How to Create or Restore Droplets from Backups

Backups are automatically-created disk images of Droplets. Enabling backups for Droplets enables system-level backups at weekly intervals, which provides a way to revert to an older state or create new Droplets.


You can use backups as the base image for new Droplets. This is useful to create additional Droplets with the same data and configuration as the original, or to view or restore a small number of files to the original Droplet.

You can also restore an existing Droplet to one of its backups, replacing the original Droplet with one based on the backup image. This is useful if you want to completely revert a Droplet to an older point in time, but you lose any changes on the Droplet from after the backup was taken.

Create New Droplets from Backups Using Automation

You can create new Droplets from backups using the Droplet creation doctl command or API endpoint, and setting the image field to the backup image’s ID.

How to create a new Droplet from a backup using the DigitalOcean CLI

To create a new Droplet from a backup via the command-line, follow these steps:

  1. Install doctl, the DigitalOcean command-line tool.

  2. Create a personal access token, and save it for use with doctl.

  3. Use the token to grant doctl access to your DigitalOcean account.

                  doctl auth init
                
  4. Finally, create a new Droplet from a backup with doctl compute droplet create. The basic usage looks like this, but you'll want to read the usage docs for more details:

                  doctl compute droplet create <droplet-name>... [flags]
                

    The following example creates a Droplet named example-droplet with a two vCPUs, two GiB of RAM, and 20 GBs of disk space. The Droplet is created in the nyc1 region and is based on the ubuntu-20-04-x64 image. Additionally, the command uses the --user-data flag to run a Bash script the first time the Droplet boots up

                       doctl compute droplet create example-droplet --size s-2vcpu-2gb --image ubuntu-20-04-x64 --region nyc1 --user-data $'#!/bin/bash\n touch /root/example.txt; sudo apt update;sudo snap install doctl'
                    
How to create a new Droplet from a backup using the DigitalOcean API

To create a new Droplet from a backup using the DigitalOcean API, follow these steps:

  1. Create a personal access token, and save it for use with the API.

  2. Send a POST request to https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets

    cURL

    To create a new Droplet from a backup with cURL, call:

    
                    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"name":"example.com","region":"nyc3","size":"s-1vcpu-1gb","image":"ubuntu-20-04-x64","ssh_keys":[289794,"3b:16:e4:bf:8b:00:8b:b8:59:8c:a9:d3:f0:19:fa:45"],"backups":true,"ipv6":true,"monitoring":true,"tags":["env:prod","web"],"user_data":"#cloud-config\nruncmd:\n  - touch /test.txt\n","vpc_uuid":"760e09ef-dc84-11e8-981e-3cfdfeaae000"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets"

    Go

    Go developers can use Godo, the official DigitalOcean V2 API client for Go. To create a new Droplet from a backup with Godo, use the following code:

    
                    import (
        "context"
        "os"
    
        "github.com/digitalocean/godo"
    )
    
    func main() {
        token := os.Getenv("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN")
    
        client := godo.NewFromToken(token)
        ctx := context.TODO()
    
        createRequest := &godo.DropletCreateRequest{
            Name:   "example.com",
            Region: "nyc3",
            Size:   "s-1vcpu-1gb",
            Image: godo.DropletCreateImage{
                Slug: "ubuntu-20-04-x64",
            },
            SSHKeys: []godo.DropletCreateSSHKey{
                godo.DropletCreateSSHKey{ID: 289794},
                godo.DropletCreateSSHKey{Fingerprint: "3b:16:e4:bf:8b:00:8b:b8:59:8c:a9:d3:f0:19:fa:45"}
            },
            Backups: true,
            IPv6: true,
            Monitoring: true,
            Tags: []string{"env:prod","web"},
            UserData: "#cloud-config\nruncmd:\n  - touch /test.txt\n",
            VPCUUID: "760e09ef-dc84-11e8-981e-3cfdfeaae000",
        }

    Ruby

    Ruby developers can use DropletKit, the official DigitalOcean V2 API client for Ruby. To create a new Droplet from a backup with DropletKit, use the following code:

