Back up and restore persistent storage for your GKE clusters

This page shows you how to back up and restore the underlying Filestore storage associated with your GKE clusters using Kubernetes volume snapshots.

Creating a Kubernetes volume snapshot is equivalent to creating a Filestore backup .

For more information, see About Kubernetes volume snapshots .

Requirements

To use volume snapshots on GKE, you must meet the following requirements:

You must deploy the Filestore CSI driver . Only the following Filestore service tiers are supported:
- Basic HDD with GKE version 1.21 or later
- Basic HDD (100 GiB to 63.9 TiB) with GKE version 1.33 or later
- Basic SSD with GKE version 1.21 or later
- Zonal (1 TiB to 9.75 TiB) with GKE version 1.31 or later
- Zonal (10 TiB to 100 TiB) with GKE version 1.27 or later
- Enterprise with GKE version 1.25 or later
Use control plane versions 1.17 or later. To use the Filestore CSI driver in a VolumeSnapshot , use the GKE version number applicable to your service tier.

Have an existing PersistentVolumeClaim to use for a snapshot. The PersistentVolume you use for a snapshot source must be managed by a CSI driver. You can verify that you're using a CSI driver by checking that the PersistentVolume spec has a csi section with driver: pd.csi.storage.gke.io or filestore.csi.storage.gke.io . If the PersistentVolume is dynamically provisioned by the CSI driver as described in the following sections, it's managed by the CSI driver.

Limitations

Snapshot volumes have the same size restrictions as regular volumes. For example, Filestore snapshots must be greater than or equal to 1 TiB in size for the basic HDD tier.
The Filestore CSI driver does not support dynamic provisioning or backup workflows for the Regional Filestore service tier :
You can only back up one share per instance at a time. With regard to storage pools, backup requests issued from two different shares from two different Filestore instances will execute simultaneously.
Singleshare backups can only be restored to singleshare volumes. Using the Filestore CSI driver, you can only restore a singleshare volume to a new Filestore instance.
- The new instance must use the same service tier as the backup.
- The new instance must match the same minimum capacity as the backup.
Filestore backup restore operations to the source or to an existing Filestore instance are not supported. For a complete list of feature limitations, see Filestore backup feature limitations .
Multishare backups are not supported.

Before you begin

Before you start, make sure that you have performed the following tasks:

Enable the Google Kubernetes Engine API.

Enable Google Kubernetes Engine API

If you want to use the Google Cloud CLI for this task, install and then initialize the gcloud CLI. If you previously installed the gcloud CLI, get the latest version by running gcloud components update .
Note: For existing gcloud CLI installations, make sure to set the compute/region property . If you use primarily zonal clusters, set the compute/zone instead. By setting a default location, you can avoid errors in the gcloud CLI like the following: One of [--zone, --region] must be supplied: Please specify location . You might need to specify the location in certain commands if the location of your cluster differs from the default that you set.

Creating and using a volume snapshot

The examples in this document show you how to do the following tasks:

Create a PersistentVolumeClaim and Deployment .
Add a file to the PersistentVolume that the Deployment uses .
Create a VolumeSnapshotClass to configure the snapshot .
Create a volume snapshot of the PersistentVolume .
Delete the test file .
Restore the PersistentVolume to the snapshot you created .
Verify that the restoration worked .

To use a volume snapshot, you must complete the following steps:

Create a VolumeSnapshotClass object to specify the CSI driver and deletion policy for your snapshot.
Create a VolumeSnapshot object to request a snapshot of an existing PersistentVolumeClaim .
Reference the VolumeSnapshot in a PersistentVolumeClaim to restore a volume to that snapshot or create a new volume using the snapshot.

Create a `PersistentVolumeClaim` and a `Deployment`

To create the PersistentVolumeClaim object, save the following manifest as my-pvc.yaml :

Filestore

   
 apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
  
 kind 
 : 
  
 PersistentVolumeClaim 
  
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 my-pvc 
  
 spec 
 : 
  
 storageClassName 
 : 
  
 enterprise-rwx 
  
 accessModes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 ReadWriteMany 
  
 resources 
 : 
  
 requests 
 : 
  
 storage 
 : 
  
 1Ti

This example creates an enterprise tier Filestore PVC. To learn more, see Access Filestore instances with the Filestore CSI driver .

