Create an image from a snapshot

Once you have a snapshot of a node, you can turn that exact point into a reusable image. It is a template for launching new nodes. Building it from a snapshot, rather than the node’s current state, keeps the copy tied to that saved point. Reach for this path once the node has kept running and changed since you took the snapshot.

Create the image

Open the node’s Snapshots tab and find the snapshot you want to turn into an image. Choose Save as Image from its menu, and the image starts building from that snapshot. Once it is ready, it appears on the Saved Images page, the same place an image saved directly from the node ends up, and reads Ready in its State column when you can use it. From its Actions menu, Create Node launches a new node from it. See Saved Images to manage or export it from there.

Keeping the snapshot around until then

Lock the snapshot first if you want to be sure it is still there when you come back to it. Once locked, a snapshot stays until you take the lock off; neither a manual delete nor a lifecycle rule removes it. Deleting the node does, so save the image before you delete the node. A lifecycle rule clears out old backups or snapshots automatically after a set time.

If the image does not build, or will not launch a node, see Troubleshooting image import and export.