    
                    require 'droplet_kit'
    token = ENV['DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN']
    client = DropletKit::Client.new(access_token: token)
    
    droplet = DropletKit::Droplet.new(
      name: 'example.com',
      region: 'nyc3',
      size: 's-1vcpu-1gb',
      image: 'ubuntu-20-04-x64',
      ssh_keys: [289794,"3b:16:e4:bf:8b:00:8b:b8:59:8c:a9:d3:f0:19:fa:45"],
      backups: true,
      ipv6: true,
      monitoring: true,
      tags: ["env:prod","web"],
      user_data: "#cloud-config\nruncmd:\n  - touch /test.txt\n",
      vpc_uuid: "760e09ef-dc84-11e8-981e-3cfdfeaae000",
    )
    client.droplets.create(droplet)

    Python

    
                    import os
    from pydo import Client
    
    client = Client(token=os.environ.get("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"))
    
    req = {
      "name": "example.com",
      "region": "nyc3",
      "size": "s-1vcpu-1gb",
      "image": "ubuntu-20-04-x64",
      "ssh_keys": [
        289794,
        "3b:16:e4:bf:8b:00:8b:b8:59:8c:a9:d3:f0:19:fa:45"
      ],
      "backups": True,
      "ipv6": True,
      "monitoring": True,
      "tags": [
        "env:prod",
        "web"
      ],
      "user_data": "#cloud-config\nruncmd:\n  - touch /test.txt\n",
      "vpc_uuid": "760e09ef-dc84-11e8-981e-3cfdfeaae000"
    }
    
    resp = client.droplets.create(body=req)

Create New Droplets from Backups Using the Control Panel

To use a backup as the base image for a new Droplet, from the control panel, click the name of the Droplet with the backup you want to use, then click Backups.

In the Droplet backups section, open the More menu of the backup you want to use and choose Create Droplet.

Droplet backups with the More menu open

This brings you to the Droplet create screen with the image for that backup selected. Choose the rest of the Droplet options.

Note
To preserve data integrity, you must select a disk size equal to or larger than the Droplet used to create the backup.

Finally, click Create to create a Droplet based on the selected backup.

Once the new Droplet is created, you can copy files between the original and new Droplet using file transfer tools like scp or rsync.

Restore Droplets from Backups using Automation

You can restore a Droplet from a backup using the following command, or by sending a request to the Droplet action endpoint and setting the restore field to a backup image’s ID.

How to restore a Droplet from a backup using the DigitalOcean CLI

To restore a Droplet from a backup via the command-line, follow these steps:

  1. Install doctl, the DigitalOcean command-line tool.

  2. Create a personal access token, and save it for use with doctl.

  3. Use the token to grant doctl access to your DigitalOcean account.

                  doctl auth init
                
  4. Finally, restore a Droplet from a backup with doctl compute droplet-action restore. The basic usage looks like this, but you'll want to read the usage docs for more details:

                  doctl compute droplet-action restore <droplet-id> [flags]
                

    The following example restores a Droplet with the ID 386734086 from a backup image with the ID 146288445

                       doctl compute droplet-action restore 386734086 --image-id 146288445
                    
How to restore a Droplet from a backup using the DigitalOcean API

To restore a Droplet from a backup using the DigitalOcean API, follow these steps:

  1. Create a personal access token, and save it for use with the API.

  2. Send a POST request to https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/{droplet_id}/actions

    cURL

    To restore a Droplet from a backup with cURL, call:

    
                    # Enable Backups
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"enable_backups"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Disable Backups
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"disable_backups"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Reboot a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"reboot"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Power cycle a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"power_cycle"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Shutdown and Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"shutdown"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3067649/actions"
    
    # Power off a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"power_off"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Power on a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"power_on"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Restore a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"restore", "image": 12389723 }' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3067649/actions"
    
    # Password Reset a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"password_reset"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Resize a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"resize","size":"1gb"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Rebuild a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"rebuild","image":"ubuntu-16-04-x64"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Rename a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"rename","name":"nifty-new-name"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Change the Kernel
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"change_kernel","kernel":991}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Enable IPv6
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"enable_ipv6"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Enable Private Networking
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"enable_private_networking"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Snapshot a Droplet
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"snapshot","name":"Nifty New Snapshot"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164450/actions"
    