For spec.storageClassName , you can specify any storage class that uses a supported CSI driver.

Apply the manifest:
```
 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
my-pvc.yaml 
```

To create a Deployment , save the following manifest as my-deployment.yaml :

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 apps/v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 Deployment 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 hello-app 
 spec 
 : 
  
 selector 
 : 
  
 matchLabels 
 : 
  
 app 
 : 
  
 hello-app 
  
 template 
 : 
  
 metadata 
 : 
  
 labels 
 : 
  
 app 
 : 
  
 hello-app 
  
 spec 
 : 
  
 containers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 hello-app 
  
 image 
 : 
  
 google/cloud-sdk:slim 
  
 args 
 : 
  
 [ 
  
 "sleep" 
 , 
  
 "3600" 
  
 ] 
  
 volumeMounts 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 sdk-volume 
  
 mountPath 
 : 
  
 /usr/share/hello/ 
  
 volumes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 sdk-volume 
  
 persistentVolumeClaim 
 : 
  
 claimName 
 : 
  
 my-pvc

Apply the manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
my-deployment.yaml

Check the status of the Deployment :
```
 kubectl  
get  
deployment  
hello-app 
```
It might take some time for the Deployment to become ready. You can run the preceding command until you see an output similar to the following:
```
 NAME        READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
hello-app   1/1     1            1           2m55s 
```

Add a test file to the volume

List the Pods in the Deployment :

 kubectl  
get  
pods  
-l  
 app 
 = 
hello-app

The output is similar to the following:

 NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
hello-app-6d7b457c7d-vl4jr   1/1     Running   0          2m56s

Create a test file in a Pod :

 kubectl  
 exec 
  
 POD_NAME 
  
 \ 
  
--  
sh  
-c  
 'echo "Hello World!" > /usr/share/hello/hello.txt'

Replace POD_NAME with the name of the Pod .

Verify that the file exists:

 kubectl  
 exec 
  
 POD_NAME 
  
 \ 
  
--  
sh  
-c  
 'cat /usr/share/hello/hello.txt'

The output is similar to the following:

 Hello World!

Create a `VolumeSnapshotClass` object

Create a VolumeSnapshotClass object to specify the CSI driver and deletionPolicy for your volume snapshot. You can reference VolumeSnapshotClass objects when you create VolumeSnapshot objects.

Save the following manifest as volumesnapshotclass.yaml .
Filestore
```
  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 VolumeSnapshotClass 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 my-snapshotclass 
 driver 
 : 
  
 filestore.csi.storage.gke.io 
 parameters 
 : 
  
 type 
 : 
  
 backup 
 deletionPolicy 
 : 
  
 Delete 
 
```
In this example:
- The driver field is used by the CSI driver to provision the snapshot. In this example, filestore.csi.storage.gke.io uses the Filestore CSI driver .
- The deletionPolicy field tells GKE what to do with the VolumeSnapshotContent object and the underlying snapshot when the bound VolumeSnapshot object is deleted. Specify Delete to delete the VolumeSnapshotContent object and the underlying snapshot. Specify Retain if you want to keep the VolumeSnapshotContent and the underlying snapshot.

Apply the manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
volumesnapshotclass.yaml

Create a `VolumeSnapshot`

A VolumeSnapshot object is a request for a snapshot of an existing PersistentVolumeClaim object. When you create a VolumeSnapshot object, GKE automatically creates and binds it with a VolumeSnapshotContent object, which is a resource in your cluster like a PersistentVolume object.

Save the following manifest as volumesnapshot.yaml .

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 VolumeSnapshot 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 my-snapshot 
 spec 
 : 
  
 volumeSnapshotClassName 
 : 
  
 my-snapshotclass 
  
 source 
 : 
  
 persistentVolumeClaimName 
 : 
  
 my-pvc

Apply the manifest:
```
 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
volumesnapshot.yaml 
```
After you create a Volume snapshot, GKE creates a corresponding VolumeSnapshotContent object in the cluster. This object stores the snapshot and bindings of VolumeSnapshot objects. You don't interact with VolumeSnapshotContents objects directly.

