Create a VM from a snapshot

Create a VM from a snapshot to launch a new TIR Virtual Machine that starts with the disk of an earlier one. Use it to run a copy beside the original, or to start a new VM with the disk of one you deleted.

The new VM gets only the snapshot’s disk. The source VM’s settings, datasets, and shared file systems stay behind, so you choose the plan, network, and storage again on the form.

Before you begin

• A snapshot that shows Ready under Status, in the project where you will create the VM. See Create a VM snapshot.
• Create permission in the project. See TIR Access Control.
• What any new VM needs, such as an SSH key saved in your account. See Create a VM.

A snapshot stays after its VM is deleted and can still be used here. To get the disk of a deleted VM back, create a new VM from its snapshot; Restore works only while the source VM exists.

Launch the VM

1. Find the snapshot. In the side menu, under Storage, select Snapshots to see every snapshot in the project. To see only one VM’s snapshots, open that VM and select its Snapshots tab instead.
2. In the Actions menu of the snapshot, select Create VM.
3. The snapshot’s image and version are already chosen, and they stay fixed.
4. Fill in the rest of the form as you would for any VM: the name, the plan, the network and security settings, and any datasets or shared file systems. See Create a VM.
5. Set the disk size to at least the snapshot’s Disk Size.
6. Select Launch VM. For what you see while the VM launches, see Create a VM.

Then connect over SSH and look for the files you expect; see Connect to a VM over SSH. The new VM accepts the SSH keys you chose on the form and also the SSH keys of the VM the snapshot was taken from. To remove any of these keys, see Manage SSH keys on a VM.

When Create VM is greyed out

Create VM becomes available once the snapshot is Ready. It stays unavailable for a snapshot whose source image is no longer known, because a new VM cannot be launched from it. For what to do, see Troubleshooting TIR Snapshots.

Create an Auto Scaling Group from a snapshot

A snapshot can also be the source of an Auto Scaling Group: select Create Auto Scaling Group in the same Actions menu. The new group starts with the snapshot as its source. Create Auto Scaling Group is available for a Ready snapshot of a CPU VM, because Auto Scaling Groups run CPU-only VMs. The steps are in Create an Auto Scaling Group.

To launch a VM from another VM’s settings instead of its disk, see Clone a VM. For other messages on this form, see Troubleshooting TIR Snapshots.