    # Acting on Tagged Droplets
    curl -X POST \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      -d '{"type":"enable_backups"}' \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/actions?tag_name=awesome"
    
    # Retrieve a Droplet Action
    curl -X GET \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
      "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/droplets/3164444/actions/36804807"

    Go

    Go developers can use Godo, the official DigitalOcean V2 API client for Go. To restore a Droplet from a backup with Godo, use the following code:

    
                    import (
        "context"
        "os"
    
        "github.com/digitalocean/godo"
    )
    
    func main() {
        token := os.Getenv("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN")
    
        client := godo.NewFromToken(token)
        ctx := context.TODO()
    // Enable Backups
        action, _, err := client.DropletActions.EnableBackups(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Disable Backups
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.DisableBackups(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Reboot a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.Reboot(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Power Cycle a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.PowerCycle(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Shutdown a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.Shutdown(ctx, 3067649)
    
    // Power Off a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.PowerOff(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Power On a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.PowerOn(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Restore a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.Restore(ctx, 3164449, 12389723)
    
    // Password Reset a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.PasswordReset(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Resize a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.Resize(ctx, 3164450, "1gb", true)
    
    // Rebuild a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.RebuildByImageSlug(ctx, 3164450, "ubuntu-16-04-x64")
    
    // Rename a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.Rename(ctx, 3164450, "nifty-new-name")
    
    // Change the Kernel
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.ChangeKernel(ctx, 3164450, 991)
    
    // Enable IPv6
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.EnableIPv6(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Enable Private Networking
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.EnablePrivateNetworking(ctx, 3164450)
    
    // Snapshot a Droplet
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.Snapshot(ctx, 3164450, "Nifty New Snapshot")
    
    // Retrieve a Droplet Action
    //  action, _, err := client.DropletActions.Get(ctx, 3164450, 36804807)
    
    }

    Ruby

    Ruby developers can use DropletKit, the official DigitalOcean V2 API client for Ruby. To restore a Droplet from a backup with DropletKit, use the following code:

    
                    require 'droplet_kit'
    token = ENV['DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN']
    client = DropletKit::Client.new(access_token: token)
    
    # Enable Backups
    client.droplet_actions.enable_backups(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Disable Backups
    # client.droplet_actions.disable_backups(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Reboot a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.reboot(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Power Cycle a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.power_cycle(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Shutdown a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.shutdown(droplet_id: 3067649)
    
    # Power Off a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.power_off(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Power On a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.power_on(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Restore a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.restore(droplet_id: 3067649, image: 12389723)
    
    # Password Reset a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.password_reset(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Resize a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.resize(droplet_id: 3164450, size: '1gb')
    
    # Rebuild a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.rebuild(droplet_id: 3164450, image: 'ubuntu-16-04-x64')
    
    # Rename a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.rename(droplet_id: 3164450, name: 'nifty-new-name')
    
    # Change the Kernel
    # client.droplet_actions.change_kernel(droplet_id: 3164450, kernel: 991)
    
    # Enable IPv6
    # client.droplet_actions.enable_ipv6(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Enable Private Networking
    # client.droplet_actions.enable_private_networking(droplet_id: 3164450)
    
    # Snapshot a Droplet
    # client.droplet_actions.snapshot(droplet_id: 3164450, name: 'Nifty New Snapshot')

    Python

    
                    import os
    from pydo import Client
    
    client = Client(token=os.environ.get("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"))
    
    # enable back ups example
    req = {
      "type": "enable_backups"
    }
    
    resp = client.droplet_actions.post(droplet_id=346652, body=req)

Restore Droplets from Backups using the Control Panel

To restore a Droplet to one of its backups, from the control panel, click the name of the Droplet, then click Backups. In the Droplet backups section, open the More menu of the backup you want restore to and choose Restore Droplet.

Because restoring a backup to your Droplet erases existing data on that Droplet, confirmation is required to complete the operation:

Restore Droplet window

In the Restore Droplet window, confirm the restoration by clicking Restore Droplet.

Restoring from a backup turns your Droplet off during the restoration process and turn it back on automatically once the restoration is complete.