# Create Amazon EBS snapshots You can create an Amazon EBS snapshot of an Amazon EBS volume to create a point-in-time backup of that volume. You can either create snapshots of **individual Amazon EBS volumes**, or you can create **multi-volume snapshots** of all, or a subset, of the volumes attached to an Amazon EC2 instance. Snapshot creation is asynchronous. The snapshot is created immediately, but it remains in the `pending` state until all of data has been transferred to Amazon S3. This can take several hours to complete, depending on the number of modified blocks on the volume. You can continue to use the volume during this time without impacting the snapshot. The snapshot includes only the data that was written to the volume at the time the snapshot was requested. It does not include data that has been cached by applications or the operating system. **Tip** To ensure consistent and complete snapshots, we recommend that you pause writes to the volume before you create the snapshot. If you can't pause writes to the volume, we recommend that you unmount the volume, from within the instance, before you create the snapshot. You can remount and resume writes once the snapshot enters the `pending` state. If you create a snapshot of a volume that serves as the root device for an Amazon EC2 instance, we recommend that you stop the instance before taking the snapshot. **Topics** + [Snapshot encryption](#create-snapshot-encryption) + [Snapshot destinations](#create-snapshot-destinations) + [Automating snapshots](#create-snapshots-automate) + [Considerations for creating snapshots](#create-snapshots-considerations) + [Create snapshot of a volume](ebs-create-snapshot.md) + [Create multi-volume snapshots](ebs-create-snapshots.md) ## Snapshot encryption A snapshot automatically gets the same encryption status as the volume from which it is created. Snapshots created from unencrypted volumes are not encrypted. Snapshots created from encrypted volumes are automatically encrypted using the same KMS key as the volume. **Tip** If you need to create an encrypted snapshot from an unencrypted volume, first create the unencrypted snapshot of the volume, and then create an encrypted copy of that snapshot. ## Snapshot destinations The location of the source resource (volume or instance) determines where you can create snapshots. + If the source resource is in a Region, you must create snapshots in the same Region as the source resource. + If the source resource is in a Local Zone, you can create snapshots in the same Local Zone or in its parent Region. For more information, see [Local snapshots in Local Zones](snapshots-localzones.md). + If the source resource is on an Outpost, you can create snapshots on the same Outpost or in its parent Region. For more information, see [Amazon EBS local snapshots on Outposts](snapshots-outposts.md). ## Automating snapshots You can automate snapshot creation using [Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager](snapshot-lifecycle.md) and [AWS Backup](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/multi-volume-crash-consistent.html). ## Considerations for creating snapshots + We recommend that you do not create snapshots of volumes that are attached to Amazon EC2 instances that are hibernated or that are enabled for hibernation. For more information, see [How Amazon EC2 instance hibernation works](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/instance-hibernate-overview.html#instance-hibernate-limitations). + Although you can take a snapshot of a volume while a previous snapshot of that volume is in the `pending` status, having multiple snapshots in the `pending` state for the same volume can result in reduced volume performance until the snapshots complete. + There are limits on the number of snapshots you can have in the `pending` state, and on the number of concurrent snapshots you can request per volume type. For more information, see [Quotas for Amazon EBS](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/ebs-resource-quotas.html). If you exceed one of these quotas, wait for the current snapshots to complete and then try again. # Create a snapshot of an EBS volume You can create a single snapshot of a single volume. Alternatively, to automate snapshot creation, use [Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager](snapshot-lifecycle.md) or [AWS Backup](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/multi-volume-crash-consistent.html). To create snapshots of all the volumes for an EC2 instance, use [multi-volume snapshots](ebs-create-snapshots.md). ------ #### [ Console ] **To create a snapshot** 1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Snapshots**, **Create snapshot**. 1. For **Resource type**, choose **Volume**. 1. For **Volume ID**, select the volume from which to create the snapshot. The **Encryption** field indicates the volume and resulting snapshot's encryption status. It can't be modified. 1. (*Optional*) For **Description**, enter a brief description for the snapshot. 1. If the volume is on an Outpost or in a Local Zone, the **Snapshot destination** field appears. Do one of the following: + If the volume is in a Local Zone, choose **Local Zone** to create the snapshot in the same Local Zone, or choose **AWS Region** to create the snapshot in the parent Region of the Local Zone. + If the volume is on an Outpost, choose **AWS Outpost**, to create the snapshot on the same Outpost, or choose **AWS Region** to create the snapshot in the parent Region of the Outpost. **Note** If the volume is in a Region, the **Snapshot destination** does not appear. The snapshot is automatically created in the same Region as the volume. 