---
title: "Downloading and transferring an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another"
description: "Learn how to transfer an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another while preserving the configuration and state of the instance."
url: https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/compute/transfer-instance-backup-from-one-datacenter-to-another
lang: en
---
> For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/llms-full.txt.

# Downloading and transferring an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another

**Learn how to transfer an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another while preserving the configuration and state of the instance.**

Through this guide, you will create an OpenStack environment that will be used as a "jump host" to transfer the backup from one region to another. This environment can be an instance hosted on OVHcloud or your local machine.

 

## Requirements

- A [Public Cloud instance](https://us.ovhcloud.com/public-cloud/) in your OVHcloud account
- OpenStack CLI (see [this guide](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/cross-functional/compute-prepare-openstack-api-environment.md) for more information)
- Connectivity to OVHCloud OpenStack APIs
- Available storage that matches the instance disk size (for temporary backup storage)

This environment will be used as a "jump host" to transfer the backup from one region to another. This environment can be an instance hosted on OVHcloud or your local machine.

 

## Instructions

**Note:**

If you need to create a backup with OpenStack, please refer to our [Backing up an instance](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/compute/save-an-instance.md) guide.

### Download the backup

Next, run this command to list available instances:

```bash
$ openstack image list --long
```

```bash
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------+
| ID                                   | Name                                          | Status |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------+
| 825b785d-8a34-40f5-bdcd-0a3c3c350c5a | snap_server1                                  | active |
| 3ff877dc-1a62-43e7-9655-daff37a0c355 | NVIDIA GPU Cloud (NGC)                        | active |
| a14a7c1e-3ac5-4a61-9d36-1abc4ab4d5e8 | Centos 7                                      | active |
| f720a16e-543b-42e5-af45-cc188ad2dd34 | Debian 8 - GitLab                             | active |
| d282e7aa-332c-4dc7-90a9-d49641fa7a95 | CoreOS Stable                                 | active |
| 2519f0fb-18cc-4915-9227-7754292b9713 | Ubuntu 16.04                                  | active |
| b15789f8-2e2f-4f6c-935d-817567319627 | Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard - UEFI        | active |
| ed2f327f-dbae-4f9e-9754-c677a1b76fa3 | Ubuntu 14.04                                  | active |
| 9c9b3772-5320-414a-90bf-60307ff60436 | Debian 8 - Docker                             | active |
```

Now identify the instance backup from the list:

```text
| 825b785d-8a34-40f5-bdcd-0a3c3c350c5a | snap_server1 | qcow2 | bare | 1598029824 | active |
```

Finally, run this command to download the backup on the jump host:

```bash
$ openstack image save --file snap_server1.qcow 825b785d-8a34-40f5-bdcd-0a3c3c350c5a
```

 

### Transfer the backup to another OpenStack region

To start the transfer process, you first need to load new environment variables.

**Warning:**

**NOTE:** If you are transferring your backup to an OpenStack region within the same project, you will need to change the variable `OS_REGION_NAME`.

```bash
$ export OS_REGION_NAME=US-EAST-VA-1
```

If you are transferring your backup to another project or account, you will have to reload the environment variables linked to that account using the following command:

```bash
$ source openrc.sh
```

To transfer the backup to the new OpenStack region, use this command:

```bash
$ openstack image create --disk-format qcow2 --container-format bare --file snap_server1.qcow snap_server1
```

**Warning:**

**NOTE:** If your instance uses a Windows image, you need to add specific properties. Otherwise, when creating the instance via the OVHcloud Control Panel, it will not be possible to associate a flavor of the win-x-x type. This type of flavor, and only this one, enables authentication to the [OVHcloud KMS](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/manage-and-operate/kms/quick-start.md).

Add specific properties for image creation:

```bash
$ openstack image create --disk-format qcow2 --container-format bare --file snap_server1.qcow --property "_system_cloud_property=windows" --property "distro_family=windows" --property "os_type=windows" snap_server1
```

Add specific properties after image creation:

```bash
$ openstack image set --property "_system_cloud_property=windows" --property "distro_family=windows" --prope
```

```text
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Field            | Value                                                                                                                                                                                     |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| checksum         | 82cb7d57ec7278818bba0afcf802f0fb                                                                                                                                                          |
| container_format | bare                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| created_at       | 2019-03-22T14:26:22Z                                                                                                                                                                      |
| disk_format      | qcow2                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| file             | /v2/images/1bf21cf3-8d39-40ae-b088-5549c31b7905/file                                                                                                                                      |
| id               | 0a3f5901-2314-438a-a7af-ae984dcbce5c                                                                                                                                                      |
| min_disk         | 0                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| min_ram          | 0                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| name             | snap_server1                                                                                                                                                                              |
| owner            | 4e03fd164d504aa3aa03938f0bf4ed90                                                                                                                                                          |
| properties       | direct_url='swift+config://ref1/glance/1bf21cf3-8d39-40ae-b088-5549c31b7905', locations='[{u'url': u'swift+config://ref1/glance/1bf21cf3-8d39-40ae-b088-5549c31b7905', u'metadata': {}}]' |
| protected        | False                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| schema           | /v2/schemas/image                                                                                                                                                                         |
| size             | 3004956672                                                                                                                                                                                |
| status           | active                                                                                                                                                                                    |
| tags             |                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| updated_at       | 2019-03-22T14:41:05Z                                                                                                                                                                      |
| virtual_size     | None                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| visibility       | private                                                                                                                                                                                   |
+------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
```

**Note:**

If you wish to recreate your instance from this backup, follow our [Using instance backups to create or restore an instance](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/compute/create-restore-a-virtual-server-with-a-backup.md) guide.

 

## Go further

Browse all the [Compute guides](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/public-cloud/compute/landing-page-compute.md).

Browse the rest of the [OVHcloud US documentation](https://docs.us.ovhcloud.com/en/index.md) for guides on our other products and services.

Learn more about [Public Cloud Compute](https://us.ovhcloud.com/public-cloud/compute/) on the OVHcloud US website.
