Back up and restore servers on DigitalOcean

Use this guide to create, manage, and restore from server snapshots and backups at DigitalOcean.

Backups vs. snapshots

DigitalOcean uses the following terminology:

• Backups — Images of a server’s disk created automatically by a daily or weekly schedule.
• Snapshots — Images of a server’s disk created by you.

Snapshots

A snapshot contains the full contents of a server’s disk at the time the snapshot was created. Snapshots are created manually through the DigitalOcean dashboard.

Create a snapshot

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Snapshots.
4. In the Take snapshot section, enter a unique Snapshot name that identifies the purpose of the snapshot, for example:
   • my-server-before-upgrade-to-ubuntu-2404
   • my-server-after-upgrade-to-ubuntu-2404
5. Click Take live snapshot.

Delete a snapshot

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Snapshots.
4. In the Droplet snapshots section, find the snapshot you want to delete and click More.
5. Click Delete.
6. In the confirmation box, click Delete snapshot.

Create a server from a snapshot

If the server you created the snapshot from still exists, use the following steps to create a server from the snapshot.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Snapshots.
4. In the Droplet snapshots section, find the snapshot you want to create a server from and click More.
5. Click Delete.
6. In the confirmation box, click Delete snapshot.

If the server you created the snapshot from no longer exists, use the following steps to create a server from the snapshot.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click Create droplet.
3. Select the Region and Datacenter the snapshot is in.
4. In the Choose an image section, click Snapshot.
5. Select the snapshot to create the new server from.
6. Complete the rest of the steps to create a server.

Restore a server from a snapshot

Note

Restoring a server will permanently delete the contents of the server. To prevent losing recently changed data, create a snapshot before restoring the server.

To restore a server from a snapshot, do the following.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Snapshots.
4. In the Droplet snapshots section, find the snapshot you want to create a server from and click More.
5. Click Restore droplet.
6. In the confirmation box, click Restore droplet.

Backups

A backup contains the full contents of a server’s disk at the time the backup was created. Backups are created automatically for servers that have backups enabled.

View backup settings

To view the current backup settings for a server, do the following.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Backups.

Enable backups

To enable backups for a server, do the following.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Backups.
4. Click Setup automated backups.
5. Click Enable backups.

Disable backups

To disable backups for a server, do the following.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Backups.
4. Click Disable backups.
5. Enter the name of the server.
6. Click Disable automated backups.

Create a server from a backup

To create a new server from a backup, do the following.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Backups.
4. In the Droplet backups section, find the snapshot you want to create a server from and click More.
5. Click Create droplet.
6. In the confirmation box, click Restore droplet.
7. Complete the rest of the steps to create a server.

Restore a server from a backup

Note

Restoring a server will permanently delete the contents of the server. To prevent losing recently changed data, create a snapshot before restoring the server.

To restore a server from a backup, do the following.

1. In the DigitalOcean dashboard, go to the Droplets page.
2. Click on the name of the droplet.
3. Click Backups.
4. In the Droplet backups section, find the snapshot you want to create a server from and click More.
5. Click Restore droplet.
6. In the confirmation box, click Restore droplet.