1. (*Optional*) To assign custom tags to the snapshot, in the **Tags** section, choose **Add tag**, and then enter the key-value pair. You can add up to 50 tags. 1. Choose **Create snapshot**. ------ #### [ AWS CLI ] **To create a snapshot** Use the [create-snapshot](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/create-snapshot.html) command. ``` aws ec2 create-snapshot \ --volume-id vol-01234567890abcdef \ --description "Snapshot of the root volume for i-1234567890abcdef0" ``` ------ #### [ PowerShell ] **To create a snapshot** Use the [New-EC2Snapshot](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/New-EC2Snapshot.html) cmdlet. ``` New-EC2Snapshot ` -VolumeId vol-01234567890abcdef ` -Description "Snapshot of the root volume for i-1234567890abcdef0" ``` ------ # Create multi-volume EBS snapshots from an EC2 instance By default, when you create multi-volume snapshots from an Amazon EC2 instance, Amazon EBS creates snapshots of all the Amazon EBS volumes that are attached to the instance. However, you can choose to exclude the root volume, or specific data volumes if needed. **Tip** We recommend that you tag your multi-volume snapshots so that it's easy to identify and manage them collectively. You can also copy the tags from the source volumes to the corresponding snapshots to set the snapshot metadata, such as access policies, attachment information, and cost allocation, to match the source volume. **Considerations for multi-volume snapshots** + If all of the snapshots complete successfully, a `createSnapshots` CloudWatch event with a result of `succeeded` is sent to your AWS account. If any one snapshot in the multi-volume snapshot set fails, all of the other snapshots enter the `error` state and a `createSnapshots` CloudWatch event with a result of `failed` is sent to your account. For more information, see [Create snapshots (createSnapshots)](ebs-cloud-watch-events.md#create-snapshots-complete). + Multi-volume snapshots support up to 128 Amazon EBS volumes attached to an instance, including the root volume and up to 127 data volumes. + Each snapshot in the multi-volume snapshot set is an individual snapshot that can be used in the same way, and that supports the same features, as an individual snapshot. + You can take application-consistent snapshots of all the Amazon EBS volumes attached to an Amazon EC2 Windows instance using [AWS Systems Manager command documents](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/create-vss-snapshots-ssm.html). ------ #### [ Console ] **To create multi-volume snapshots** 1. Open the Amazon EC2 console at [https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/). 1. In the navigation pane, choose **Snapshots**, **Create snapshot**. 1. For **Resource type**, choose **Instance**. 1. For **Description**, enter a brief description for the snapshots. This description is applied to all of the snapshots. 1. If the instance is on an Outpost or in a Local Zone, the **Snapshot destination** field appears. Do one of the following: + If the instance is in a Local Zone, choose **Local Zone** to create the snapshots in the same Local Zone, or choose **AWS Region** to create the snapshots in the parent Region of the Local Zone. + If the instance is on an Outpost, choose **AWS Outpost**, to create the snapshots on the same Outpost, or choose **AWS Region** to create the snapshots in the parent Region of the Outpost. **Note** If the instance is in a Region, the **Snapshot destination** does not appear. The snapshot is automatically created in the same Region as the instance. 1. (*Optional*) To exclude the instance's root volume, select **Exclude root volume**. 1. (*Optional*) To exclude data volumes, select **Exclude specific data volumes**. The **Attached data volumes** section lists all of the data volumes that are currently attached to the selected instance. Select the data volumes to exclude. Only the volumes that remain unselected will be included in the multi-volume snapshot set. 1. (*Optional*) To automatically copy tags from the source volumes to the corresponding snapshots, for **Copy tags from source volume**, select **Copy tags**. 1. (*Optional*) To assign additional custom tags to the snapshots, in the **Tags** section, choose **Add tag**, and then enter the key-value pair. You can add up to 50 tags. 1. Choose **Create snapshot**. ------ #### [ AWS CLI ] **To create multi-volume snapshots** Use the [ create-snapshots](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/ec2/create-snapshots.html) command. ``` aws ec2 create-snapshots \ --instance-specification InstanceId=i-1234567890abcdef0 \ --description "from a multi-volume snapshot of i-1234567890abcdef0" ``` To exclude the root volume, add the following to the `--instance-specification` option. ``` ExcludeBootVolume=true ``` To exclude a data volume, add the following to the `--instance-specification` option. ``` ExcludeDataVolumeIds=vol-01234567890abcdef ``` ------ #### [ PowerShell ] **To create multi-volume snapshots** Use the [New-EC2SnapshotBatch](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/reference/items/New-EC2SnapshotBatch.html) cmdlet. ``` New-EC2SnapshotBatch ` -InstanceSpecification_InstanceId i-1234567890abcdef0 ` -Description "from a multi-volume snapshot of i-1234567890abcdef0" ``` To exclude the root volume, add the following parameter. ``` -InstanceSpecification_ExcludeBootVolume $true ``` To exclude data volumes, add the following parameter. ``` -InstanceSpecification_ExcludeDataVolumes "vol-01234567890abcdef" ``` ------