How to back up and restore a Quake AI VM

Protect a VM with snapshots, copy backups off-project for disaster recovery, and run a restore drill that proves you can boot from the backup. Instance snapshots live in the same project as the source VM. Treat same-project snapshots as a quick rollback tool, not a full DR strategy by themselves.

Layer 1: Same-project snapshot#

Follow How to create an instance snapshot before risky changes (package upgrades, configuration edits, migrations).

Layer 2: Copy to another project or export as a file#

Quake AI instances boot from a Cinder volume. openstack server image create registers a thin Glance image that references the backing volume snapshot; the Glance entry reports size: 0 and holds no downloadable bytes. See Instance snapshots CLI reference for the full boot-from-volume behavior.

Pick the path that matches your recovery goal:

Share the snapshot with another project#

1. Create the Layer 1 snapshot and note its Glance image ID or name.
2. Share the image with the destination project:

openstack image add project BACKUP_IMAGE_ID DESTINATION_PROJECT_ID

1. In the destination project, accept the member if your workflow requires it, then launch a drill instance from the shared snapshot image. See Images service CLI reference.

The destination project boots from the shared snapshot image; Nova clones the backing volume snapshot into a new boot volume in that project.

Export a qcow2 file for object storage#

Work from the Cinder volume snapshot that holds the bytes:

1. Resolve the backing volume snapshot ID. Match the snapshot name from Layer 1 in openstack volume snapshot list, or read block_device_mapping from openstack image show BACKUP_IMAGE_ID.
2. Create a temporary volume from that snapshot (size must be at least the source boot volume):

openstack volume create \
  --snapshot VOLUME_SNAPSHOT_ID \
  --size BOOT_VOLUME_SIZE_GIB \
  export-src-vol

Wait until the volume status is available.

1. Upload the volume to Glance as a full image (not a thin snapshot shim):

openstack image create \
  --volume export-src-vol \
  --disk-format qcow2 \
  --container-format bare \
  myapp-export-$(date +%Y%m%d)

1. Wait until the export image is active and size is greater than zero:

openstack image show myapp-export-$(date +%Y%m%d) -c status -c size

1. Download the file:

openstack image save --file myapp-backup.qcow2 myapp-export-$(date +%Y%m%d)

1. Upload the file to object storage with the S3 CLI and your S3 credentials.

2. Delete the temporary export image and volume when the upload finishes:

openstack image delete myapp-export-$(date +%Y%m%d)
openstack volume delete export-src-vol

Layer 3: Restore drill#

Prove the backup works before you need it:

1. Launch a new instance from the snapshot or saved image (create instance).
2. Attach the same security groups and floating IP pattern as production (or test on a temporary floating IP).
3. Run application health checks (systemctl status, HTTP probe, database migration status).
4. Delete the drill instance when finished.

Document the drill cadence in your runbook (monthly or after major releases).

See also#

• How to create an instance snapshot
• How to create an image
• Instance snapshots CLI reference
• How to schedule volume snapshots and restore data
• Automated backups with object storage