How to Create Snapshots of Droplets

Snapshots are on-demand disk images of DigitalOcean Droplets and volumes saved to your account. Use them to create new Droplets and volumes with the same contents.


You can create snapshots from an existing Droplet to save all of the current contents from the Droplet’s disk.

Depending on the services running on the Droplet, you may want to power off the Droplet before taking a snapshot to ensure all applications have written out their data to disk. For example, many databases don’t guarantee data consistency on disk unless the database service is stopped or the entire Droplet is powered off first.

Creating a snapshot while a Droplet is on may result in performance degradation and compromise data consistency.

You can power off a Droplet through the control panel or with the command line using poweroff or shutdown. We recommend using the command line because it makes sure all services are stopped before the Droplet is powered off:

sudo shutdown -h now

However, if you want to power off a Droplet through the control panel, click the Droplet’s name to go to its detail page. Click the ON switch in the upper-right corner, then click Turn off from the pop-up warning window.

Once the Droplet is powered off, you can take a snapshot from the Droplet’s Snapshots menu, in the Take snapshot section.

Take snapshot button

Take a Live Snapshot

You can take a live snapshot without powering off your Droplet from the Droplet’s Snapshots menu, in the Take snapshot section.

Take live snapshot button

The Enter snapshot name field prefills the Droplet’s name followed by the current Unix timestamp to help you identify the snapshot later, but you can customize the name now or after you take it. Click the Take Snapshot or Take Live Snapshot button to create a snapshot.

A progress bar shows the progress of snapshot creation. Once complete, the snapshot is listed along with any other previous snapshots. To power the Droplet back on, click the OFF switch.

Snapshot a Droplet using Automation

Once the Droplet is powered off, you can snapshot a Droplet using the following doctl command, or by sending a request to the Droplet actions endpoint and setting the type field to snapshot.

How to snapshot a Droplet using the DigitalOcean CLI

To snapshot a Droplet 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, snapshot a Droplet with doctl compute droplet-action snapshot. The basic usage looks like this, but you'll want to read the usage docs for more details:

                  doctl compute droplet-action snapshot <droplet-id> [flags]
                
How to snapshot a Droplet using the DigitalOcean API

To snapshot a Droplet 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 snapshot a Droplet 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 snapshot a Droplet 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 snapshot a Droplet 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)