---
title: "Snapshot schedules and lifecycle rules"
description: "How E2E snapshot schedules take snapshots of a node or a volume for you, and how lifecycle rules clear out the old ones."
content_type: "concept"
product: "snapshots"
platform: "MyAccount"
url: "/myaccount/snapshots/concepts/scheduling-and-retention/"
---

# Snapshot schedules and lifecycle rules

A schedule takes snapshots for you, and a lifecycle rule clears out the old ones once they reach
the age you set. Together they suit a node or a volume that changes often, with recent points to
build from and no snapshots to take by hand.

## How a schedule works

A schedule runs **Daily**, **Weekly**, or **Monthly**, at a time of day you pick. You set it from
the resource's **Snapshots** tab. A node or a volume has at most one active schedule, so saving a
new one replaces the one before it.

On a node, you can set one schedule for the node itself and a separate one for its attached
volumes. On a volume, a weekly schedule runs on the day of the week you pick, and a monthly one
on the day of the month you pick, or on **Last Day**.

## Keeping a schedule running

If a node is locked, stopped, or in another state that cannot take a snapshot when a scheduled
run is due, that run is skipped and you get a notification. Locking a node stops the
scheduled snapshots of its attached volumes too.

Detaching a volume turns off its snapshot schedule and its lifecycle rule.

## Lifecycle rules

A lifecycle rule deletes scheduled snapshots once they reach the age you set. Choose a shorter
age to spend less on snapshot storage, or a longer one to keep older points available.

- On a node, you set how long to keep each scheduled snapshot as part of the schedule.
- On a volume, the age is the **Delete Snapshot Interval** in the schedule: 1, 3, 7, or 15
  days, or 1, 3, or 6 months, or 1 year.

To keep one scheduled snapshot past its age, lock it. See
[How snapshots work](/myaccount/snapshots/concepts/how-snapshots-work/#keeping-and-deleting-snapshots).

## Setting one up

- [Schedule snapshots for a node](/myaccount/node/how-to/schedule-snapshots/)
- [Schedule volume snapshots](/myaccount/volumes/how-to/schedule-volume-snapshots/)

For a single change, a snapshot taken by hand is all you need:
[Create a snapshot of a node](/myaccount/node/how-to/create-a-snapshot/) or
[Create a volume snapshot](/myaccount/volumes/how-to/create-a-volume-snapshot/).