Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Backing Up a Volume

Volume backups are point-in-time snapshots of volume data, for more information, see Overview of Block Volume Backups. This topic describes how to create a manual backup. Manual backups do not expire, they are maintained until you delete them.

To create backups based on a defined schedule and retention policy, see Policy-Based Backups.

For information to help you decide whether to create a backup or a clone of a boot volume, see Differences Between Block Volume Backups and Clones.

Note

Volume backup size may be larger than the current volume usage. See Volume Backup Size for more information.

Required IAM Policy

To use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you must be granted security access in a policy  by an administrator. This access is required whether you're using the Console or the REST API with an SDK, CLI, or other tool. If you get a message that you don’t have permission or are unauthorized, verify with your administrator what type of access you have and which compartment  to work in.

For administrators: The policy in Let volume admins manage block volumes, backups, and volume groups lets the specified group do everything with block volumes and backups. The policy in Let boot volume backup admins manage only backups further restricts access to just creating and managing backups.

Tip

When users create a backup from a volume or restore a volume from a backup, the volume and backup don't have to be in the same compartment . However, users must have access to both compartments.
If you're new to policies, see Getting Started with Policies and Common Policies. For reference material about writing policies for instances, cloud networks, or other Core Services API resources, see Details for the Core Services.

Using the Console

  1. Open the navigation menu and click Storage. Under Block Storage, click Block Volumes.
  2. Click the block volume that you want to create a backup for.
  3. Click Create Manual Backup.

  4. Enter a name for the backup. Avoid entering confidential information.

  5. Select the backup type, either incremental or full. See Volume Backup Types for information about backup types.

  6. If you have permissions to create a resource, then you also have permissions to apply free-form tags to that resource. To apply a defined tag, you must have permissions to use the tag namespace. For more information about tagging, see Resource Tags. If you are not sure whether to apply tags, skip this option (you can apply tags later) or ask your administrator.

  7. Click Create Backup.

    The backup will be completed once its icon no longer lists it as CREATING in the volume list.