Working with Snapshots

This guide explains how to work with block storage snapshots in Thalassa Cloud. Snapshots are point-in-time copies of block volumes that enable fast backups, cloning, and disaster recovery.

Prerequisites

tcloud CLI installed and configured
Authenticated with a personal access token or OIDC credentials
A block storage volume to snapshot
Appropriate permissions to manage snapshots in your organisation

For CLI installation and authentication, see the Installing tcloud CLI guide.

Creating Snapshots

Step 1: List Volumes

First, list your volumes to identify the volume you want to snapshot:

tcloud storage volumes list

Note the volume identity (e.g., vol-12345678).

Step 2: Create a Snapshot

Create a snapshot from a volume:

tcloud storage snapshots create my-snapshot \
  --volume vol-12345678 \
  --description "Daily backup snapshot" \
  --wait

Parameters:

First argument: Snapshot name
--volume: The volume identity to snapshot
--description: Optional description of the snapshot
--wait: Wait for the snapshot to be ready before returning
--delete-protection: Enable delete protection to prevent accidental deletion
--labels: Add labels in key=value format (can be specified multiple times)
--annotations: Add annotations in key=value format (can be specified multiple times)

Example output:

Snapshot created successfully
Identity: snap-12345678
Name: my-snapshot
Volume: vol-12345678
Status: ready

Step 3: Verify Snapshot Creation

List all snapshots to verify:

tcloud storage snapshots list

Filter snapshots by label selector:

tcloud storage snapshots list --selector environment=production

Managing Snapshots

List Snapshots

List all snapshots:

tcloud storage snapshots list

Show labels in the output:

tcloud storage snapshots list --show-labels

View Snapshot Details

View detailed information about a specific snapshot using the console or API. The snapshot list shows:

Field	Description
Snapshot identity	Unique identifier for the snapshot
Name and description	Name and optional description of the snapshot
Source volume	The volume from which the snapshot was created
Creation timestamp	The date and time when the snapshot was created
Status	Current status (creating, ready, deleting, etc.)

Delete Snapshots

Delete a snapshot by identity:

tcloud storage snapshots delete snap-12345678

Delete multiple snapshots using a label selector:

tcloud storage snapshots delete --selector environment=staging --force

Options:

--force: Skip confirmation prompt
--wait: Wait for deletion to complete
--selector: Filter snapshots by labels

Warning

Deleting a snapshot is permanent and cannot be undone. Ensure you have backups before deleting snapshots.

Restoring from Snapshots

Restoring from a snapshot creates a new volume from the snapshot data.

Using the Console

Navigate to IaaS → Storage → Snapshots
Select the snapshot you want to restore
Click Restore to Volume
Provide a name and size (must be ≥ source volume size)
Attach the new volume to a VM as needed

Using the API

Use the Storage API to restore a snapshot to a new volume. See the API Reference for details.

Snapshot Policies

Snapshot policies let you automate the creation and lifecycle management of snapshots. With these policies, you can schedule snapshots at regular intervals using cron-style expressions (with a minimum cadence of hourly), specify how long snapshots should be retained based on a time-to-live (TTL) in days or keep a specific number of snapshots, and target volumes either by their explicit IDs or using label selectors.

Complete Example

Here’s a complete workflow example:

# 1. List volumes
tcloud storage volumes list

# 2. Create a snapshot with labels
tcloud storage snapshots create db-backup-2025-12-23 \
  --volume vol-database-123 \
  --description "Pre-maintenance backup" \
  --labels environment=production \
  --labels application=database \
  --delete-protection \
  --wait

# 3. Verify snapshot
tcloud storage snapshots list --selector application=database

# 4. Later, restore from snapshot (via console or API)
# Navigate to console: IaaS → Storage → Snapshots → Restore to Volume

# 5. Clean up old snapshots (after verifying restore works)
tcloud storage snapshots delete --selector backup-type=automated --force

References

Snapshots Documentation — Overview of snapshot capabilities
Block Storage Documentation — Understanding block storage
tcloud CLI Reference — CLI commands for snapshot management
Kubernetes Volume Snapshots — Using snapshots with Kubernetes

Working with TFS