to your VPS (a paid add-on, managed from the Backups card). Backups are a convenience, not a guarantee, so keep your own copies of anything important. See the Terms of Service (section 7).