Volume Snapshots
In Kubernetes, a VolumeSnapshot represents a snapshot of a volume on a storage system. This document assumes that you are already familiar with Kubernetes persistent volumes.
Introduction
Similar to how API resources PersistentVolume
and PersistentVolumeClaim
are used to provision volumes for users and administrators, VolumeSnapshotContent
and VolumeSnapshot
API resources are provided to create volume snapshots for users and administrators.
A VolumeSnapshotContent
is a snapshot taken from a volume in the cluster that has been provisioned by an administrator. It is a resource in the cluster, just like a PersistentVolume is a cluster resource.
A VolumeSnapshot
It is a request for a snapshot of a volume by a user. It is similar to a PersistentVolumeClaim.
VolumeSnapshotClass
allows you to specify different attributes belonging to a VolumeSnapshot
. These attributes may differ among snapshots taken from the same volume on the storage system and, therefore cannot be expressed by using the same StorageClass
of a PersistentVolumeClaim
.
Volume snapshots provide Kubernetes users a standardized way to copy a volume’s contents at a particular time without creating an entirely new volume. This functionality enables, for example, database administrators to back up databases before editing or deleting modifications.
Users need to be aware of the following when using this feature:
- API Objects
VolumeSnapshot
,VolumeSnapshotContent
, andVolumeSnapshotClass
are CRDs, not part of the core API. VolumeSnapshot
support is only available for CSI drivers.- As part of the deployment process of
VolumeSnapshot
, the Kubernetes team provides a snapshot controller to be deployed into the control plane, and a sidecar helper container called csi-snapshotter to be deployed together with the CSI driver. The snapshot controller watchesVolumeSnapshot
andVolumeSnapshotContent
objects and is responsible for the creation and deletion ofVolumeSnapshotContent
object. The sidecar csi-snapshotter watchesVolumeSnapshotContent
objects and triggersCreateSnapshot
andDeleteSnapshot
operations against a CSI endpoint. - A validating webhook server also provides tightened validation on snapshot objects. It should be installed by the Kubernetes distros along with the snapshot controller and CRDs, not CSI drivers, in all Kubernetes clusters with enabled snapshot features.
- CSI drivers may or may not have implemented the volume snapshot functionality. The CSI drivers that have provided support for volume snapshot will likely use the csi-snapshotter. See CSI Driver documentation for details.
- The CRDs and snapshot controller installations are the responsibility of the Kubernetes distribution.
Lifecycle of a volume snapshot and volume snapshot content
VolumeSnapshotContents
are resources in the cluster. VolumeSnapshots
are requests for those resources. The interaction between VolumeSnapshotContents
and VolumeSnapshots
follow this lifecycle:
Provisioning Volume Snapshot
There are two ways snapshots may be provisioned: pre-provisioned or dynamically provisioned.
Pre-provisioned
A cluster administrator creates a number of VolumeSnapshotContents
. They carry the details of the real volume snapshot on the storage system which is available for use by cluster users. They exist in the Kubernetes API and are available for consumption.
Dynamic
Instead of using a pre-existing snapshot, you can request that a snapshot to be dynamically taken from a PersistentVolumeClaim. The VolumeSnapshotClass specifies storage provider-specific parameters to use when taking a snapshot.
Binding
The snapshot controller handles the binding of a VolumeSnapshot
object with an appropriate VolumeSnapshotContent
object, in both pre-provisioned and dynamically provisioned scenarios. The binding is a one-to-one mapping.
In the case of pre-provisioned binding, the VolumeSnapshot will remain unbound until the requested VolumeSnapshotContent object is created.
Persistent Volume Claim as Snapshot Source Protection
The purpose of this protection is to ensure that in-use PersistentVolumeClaim API objects are not removed from the system while a snapshot is being taken from it (as this may result in data loss).
While a snapshot is being taken of a PersistentVolumeClaim, that PersistentVolumeClaim is in-use. If you delete a PersistentVolumeClaim API object in active use as a snapshot source, the PersistentVolumeClaim object is not removed immediately. Instead, removal of the PersistentVolumeClaim object is postponed until the snapshot is readyToUse or aborted.
Delete
Deletion is triggered by deleting the VolumeSnapshot
object, and the DeletionPolicy
will be followed. If the DeletionPolicy
is Delete
, then the underlying storage snapshot will be deleted along with the VolumeSnapshotContent
object. If the DeletionPolicy
is Retain
, then both the underlying snapshot and VolumeSnapshotContent
remain.
