--- title: "Downloading and transferring an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another" description: "Find out how to download and transfer an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another while preserving the configuration and state of the instance" url: https://docs.ovhcloud.com/en/guides/public-cloud/compute/transfer-instance-backup-from-one-datacentre-to-another lang: en lastUpdated: 2025-10-15 --- # Downloading and transferring an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another ## Objective A situation may arise where you need to move your [Public Cloud instance](https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-gb/public-cloud/compute/) from one OpenStack region to another, either because you would prefer to move to a newly available OpenStack region or because you want to migrate from OVHcloud Labs to Public Cloud. **This guide explains how to transfer an instance backup from one OpenStack region to another while preserving the configuration and state of the instance.** ## Requirements In order to do the transfer, you will need an environment with: - OpenStack CLI. Use [our guide to know how to prepare the environment to use the OpenStack API](/en/guides/public-cloud/cross-functional/compute-prepare-openstack-api-environment.md). - 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. You will also need a [Public Cloud instance](https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-gb/public-cloud/compute/) in your OVHcloud account. ## Instructions :::info If you need to create a backup with OpenStack, please refer to this dedicated guide on how to [backup an instance.](/en/guides/public-cloud/compute/save-an-instance.md). ::: ### Download the backup Next, run this command to list available instances: ```bash $ openstack image list +--------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------+ | 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 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=SBG1 ``` 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 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](/en/guides/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" --property "os_type=windows" `` ``` ```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 | +------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ``` :::info If you wish to recreate your instance from this backup, follow our guide "[Using instance backups to create or restore an instance](/en/guides/public-cloud/compute/create-restore-a-virtual-server-with-a-backup.md)". ::: ## Go further Join our [community of users](https://community.ovhcloud.com/).