I need to save the state of my existing app running on LXD before I push new Python-based app. How do I create snapshots with lxc command for LXD based Linux container?
Introduction – LXD Linux system container manager. It gives a user experience comparable to virtual machines but using Linux containers instead. There is no VM like overheads. This page shows how to make snapshots with LXD and restore them if the need arises.
Procedure to create snapshots with lxc for LXD
- To make a snapshot for LXD, run: lxc snapshot containerName
- Create a snapshot named backup01 for Linux container named www1 using the lxc command: lxc snapshot www1 backup01
- Restore LXD container named www2 from snapshots named snap2, on Linux: lxc restore www2 snap2
Let us see examples and usage in derails.
How to create the LXD snapshot using lxc
The syntax is:lxc snapshot {container} {snapshot-name}
Next, create the LXD snapshot:$ lxc snapshot utls-newsletter snap-04-jan-2019
Verify snapsots or see info about snapshots:$ lxc info utls-newsletter
Usually, I stop container before taking snapshots:lxc stop www42
lxc snapshot www42 snap01
lxc start www42
How to restore the LXD snapshot using lxc
The syntax is:lxc restore {container} {snapshot-name}
Restore the LXD snapshot:lxc restore www42 snap01
How to delete the LXD snapshot using lxc command
Again the syntax is:lxc delete {container}/snapshot-name}
To force user confirmation pass the -i option:lxc delete {container}/snapshot-name} -i
Say you want to delete the LXD snapshot named snap-04-jan-2019 for utls-newsletter container, run:$ lxc delete utls-newsletter/snap-04-jan-2019 -i
OR$ lxc delete utls-newsletter/snap-04-jan-2019
Conclusion
Use the following commands to create, delete and restore snapshots for the LXD running on Linux.
| lxc command | Description for LXD | Example(s) |
|---|---|---|
| lxc snapshot {container} {snapshot} | Create a snapshot | lxc snapshot www-c1 snap01 |
| lxc restore {container} {snapshot} | Restore the snapshot | lxc restore www-c1 snap01 |
| lxc info {container} | Get the container information including snapshot info | lxc www-c1 |
| lxc delete {container}/{snapshot} | Delete the snapshot | lxc delete www-c1/snap01 |
