Provider snapshots

Database and file backups save your data. A snapshot saves the whole machine: the operating system, every package, your configuration, sites, databases and files, exactly as they were at one moment. It is taken by your cloud provider, not by SrvYard, and it stays in your provider's account.

Snapshots are the quickest way to get a restore point before something risky, such as a PHP upgrade, and the only way to bring back a server that no longer boots. This article shows how to take one, schedule them, keep the bill small and use one to build a server again.

Before you begin#

• A server created at a cloud provider that SrvYard can snapshot (Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Akamai/Linode, Vultr, Amazon EC2 or Lightsail) through a provider connection that is still valid. A server that you added as a Custom VPS has no provider API, so the page says Snapshots are taken at the cloud provider. This server was added as a custom VPS, so use file and database backups instead.
• A plan that includes backups. Without one the page shows Upgrade to take and schedule snapshots. Snapshots you already have stay listed.
• A server that is Ready (or disconnected but still at the provider) and not busy.
• The permission to create snapshots. Deleting and restoring are separate permissions.
• Budget. The provider stores snapshots and bills you for them, usually per gigabyte and month. SrvYard does not add anything to that.

1. Open the Snapshots section#

Open the server, choose Backups and then Snapshots.

1. Take snapshot. The description tells you what this is: Full images of this server at Akamai (Linode). The provider stores them and bills for them; start a new server from one to restore it. A server can keep up to 20 snapshots.
2. Automatic snapshots. Take a snapshot on a schedule and keep only the newest few. With none set it says No automatic snapshots. They are billed like the ones you take by hand, so keep the number low.
3. Set up opens the schedule panel of step 3.

2. Take a snapshot by hand#

Press Take snapshot.

1. Name. Pre-filled with the server name and the date (acme-staging-20261024). It needs 3 to 50 letters, digits, dots, dashes or underscores, because every provider accepts that and Amazon needs at least three.
2. Note (optional). Why you took it, for example Before upgrading PHP. It helps you decide later which snapshots to delete.
3. It costs money. The panel names your provider and says what applies to it. For Akamai (Linode): charges for the storage of every snapshot until it is deleted, and may pause disk activity briefly while it is taken. A second note describes the consistency of that provider: Hetzner snapshots of a running server are crash consistent, DigitalOcean recommends powering the Droplet off for a consistent image, Linode saves the main disk as an image limited to 6 GB, and Vultr captures a running server as it is.

Press Take snapshot. The new row shows the status Creating, then Available when the provider has finished. SrvYard checks the provider every minute for snapshots that are being created, and the open page asks sooner. A snapshot that never finishes is given up after 24 hours and marked Failed.

3. Schedule snapshots#

Press Set up on the Automatic snapshots card.

1. Frequency. Daily or Weekly (a weekly schedule adds the day).
2. Time (UTC). When it should be taken.
3. Keep the newest. How many scheduled snapshots to keep (3 here). Every night SrvYard removes the older scheduled ones. Snapshots you take by hand are never removed automatically.
4. Run on schedule. Switch it off to keep the schedule but pause it.

Choose the numbers with the bill in mind: a daily schedule that keeps seven snapshots of a 40 GB server is seven images to pay for. For most servers, a weekly snapshot that keeps three or four, plus a hand-made one before every big change, is a good balance. Remove schedule on the card stops the automation and leaves the existing snapshots alone.

4. Restore: create a server from a snapshot#

A snapshot is not "rolled back" onto the running server. Instead you start a new server from the image, check it, and then switch your DNS or load balancer to it. That is safer, and it leaves the broken server available for investigation.

Open the menu at the end of a snapshot row and choose Create server from snapshot. SrvYard opens the new server form with the provider, the region, the operating system and the server type already filled in from the snapshot. Choose a name and a size and create it, as described in Provision a server with a cloud provider.

A few limits to know:

• Snapshots at DigitalOcean, Amazon EC2 and Lightsail exist only in one region, so the new server has to be created there. Hetzner, Akamai/Linode and Vultr allow other regions.
• The new server is a copy: sites, certificates, secrets and scheduled jobs come with it. Point your DNS at it only after you have checked it, and shut the old server down afterwards if both would otherwise run the same scheduled jobs.
• Restoring a snapshot is not possible for a custom VPS or for a provider SrvYard cannot snapshot.

5. Look at a server whose provider needs attention#

The same page also tells you when snapshots cannot be taken right now.

1. Snapshots are not available for this server. The reason is under it, here The provider needs to be reconnected first. Open Settings > Server providers, reconnect the provider with a fresh token, and the buttons come back. Other reasons you may see: the server is not ready, the provider connection was removed, or the provider's snapshots are not supported by SrvYard.
2. The snapshot list. Each row has the snapshot name with a Scheduled or manual mark, its Status, its Size, the Region, and when and by whom it was Taken. The menu on a row also offers Delete snapshot, which asks you to type the snapshot's name and then deletes it at the provider for good.

Troubleshooting#

• The snapshot stays on Creating for a long time. Large disks take a while, and some providers queue the work. SrvYard checks every minute. After 24 hours it marks the snapshot Failed; delete it and try again.
• "The server must be created at the provider and not busy". Wait until the server is Ready, or reconnect it.
• The Take snapshot button is missing. Your plan does not include backups, you lack the permission, or snapshots are not supported for this server. The alert at the top says which.
• I deleted the snapshot but the provider still bills. SrvYard asks the provider to delete it. Check the provider's console; if it is still listed there, delete it by hand.
• A name error. Use 3 to 50 letters, digits, dots, dashes and underscores.
• The new server from a snapshot starts but a site is down. The snapshot is of one moment. Check certificates, DNS and the .env of each site, then run a deployment.

Related#

• Provision a server with a cloud provider: create the server that the snapshot becomes.
• Schedule database backups: the data-level safety net.
• Retention, failure alerts and testing a restore: keep costs and risk balanced.
• Restore a database or files: bring back one database or folder without a whole server.