Export Snapshots

Use the export option to save a snapshot to your local file system or to a storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Exporting allows you to store and manage any snapshots you might take of your system.

The snapshot exports as an archive file (.bar). The time it takes to export your snapshot depends on the size of the .bar file.

Note:

If you regularly export large snapshots (over 5GB or larger than the download limit of your browser), you must set up a storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and save your snapshots to cloud storage. This way, you can avoid export errors due to size limitations and timeouts that can sometimes occur when you save large snapshots on your local file system. See Set Up a Oracle Cloud Storage Bucket for Snapshots.

If you haven't taken the snapshot yet, you’ll need to do that first.

  1. Click Console.
  2. Click Snapshots.
  3. Select the snapshot that you want to export.
  4. Click Snapshot Actions Snapshot actions menu.
  5. Click Export.
  6. Select where you want to export the snapshot to.
    • Oracle Cloud Storage: Export the snapshot to an existing storage bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Click Storage Details to specify connection details for the storage bucket.

      If you haven't set up a storage bucket, you must do this first. See Set Up an Oracle Cloud Storage Bucket for Snapshots.

    • Local File Storage: Export the snapshot to your browser’s download folder.
  7. If you select Oracle Cloud Storage, provide the connection details, a name for snapshot, and the folder you want to use.
    1. In Configure Storage Details, select how you want to provide connection details. You can use an existing OCI Resource connection with access to storage or manually enter connection details with the private key.
    2. If you select Select OCI Resource connection, select the name of the connection you want to use, click Next, select the compartment and storage bucket you want to export the snapshot to, and then click Next.

      If you haven't set up a OCI Resource connection, you must do this first. See Create a Connection to Your Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Tenancy.

    3. If you select Enter storage details with private key, specify a storage bucket for the snapshot, together with the security keys and Oracle Cloud IDs (OCIDs) required to access the bucket on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Object Storage, and then click Next.

      You need access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console to generate or obtain this information. If you don't have access, contact your administrator.

      • Bucket Name: Name of the bucket. For example: My_OAC_Snapshot_StorageBucket
      • OCI Region: Region identifier for the region where the bucket is located. For example: us-phoenix-1
      • OCI Tenancy ID: OCID for the tenancy that's hosting the bucket.

        For example: ocid1.tenancy.oc1..<unique_ID>

        See Where to Get the Tenancy's OCID.

      • OCI User ID: OCID for a user who created and uploaded the signing key pair required to access the bucket.

        For example: ocid1.user.oc1..<unique_ID>

        See Where to Get a User's OCID. See also How to Upload the Public Key.

      • Key Fingerprint: Fingerprint of the private key required to access the bucket.

        The fingerprint looks something like this: 99:34:56:78:90:ab:cd:ef:12:34:56:78:90:ab:cd:ef

        See How to Get the Key's Fingerprint.

      • Private Key: Name and location of the user's private key file in PEM format.

        For example: oci_private_key.pem

        See How to Generate a Signing Key.

    4. Optional: In Save Snapshot As, use the File Name field to change the name of snapshot .bar file or select a different folder for the snapshot.

      By default, snapshots are saved to the bucket's root folder and named <timestamp>.bar. For example: 20210824140137.bar.

      • To use a different name, enter a new name for the snapshot in the File Name field. For example: 24August2021.bar
      • To select a specific folder, either navigate to the required folder or type the folder name in the File Name field. For example: MyDaily_Snapshots/August/24August2021.bar

      Click the Refresh Data icon to switch back to the default file name and location.

      Note:

      You don't see every file and folder in the storage bucket through the Save Snapshot As dialog. You see only snapshots (BAR files) and folders that contain snapshots.
    5. Click OK to confirm that you want to save the snapshot with this name and location.
  8. In Snapshot Password, enter and confirm a password for the snapshot.

    The password must be between 14 and 50 characters long and contain at least one numeric character, one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, and one special character. Allowable special characters include: !#$%&'()*+,-./:;<=>?@[\]^_`{|}~

    Don’t forget this password. You’ll be asked for this password when you try to import the file in the future. For example, if want to restore or migrate the content stored in the snapshot.

  9. Click Export.

    The time it takes to export depends on the size of the file.

    If you select to export the snapshot to local storage, you can change the name of snapshot .bar file or select a different folder for the snapshot before the export begins.