How to Import a DigitalOcean Snapshot as a Kubernetes Snapshot

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is a managed Kubernetes service that lets you deploy Kubernetes clusters without the complexities of handling the control plane and containerized infrastructure. Clusters are compatible with standard Kubernetes toolchains and integrate natively with DigitalOcean Load Balancers and volumes.

In Kubernetes, a volume snapshot is a point-in-time copy of the contents of a Kubernetes cluster. You can use snapshots to back up a cluster’s data or copy the data to another resource without needing to create a new volume.

To import an existing DigitalOcean snapshot into the DigitalOcean platform as a Kubernetes snapshot, you need to apply three new YAML files to link your existing snapshot, create a local snapshot, and request for space on your Kubernetes cluster.

Find the Snapshot ID

First, find the existing snapshot’s ID by making a request to our API or running the following command:

doctl compute snapshot list

Create a VolumeShapshotContent Snapshot

Create a VolumeSnapshotContent snapshot called snapshotcontent.yaml. This file sets your existing snapshot as the source of data for import. Write the following content, replacing <your-snapshot-ID> with your snapshot ID:

    
        
            
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshotContent
metadata:
  name: manually-created-snapshot-content
spec:
  deletionPolicy: Delete
  driver: testdriver.csi.k8s.io
  source:
    snapshotHandle: your-snapshot-ID
  volumeSnapshotRef:
    name: test-snapshot
    namespace: default

        
    

This file has two name fields: the first is the snapshot’s name and the second is the paired snapshot request’s name. You can pick any name you want for them, but the names must match between all the files in this guide.

The deletionPolicy is set to Retain. This setting preserves the VolumeSnapshotContent and the DigitalOcean snapshot resource when you delete the VolumeSnapshot, instead of automatically deleting them. To delete all three files together when deleting VolumeSnapshot, change this value to Delete.

Save and exit the file, then apply it:

kubectl apply -f snapshotcontent.yaml

Create a VolumeSnapshot Snapshot Request

Create a VolumeSnapshot snapshot request called snapshot.yml. This file creates a local snapshot with the previous file’s data. Write the following content, ensuring that the name fields match up with the previous file:

    
        
            
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshot
metadata:
  name: manually-created-snapshot
spec:
  source:
        volumeSnapshotContentName: test-content

        
    

Save and exit the file, then apply it:

kubectl apply -f snapshot.yaml

Import the Volume

Lastly, source the snapshot from a PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) request. The file requests space for the new data on the Kubernetes cluster. Create a file called pvc.yaml and write the following content, ensuring that the name fields match up with the previous files:

    
        
            
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: pvc-restore
  namespace: default
spec:
  storageClassName: testdriver.csi.k8s.io
  dataSource:
    name: manually-created-snapshot
    kind: VolumeSnapshot
    apiGroup: snapshot.storage.k8s.io
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Gi

        
    

Save and exit the file, then apply it:

kubectl apply -f pvc.yaml

This command causes the PersistentVolumeClaim to dynamically create a PersistentVolume.

You have now imported a DigitalOcean snapshot as a Kubernetes snapshot.