# How to Add Droplet Snapshots to Other Regions

Snapshots are on-demand disk images of DigitalOcean Droplets and volumes saved to your account. Use them to create new Droplets and volumes with the same contents.

By default, a Droplet snapshot is only available in the region where it was created. If you want to use a snapshot to create Droplets in other regions, you need to add the snapshot to those regions first. It doesn’t cost more to add a snapshot to more regions.

You cannot transfer volume snapshots to other regions. As an alternative, you can use you can use tools like [SnapShooter](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/snapshooter/index.html.md), [rsync](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-rsync-to-sync-local-and-remote-directories-on-a-vps) or [SFTP](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-use-filezilla-to-transfer-and-manage-files-securely-on-your-vps) to transfer the data to a new volume created in the target region.

## Add a Droplet Snapshot to Other Regions using Automation

## How to Add an Image to a Region Using the DigitalOcean CLI

1. [Install `doctl`](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/how-to/install/index.html.md), the official DigitalOcean CLI.
2. [Create a personal access token](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/create-personal-access-token/index.html.md) and save it for use with `doctl`.
3. Use the token to grant `doctl` access to your DigitalOcean account.

   ```shell
   doctl auth init
   ```
4. Finally, run `doctl compute image-action transfer`. Basic usage looks like this, but you can [read the usage docs](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/compute/image-action/transfer/index.html.md) for more details:

   ```shell
   doctl compute image-action transfer <image-id> [flags]
   ```

   The following example transfers an image with the ID 386734086 to the region with the slug nyc3:

   ```shell
   doctl compute image-action transfer 386734086 --region nyc3
   ```

## How to Add an Image to a Region Using the DigitalOcean API

1. [Create a personal access token](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/create-personal-access-token/index.html.md) and save it for use with the API.
2. Send a POST request to [`https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/images/{image_id}/actions`](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/digitalocean//index.html.md#operation/imageActions_post).

### cURL

Using cURL:

```shell
# Transfer an Existing Image
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"type":"transfer","region":"nyc2"}' \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/images/7938269/actions"

# Convert an Image into a Snapshot
curl -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"type":"convert"}' \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/images/7938291/actions"
```

### Go

Using [Godo](https://github.com/digitalocean/godo), the official DigitalOcean API client for Go:

```go
import (
    "context"
    "os"

    "github.com/digitalocean/godo"
)

func main() {
    token := os.Getenv("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN")

    client := godo.NewFromToken(token)
    ctx := context.TODO()

    // Transfer an existing image
    transferRequest := &godo.ActionRequest{
        "type":   "transfer",
        "region": "nyc2",
    }
  # Transfer an Image
    transfer, _, err := client.ImageActions.Transfer(ctx, 7938269, transferRequest)

  # Convert an Image to a Snapshot
  # client.image_actions.convert(image_id: 7938269)

}
```

### Ruby

Using [DropletKit](https://github.com/digitalocean/droplet_kit), the official DigitalOcean API client for Ruby:

```ruby
require 'droplet_kit'
token = ENV['DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN']
client = DropletKit::Client.new(access_token: token)

# Transfer an Image
client.image_actions.transfer(image_id: 7938269, region: 'nyc2')

# Convert an Image to a Snapshot
# client.image_actions.convert(image_id: 7938269)
```

### Python

Using [PyDo](https://github.com/digitalocean/pydo), the official DigitalOcean API client for Python:

```python
import os
from pydo import Client

client = Client(token=os.environ.get("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"))

req = {
  "type": "convert"
}
resp = client.image_actions.post(image_id=342341, body=req)
```

## Add a Droplet Snapshot to Other Regions using the Control Panel

To add a Droplet snapshot to another region, click the source Droplet’s name. On the Droplet’s detail page, click **Snapshots** in the left menu. Open the snapshot’s **More** menu and click **Add to region** to open the **Snapshot availability** window.

Click each region you want to make the snapshot available in. A spinner displays as the snapshot image is added, which may take several minutes. When the snapshot becomes available in a region, the spinner stops and the region is no longer selectable.

Once the snapshot is added to the new region, you can [use it to create new Droplets](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/snapshots/how-to/create-and-restore-droplets/index.html.md).