How to Create Backup of Your Volume From Windows Machine on 3Engines Cloud[🔗](#how-to-create-backup-of-your-volume-from-windows-machine-on-brand-name "Permalink to this headline")
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In this tutorial you will learn how create a backup of your volume on 3Engines Cloud cloud. It allows you to save its state at a certain point in time and, for example, perform some experiments on it. You can then restore the volume to its previous state if you are unhappy with the results.

Those backups are stored using object storage. Restoring a backup will delete all data added to a volume after backup was created.

What We Are Going To Cover[🔗](#what-we-are-going-to-cover "Permalink to this headline")
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> * Disconnecting the volume from a Windows virtual machine
> * Creating a backup of a volume
> * Restoring a backup of a volume
> * Reattaching a volume to your Windows virtual machine

Prerequisites[🔗](#prerequisites "Permalink to this headline")
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No. 1 **Account**

You need a 3Engines Cloud hosting account with access to the Horizon interface: <https://horizon.3Engines.com>.

No. 2 **Windows VM**

You must operate a Microsoft Windows virtual machine running on 3Engines Cloud cloud. You can access it using the webconsole ([How to access the VM from OpenStack console on 3Engines Cloud](../cloud/How-to-access-the-VM-from-OpenStack-console-on-3Engines-Cloud.html.md)) or through RDP. If you are using RDP, we strongly recommend using a bastion host for your security: [Connecting to a Windows VM via RDP through a Linux bastion host port forwarding on 3Engines Cloud](../windows/Connecting-to-a-Windows-VM-via-RDP-through-a-Linux-bastion-host-port-forwarding-on-3Engines-Cloud.html.md).

No. 3 **Volume**

A volume must be connected to your Windows virtual machine.

Disconnecting the volume from a virtual machine[🔗](#disconnecting-the-volume-from-a-virtual-machine "Permalink to this headline")
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Before creating a backup of your volume, disconnect it.

On your virtual machine, right-click the Start menu and select **Disk Management**.

![volume-backup-01_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-01_creodias.png)

A window similar to this should appear:

![volume-backup-02_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-02_creodias.png)

Right-click your attached volume and select **Change Drive Letter and Paths…**. The following window should appear:

![volume-backup-03_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-03_creodias.png)

Select the drive letter or mount point of your drive and click **Remove**.

Note

If you receive the following warning:

![volume-backup-04_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-04_creodias.png)

make sure that the removal does not break your workflow and click **Yes**.

Shut down the virtual machine and return to the Horizon dashboard: <https://horizon.3Engines.com>

Go to **Volumes** > **Volumes**. You should see your volume there:

![volume-backup-05_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-05_creodias.png)

Select **Manage Attachments** from the drop-down menu in the **Actions** column for your volume:

![volume-backup-06_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-06_creodias.png)

The following window should appear:

![volume-backup-07_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-07_creodias.png)

Click **Detach Volume** and confirm your choice.

Creating a Backup of Your Volume[🔗](#creating-a-backup-of-your-volume "Permalink to this headline")
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Now that you have detached the volume from your virtual machine, you can make its backup by following these steps:

> * Go to **Volumes** > **Volumes**.
> * Choose **Create Backup** from the drop-down menu in the **Actions** column for your volume. You should get the following window:

![volume-backup-08_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-08_creodias.png)

* Enter the chosen name for your backup in the **Backup Name** text field. Optionally, you can provide its description in the **Description** text field. Once you’re ready, click **Create Volume Backup**.

Clicking **Create Volume Backup** initializes the process of backup creation and moves you to the **Volumes** > **Backups** section of the Horizon dashboard. There you should see that your backup is being created.

The time it takes to create the backup will vary.

Once the process is over, you should see the status **Available** next to your backup:

![volume-backup-09_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-09_creodias.png)

Restoring the backup[🔗](#restoring-the-backup "Permalink to this headline")
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There are two ways of restoring a backup:

> * You can overwrite an existing volume with the content of the backup. This will delete all data that currently resides on that volume.
> * You can create a new volume based on the content of the backup.

Go to **Volumes** > **Backups** section of the Horizon dashboard. In the **Actions** column of the appropriate backup, choose **Restore Backup**. The following window should appear:

![volume-backup-10_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-10_creodias.png)

Use **Select Volume** drop-down list to select the volume which your backup will replace. You can also create a new volume from that backup by choosing **Create a New Volume**.

In either case, click **Restore Backup to Volume**. This will initialize the process of restoring backup and move you to the **Volumes** > **Volumes** section of the Horizon dashboard.

Once this operation is completed, you should see the status **Available** next to your volume:

![volume-backup-11_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-11_creodias.png)

You can now reattach the volume to your virtual machine.

Reattaching the volume to your virtual machine[🔗](#reattaching-the-volume-to-your-virtual-machine "Permalink to this headline")
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In the **Volumes** > **Volumes** section of the Horizon dashboard, find the row containing your volume. Choose **Manage Attachments** from the drop-down menu in the **Actions** column for it. You should get the following window:

![volume-backup-12_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-12_creodias.png)

From the drop-down menu **Attach To Instance** choose the name of the virtual machine to which the volume was previously attached. Click **Attach Volume**.

Attaching should take up to a few seconds. Once it is completed, you should see appropriate information in the **Attached To** column for your volume:

![volume-backup-13_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-13_creodias.png)

Go to **Compute** > **Instances**. Choose **Start Instance** in the row with the virtual machine to which the volume has just been attached. Login to your Windows VM using RDP or the webconsole (see Prerequisite No. 2).

On your virtual machine, right-click the Start menu and select **Disk Management**. You should receive the following window:

![volume-backup-14_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-14_creodias.png)

Note

If at the bottom of the screen you see status **Offline** next to your attached volume, right-click it and choose **Online** from the context menu.

![volume-backup-15_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-15_creodias.png)

Right-click your attached volume and select **Change Drive Letter and Paths…**. The window titled **Change Drive Letter and Paths for New Volume** should appear:

![volume-backup-16_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-16_creodias.png)

Click **Add…**. The following window should appear:

![volume-backup-17_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-17_creodias.png)

You can choose to either assign a drive letter to your drive or mount it in an empty folder.

* If you want to assign a drive letter to that volume, choose the **Assign the following drive letter:** radio button. From the drop-down menu to its right choose a letter to which you wish to attach your volume. Confirm your choice by clicking **OK**.
* If you want to mount the volume to an NTFS folder on your drive, choose **Mount in the following empty NTFS folder:**. Click **Browse…** and in the **Browse for Drive Path** window choose an empty folder in which you wish to mount it. Confirm your choice by clicking **OK**.

Your volume should now be mounted. If you chose to assign a drive letter, it should be visible in the **This PC** window:

![volume-backup-18_creodias.png](../_images/volume-backup-18_creodias.png)