VolumeSnapshots
Each VolumeSnapshot contains a spec and a status.
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshot
metadata:
name: new-snapshot-test
spec:
volumeSnapshotClassName: csi-hostpath-snapclass
source:
persistentVolumeClaimName: pvc-test
persistentVolumeClaimName
is the name of the PersistentVolumeClaim data source for the snapshot. This field is required for dynamically provisioning a snapshot.
A volume snapshot can request a particular class by specifying the name of a VolumeSnapshotClass using the attribute volumeSnapshotClassName
. If nothing is set, then the default class is used if available.
For pre-provisioned snapshots, you need to specify a volumeSnapshotContentName
as the source for the snapshot as shown in the following example. The volumeSnapshotContentName
source field is required for pre-provisioned snapshots.
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshot
metadata:
name: test-snapshot
spec:
source:
volumeSnapshotContentName: test-content
Volume Snapshot Contents
Each VolumeSnapshotContent contains a spec and status. In dynamic provisioning, the snapshot common controller creates VolumeSnapshotContent
objects. Here is an example:
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshotContent
metadata:
name: snapcontent-72d9a349-aacd-42d2-a240-d775650d2455
spec:
deletionPolicy: Delete
driver: hostpath.csi.k8s.io
source:
volumeHandle: ee0cfb94-f8d4-11e9-b2d8-0242ac110002
sourceVolumeMode: Filesystem
volumeSnapshotClassName: csi-hostpath-snapclass
volumeSnapshotRef:
name: new-snapshot-test
namespace: default
uid: 72d9a349-aacd-42d2-a240-d775650d2455
volumeHandle
is the unique identifier of the volume created on the storage backend and returned by the CSI driver during the volume creation. This field is required for dynamically provisioning a snapshot. It specifies the volume source of the snapshot.
For pre-provisioned snapshots, you (as cluster administrator) are responsible for creating the VolumeSnapshotContent
object as follows.
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshotContent
metadata:
name: new-snapshot-content-test
spec:
deletionPolicy: Delete
driver: hostpath.csi.k8s.io
source:
snapshotHandle: 7bdd0de3-aaeb-11e8-9aae-0242ac110002
sourceVolumeMode: Filesystem
volumeSnapshotRef:
name: new-snapshot-test
namespace: default
snapshotHandle
is the unique identifier of the volume snapshot created on the storage backend. This field is required for the pre-provisioned snapshots. It specifies the CSI snapshot id on the storage system that this VolumeSnapshotContent
represents.
sourceVolumeMode
is the mode of the volume whose snapshot is taken. The value of the sourceVolumeMode
field can be either Filesystem
or Block
. If the source volume mode is not specified, Kubernetes treats the snapshot as if the source volume’s mode is unknown.
volumeSnapshotRef
is the reference of the corresponding VolumeSnapshot
. Note that when the VolumeSnapshotContent
is being created as a pre-provisioned snapshot, the VolumeSnapshot
referenced in volumeSnapshotRef
might not exist yet.
Converting the volume mode of a Snapshot
If the VolumeSnapshots
API installed on your cluster supports the sourceVolumeMode
field, then the API has the capability to prevent unauthorized users from converting the mode of a volume.
To check if your cluster has capability for this feature, run the following command:
$ kubectl get crd volumesnapshotcontent -o yaml
If you want to allow users to create a PersistentVolumeClaim
from an existing VolumeSnapshot
, but with a different volume mode than the source, the annotation snapshot.storage.kubernetes.io/allow-volume-mode-change: "true"
needs to be added to the VolumeSnapshotContent
that corresponds to the VolumeSnapshot
.
For pre-provisioned snapshots, spec.sourceVolumeMode
needs to be populated by the cluster administrator.
An example VolumeSnapshotContent
resource with this feature enabled would look like this:
apiVersion: snapshot.storage.k8s.io/v1
kind: VolumeSnapshotContent
metadata:
name: new-snapshot-content-test
annotations:
- snapshot.storage.kubernetes.io/allow-volume-mode-change: "true"
spec:
deletionPolicy: Delete
driver: hostpath.csi.k8s.io
source:
snapshotHandle: 7bdd0de3-aaeb-11e8-9aae-0242ac110002
sourceVolumeMode: Filesystem
volumeSnapshotRef:
name: new-snapshot-test
namespace: default
Provisioning Volumes from Snapshots
You can provision a new volume, pre-populated with data from a snapshot, by using the dataSource field in the PersistentVolumeClaim
object.
For more details, see Volume Snapshot and Restore Volume from Snapshot.