Confirm that GKE created the VolumeSnapshotContents object:

 kubectl  
get  
volumesnapshotcontents

The output is similar to the following:

 NAME                                               AGE
snapcontent-cee5fb1f-5427-11ea-a53c-42010a1000da   55s

After the Volume snapshot content is created, the CSI driver you specified in the VolumeSnapshotClass creates a snapshot on the corresponding storage system. After GKE creates a snapshot on the storage system and binds it to a VolumeSnapshot object on the cluster, the snapshot is ready to use. You can check the status by running the following command:

 kubectl  
get  
volumesnapshot  
 \ 
  
-o  
custom-columns = 
 'NAME:.metadata.name,READY:.status.readyToUse'

If the snapshot is ready to use, the output is similar to the following:

 NAME               READY
my-snapshot        true

Delete the test file

Delete the test file that you created:

 kubectl  
 exec 
  
 POD_NAME 
  
 \ 
  
--  
sh  
-c  
 'rm /usr/share/hello/hello.txt'

Verify that the file no longer exists:

 kubectl  
 exec 
  
 POD_NAME 
  
 \ 
  
--  
sh  
-c  
 'cat /usr/share/hello/hello.txt'

The output is similar to the following:

 cat: /usr/share/hello/hello.txt: No such file or directory

Restore the volume snapshot

Save the following manifest as pvc-restore.yaml :

Filestore

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 PersistentVolumeClaim 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 pvc-restore 
 spec 
 : 
  
 dataSource 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 my-snapshot 
  
 kind 
 : 
  
 VolumeSnapshot 
  
 apiGroup 
 : 
  
 snapshot.storage.k8s.io 
  
 storageClassName 
 : 
  
 enterprise-rwx 
  
 accessModes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 ReadWriteMany 
  
 resources 
 : 
  
 requests 
 : 
  
 storage 
 : 
  
 1Ti

Apply the manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
pvc-restore.yaml

Update the my-deployment.yaml file to use the new PersistentVolumeClaim :

  ... 
 volumes 
 : 
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 my-volume 
  
 persistentVolumeClaim 
 : 
  
 claimName 
 : 
  
 pvc-restore

Apply the updated manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
my-deployment.yaml

Check that the snapshot restored successfully

Get the name of the new Pod that GKE creates for the updated Deployment :

   
kubectl  
get  
pods  
-l  
 app 
 = 
hello-app

Verify that the test file exists:

   
kubectl  
 exec 
  
 NEW_POD_NAME 
  
 \ 
  
--  
sh  
-c  
 'cat /usr/share/hello/hello.txt'

Replace NEW_POD_NAME with the name of the new Pod that GKE created.

The output is similar to the following:

 Hello World!

Import a pre-existing snapshot

You can use an existing volume snapshot created outside the current cluster to manually provision the VolumeSnapshotContents object. For example, you can populate a volume in GKE with a snapshot of another Google Cloud resource created in a different cluster.

Locate the name of your snapshot.

Google Cloud console

Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/snapshots .

Google Cloud CLI

Run the following command:

 gcloud  
compute  
snapshots  
list

The output is similar to the following:

 NAME                                           DISK_SIZE_GB  SRC_DISK                                                     STATUS
snapshot-5e6af474-cbcc-49ed-b53f-32262959a0a0  1             us-central1-b/disks/pvc-69f80fca-bb06-4519-9e7d-b26f45c1f4aa READY

Save the following VolumeSnapshot manifest as restored-snapshot.yaml .

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 VolumeSnapshot 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 restored-snapshot 
 spec 
 : 
  
 volumeSnapshotClassName 
 : 
  
 my-snapshotclass 
  
 source 
 : 
  
 volumeSnapshotContentName 
 : 
  
 restored-snapshot-content

Apply the manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
restored-snapshot.yaml

Save the following VolumeSnapshotContent manifest as restored-snapshot-content.yaml . Replace the snapshotHandle field with your project ID and snapshot name. Both volumeSnapshotRef.name and volumeSnapshotRef.namespace must point to the previously created VolumeSnapshot for the bi-directional binding to be valid.

