Roll back a disk by using a snapshot - Elastic Compute Service

If you lose data on a disk due to accidental operations, ransomware attacks, or other incidents, you can use a snapshot of that disk to roll it back. Rolling back a disk restores it to the exact state it was in when the snapshot was created. This topic describes how to roll back a disk by using a snapshot.

Limits

You cannot use a snapshot of one disk to roll back another disk.
Note
If you want to roll back a snapshot to another disk, you can create a new disk from the snapshot. For more information, see Create a disk from a snapshot.
After you replace the operating system of an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, you cannot use snapshots of the original system disk to roll back the new system disk.
Note
You can use the snapshots to create pay-as-you-go disks and then attach the disks to ECS instances for data restoration. After data is restored, we recommend that you release the disks as soon as possible. For more information, see Create a data disk from a snapshot, Attach a data disk, and Release a disk.
Shared snapshots and snapshot copies cannot be used to roll back disks.

Prerequisites

Ensure the following conditions are met before rolling back a disk using a snapshot:

Make sure that a snapshot of the disk exists and can be used to roll back the disk and that no snapshot is being created for the disk.
The disk must not be released. Once released, its snapshot cannot be rolled back.
If the disk is attached to an ECS instance, stop the ECS instance before you roll back the disk.
If you roll back a disk that is used to create a dynamic extended volume or RAID, you must first stop the services or applications that use the disk to ensure that no read or write operations are being performed on the disk when you roll back the disk.

Procedure

You can roll back a disk on the Snapshots or Instance page. This section describes how to roll back a disk on the Snapshots page.

Warning

The rollback operation is irreversible. After you roll back a disk, data that you added, removed, or modified from the point in time when the snapshot is created to the time when the disk is rolled back is lost. To prevent data loss that is caused by modifications, we recommend that you create a snapshot for the disk to back up data before you roll back the disk. For more information, see Create a snapshot manually.

Go to ECS console - Snapshots.
In the top navigation bar, select the region and resource group of the resource that you want to manage.
On the Disk Snapshots tab, find the snapshot that you want to use. In the Actions column, click Roll Back Disk.
In the message that appears, click Confirm.

What to do next

After a rollback, the disk reverts to the exact state captured in the snapshot. Be aware of the following impacts:

System disk rollback: host configuration reset

After a rollback, all data that was added, removed, or modified since the snapshot was created is lost. This includes host configuration settings such as the hostname, SSH settings, passwords, network settings, system software repository settings, and clock source. These settings revert to the state they were in when the snapshot was created. You must reconfigure them based on your business requirements.

Note

Rolling back the system disk of an ECS instance does not affect the current SSH key pair, username, or password. You can continue to use them to log on to the instance after the rollback.

Data disk rollback: disk size may revert

If you resized a data disk after creating the snapshot and then use that snapshot to roll back the disk, the disk reverts to its original size at the time of the snapshot. The additional disk space is lost. To restore the disk to the expanded size, log on to the ECS instance and resize the disk again:

Linux instance: Extend the partitions and file systems of disks on a Linux instance
Windows instance: Extend the partitions and file systems of disks on a Windows instance

FAQ

How do I restore a specific folder or file on the D drive of a Windows instance by using a snapshot?

To restore a specific folder or file, you cannot directly roll back by using a snapshot. Instead, perform the following steps:

Create a temporary pay-as-you-go disk from the snapshot. For more information, see Create a data disk from a snapshot.
Attach the disk to an ECS instance. For more information, see Attach a data disk.
Bring the disk Online.
Copy the specific folder or file to the original disk.
Detach and release the temporary disk. For more information, see Detach a data disk and Release a disk.