Snapshotting an instance

Snapshotting an instance will create a Glance image of the instance at the point in time the snapshot was taken. This image can then be used to deploy additional instances of a given application, or as a bootable backup of the instance.

Getting ready

In order to create a snapshot of an instance, you require the following information:

• The openstack command-line client

• The openrc file containing appropriate credentials

• The name of the instance

How to do it…

The following commands are used to create an instance snapshot:

1. First, we list the existing images with the following command:

   openstack image list -c Name -c Status
   

   This will bring back a list of images like the following:

   

2. Now list the running instances with the following command:

   openstack server list -c Name -c Status
   

   This gives an output like the following:

   

3. To create the snapshot, issue the following command (note the optional shell expansion command we're using to timestamp the name of the snapshot):

   openstack server...