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 VolumeSnapshotContent 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 restored-snapshot-content 
 spec 
 : 
  
 deletionPolicy 
 : 
  
 Retain 
  
 driver 
 : 
  
 filestore.csi.storage.gke.io 
  
 source 
 : 
  
 snapshotHandle 
 : 
  
 projects/ PROJECT_ID 
/global/snapshots /SNAPSHOT_NAME 
 
  
 volumeSnapshotRef 
 : 
  
 kind 
 : 
  
 VolumeSnapshot 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 restored-snapshot 
  
 namespace 
 : 
  
 default

Apply the manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
restored-snapshot-content.yaml

Save the following PersistentVolumeClaim manifest as restored-pvc.yaml . The Kubernetes storage controller will find a VolumeSnapshot named restored-snapshot and then try to find, or dynamically create, a PersistentVolume as the data source. You can then utilize this PVC in a Pod to access the restored data.

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 PersistentVolumeClaim 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 restored-pvc 
 spec 
 : 
  
 dataSource 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 restored-snapshot 
  
 kind 
 : 
  
 VolumeSnapshot 
  
 apiGroup 
 : 
  
 snapshot.storage.k8s.io 
  
 storageClassName 
 : 
  
 enterprise-rwx 
  
 accessModes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 ReadWriteOnce 
  
 resources 
 : 
  
 requests 
 : 
  
 storage 
 : 
  
 1Gi

Apply the manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
restored-pvc.yaml

Save the following Pod manifest as restored-pod.yaml referring to the PersistentVolumeClaim . The CSI driver will provision a PersistentVolume and populate it from the snapshot.

  apiVersion 
 : 
  
 v1 
 kind 
 : 
  
 Pod 
 metadata 
 : 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 restored-pod 
 spec 
 : 
  
 containers 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 busybox 
  
 image 
 : 
  
 busybox 
  
 args 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 sleep 
  
 - 
  
 "3600" 
  
 volumeMounts 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 source-data 
  
 mountPath 
 : 
  
 /demo/data 
  
 volumes 
 : 
  
 - 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 source-data 
  
 persistentVolumeClaim 
 : 
  
 claimName 
 : 
  
 restored-pvc 
  
 readOnly 
 : 
  
 false

Apply the manifest:

 kubectl  
apply  
-f  
restored-pod.yaml

Verify that the file has been restored:

 kubectl  
 exec 
  
restored-pod  
--  
sh  
-c  
 'cat /demo/data/hello.txt'

Clean up

To avoid incurring charges to your Google Cloud account for the resources used on this page, follow these steps.

Delete the VolumeSnapshot :
```
 kubectl  
delete  
volumesnapshot  
my-snapshot 
```
Note: If a volume snapshot's VolumeSnapshotClass has deletionPolicy:Delete , the corresponding VolumeSnapshotContent and the physical snapshot on the storage system are also deleted. If it has a deletionPolicy:Retain , GKE retains the underlying snapshot.

Delete the VolumeSnapshotClass :

 kubectl  
delete  
volumesnapshotclass  
my-snapshotclass

Delete the Deployment :

 kubectl  
delete  
deployments  
hello-app

Delete the PersistentVolumeClaim objects:

 kubectl  
delete  
pvc  
my-pvc  
pvc-restore

What's next

Read the Kubernetes Volume Snapshot documentation.
Learn about volume expansion .
Learn how to manually install a CSI driver .
Learn about Filestore as a file storage option for GKE .

Back up and restore persistent storage for your GKE clusters Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Requirements

Limitations

Before you begin

Creating and using a volume snapshot

Create a PersistentVolumeClaim and a Deployment

Filestore

Add a test file to the volume

Create a VolumeSnapshotClass object

Filestore

Create a VolumeSnapshot

Delete the test file

Restore the volume snapshot

Filestore

Check that the snapshot restored successfully

Import a pre-existing snapshot

Google Cloud console

Google Cloud CLI

Clean up

What's next

Back up and restore persistent storage for your GKE clusters

Create a `PersistentVolumeClaim` and a `Deployment`

Create a `VolumeSnapshotClass` object

Create a `VolumeSnapshot`