Using the console
Back up your VPS: snapshots and daily backups
A snapshot before an update or a daily backup kept for seven days: what each one protects, what it costs, and how to create and restore it from the console.
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No backup is included by default with a VPS: the content of your disks is your responsibility. The console gives you two tools to protect it, each covering a different risk. This guide explains which to choose, what it costs, and how to restore on the day you need it.
Snapshot or daily backup?
| Snapshot | Daily backup | |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | On demand, in one click | Automatic, every night |
| Retention | Until you delete it, five at most per server | The last seven days, on a rolling basis |
| Location | On the same node as the server, deleted with it | Off the server's node |
| Protects against | An update or a manipulation that goes wrong | A mistake found late, and a node failure |
| Price | Hourly, depending on the disk size, shown before creation | 20% of the server price, hourly as well as at the cap |
In short: a snapshot is a safety net before a risky operation, the daily backup is permanent insurance. Many production servers have both.
Create and restore a snapshot
- Open the server's page, Snapshots tab. The server may be running or stopped.
- Give the snapshot a name, for example “before PHP update”. The price is shown before you confirm.
- To go back, stop the server, then choose Restore on the snapshot. The disk returns exactly to the state captured by the snapshot: everything written since is lost.
- Delete the snapshot as soon as it is no longer needed: it is billed as long as it exists.
A snapshot is part of the server: it survives neither the deletion of the server nor a failure of the node hosting it. It is not a backup.
Enable the daily backup
In the Snapshots tab of the server's page, Backups section, click Enable backups. The price is shown before you confirm, and billing starts at activation. A full copy of the server is made every night and kept for seven rolling days.
Example: for a Standard server at 0,42 Dhs per hour, the backup costs 0,09 Dhs per hour, and 59,80 Dhs per month at most. Its price is calculated on the server's fixed price: it does not move if the price grid changes.
To restore, stop the server, choose the day you want in the list of backups, then Restore. The whole machine is replaced by that day's copy. You can turn the option off at any time: billing stops, and no new copy is made.
What neither of the two replaces
Snapshots and backups live with the same provider as your server. For data you cannot afford to lose, also keep your own copy, elsewhere: on your computer, with another provider, or on an online storage space, independent of your servers. And check from time to time that a copy really restores: a backup that has never been tested is a promise, not a guarantee.
In practice
Enable the daily backup on any server that carries production data, take a snapshot before every major update, and keep an external copy. To protect the server itself, follow our guide Secure your Linux VPS, and to get started, the guide Create a VPS in Morocco.
Frequently asked questions
Is a backup included with my VPS?
No. No backup is included by default: you enable the daily backup option, or create snapshots, from the server's page.
What is the difference between a snapshot and a backup?
A snapshot is a point-in-time copy taken on demand, kept on the same node as the server and deleted with it. The daily backup is a full copy made every night, kept off the node, over the last seven days.
Do I have to stop the server to restore?
Yes. A snapshot, like a backup, is restored onto a stopped server, and replaces the entire machine: everything written since is lost.
Do my snapshots survive the deletion of the server?
No: a snapshot is part of the server and disappears with it. To keep a copy beyond that, export your data to an outside destination.