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Part-31: 💾 Google Cloud Platform – Working with VM Disk Snapshots (GCP)


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Latchu@DevOps

Snapshots are a powerful way to protect and restore data in Google Cloud Compute Engine. A snapshot is essentially a backup of a persistent disk that you can later use to:

  • Recover data if the disk is corrupted
  • Create new disks or VM instances quickly
  • Set up backup schedules for compliance and availability

In this tutorial, we’ll go step by step to:

  1. Create a snapshot from an existing VM disk
  2. Review snapshot properties
  3. Create a new VM or disk from a snapshot
  4. Set up snapshot schedules

🔹 Step 1: Start the VM

For this demo, we’ll use an existing VM (demo8-vm1).

👉 Console:

Go to Compute Engine → VM Instances → demo8-vm1 → Actions → Start

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🔹 Step 2: Create a Snapshot

You can create a snapshot directly from a VM’s disk.

Option 1 (from Disk):

👉 Compute Engine → Storage → Disks → demo8-vm1 → Actions → Create Snapshot

Option 2 (from Snapshots page):

👉 Compute Engine → Storage → Snapshots → Create Snapshot

Fill details:

  • Name: demo8-vm1-snapshot-1
  • Description: demo8-vm1-snapshot-1
  • Source disk: demo8-vm1
  • Location: Multi-regional → us
  • Encryption: Use same encryption as disk
  • Application consistency: unchecked
  • Click Create ✅

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CLI Equivalent:

# Create Snapshot
gcloud compute snapshots create demo8-vm1-snapshot \
    --project=gcpdemos \
    --description=demo8-vm1-snapshot \
    --source-disk=demo8-vm1 \
    --source-disk-zone=us-central1-a \
    --storage-location=us

🔹 Step 3: Review Snapshot Properties

👉 Go to Compute Engine → Storage → Snapshots → demo8-vm1-snapshot

Here you can review:

  • Size
  • Storage location
  • Source disk
  • Creation timestamp

Snapshots are incremental in GCP → only changes since the last snapshot are stored, saving cost and time.

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🔹 Step 4: Create VM or Disk using Snapshot

Snapshots aren’t just backups—you can also use them to spin up new resources.

👉 From Snapshots → demo8-vm1-snapshot → Actions:

  • Create Instance → Launch a new VM from snapshot
  • Create Disk → Provision a new persistent disk from snapshot

This makes snapshots super useful for cloning environments (like dev/test copies of production).

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VM instance is created from the snapshot

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If you access the server through browser

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🔹 Step 5: Snapshot Schedules

Manually creating snapshots is fine, but production systems need automated protection.

Snapshot schedules let you define policies like:

Frequency: Hourly, Daily, Weekly

Auto-deletion: e.g., keep snapshots only for 14 days

Deletion Rule:

  • Keep snapshots indefinitely
  • Delete older snapshots automatically

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👉 Example:

  • Take a daily snapshot
  • Retain only last 14 days
  • Auto-delete older ones

This ensures you always have recent backups without excessive cost.

✅ Final Thoughts

  • Snapshots in GCP are lightweight, incremental, and multi-regional, making them ideal for backups.
  • You can restore, clone, or create new VMs/disks from them.
  • Schedules help automate backups and manage retention.

💡 Pro Tip: Always store snapshots in multi-regional locations for disaster recovery.

👉 That’s it! You now know how to create, manage, and use snapshots in Google Cloud Compute Engine 🚀


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Latchu@DevOps