Configuring Automated Snapshot Backups for Cloud Volumes

Backups are a fundamental part of any production infrastructure. Hetzner Cloud provides built-in mechanisms for creating point-in-time copies of your server instances, but understanding the options — and their limitations — is essential for choosing the right backup strategy.

All snapshot and backup configuration is performed in the Hetzner Cloud console at console.hetzner.cloud or via the Hetzner Cloud API / hcloud CLI tool. The INNOVATECH GROUP portal does not provide native snapshot management — the portal's hosting/cloud service detail page is for service reference only.

Prerequisites

• A Hetzner Cloud account with at least one provisioned server instance
• Access to the Hetzner Cloud console at console.hetzner.cloud
• For CLI automation: a local workstation with the hcloud CLI installed and an API token generated from the Hetzner Cloud console
• Familiarity with cron scheduling (for automated snapshot scripts)

Understanding Server Snapshots vs. Cloud Volumes

Server Snapshots

A server snapshot is a complete image of your server's boot disk at a specific point in time. It captures the full filesystem — operating system, installed packages, application code, databases, and configuration files.

• Billing: Per GB of used disk space on the snapshot. Pricing is listed on the Hetzner Cloud pricing page and may change — always verify current rates.
• Use cases: Pre-deployment checkpoints, disaster recovery, cloning a server configuration.
• Retention: Manual snapshots persist until you explicitly delete them. There is no automatic cleanup.

Automatic Daily Backups

Hetzner Cloud offers an automatic daily backup feature that creates a rolling set of server backups.

• Retention: Seven rolling backups. The oldest backup is replaced when a new one is created.
• Billing: 20% surcharge on the server's monthly cost. For example, a €5.39/month server costs an additional €1.08/month for automatic backups.
• Backup window: Hetzner assigns a two-hour backup window. The exact time is server-configurable from the console, but the backup may start at any point within the window.

Cloud Volumes

A Cloud Volume is a persistent block storage device that can be attached to (and detached from) server instances. Volumes are billed separately from the server and are not affected when a server is deleted.

• Volumes are not included in server snapshots or automatic backups. A server snapshot captures only the server's boot disk.
• To back up a Cloud Volume, you must snapshot the volume separately (via the Cloud console or API) or use file-level backup tools (rsync, restic, etc.) from inside the server.

Enabling Automatic Daily Backups

1. Log in to the Hetzner Cloud console at console.hetzner.cloud.
2. Select your project and navigate to the Servers section.
3. Click on the server you want to back up.
4. Navigate to the Backups tab.
5. Click Enable Backups.
6. Optionally configure the preferred backup window (the two-hour period during which backups will be created).

Automatic backups begin on the next scheduled window after enabling. The first backup may take longer depending on disk usage.

Restoring from an Automatic Backup

1. In the Backups tab, locate the backup you want to restore.
2. Click Restore and confirm. This replaces the server's current boot disk with the backup image.
3. The server will reboot during the restore process.

Warning: Restoring a backup overwrites the current disk. Any data written after the backup was taken will be lost. Consider taking a manual snapshot before restoring if you need to preserve the current state.

Taking a Manual Snapshot

Manual snapshots are useful for pre-deployment checkpoints, pre-migration captures, or any situation where you want a restorable copy outside the automatic backup rotation.

1. In the Hetzner Cloud console, select the server.
2. Navigate to the Snapshots tab.
3. Click Take Snapshot.
4. Enter a descriptive label (e.g. pre-deploy-2026-04-15 or before-db-migration).
5. Wait for the snapshot process to complete. The server remains running during the snapshot, but disk-intensive operations may experience brief I/O delays.

Restoring from a Manual Snapshot

1. In the Snapshots tab (or the Images section in the Hetzner Cloud console), locate the snapshot.
2. Click Create Server to provision a new server from the snapshot, or Restore to overwrite an existing server's disk.

When to Use Manual vs. Automatic Backups

Automating Snapshots with the hcloud CLI

For teams that need more control — custom retention windows, more frequent snapshots, or scripted workflows — the hcloud CLI tool provides programmatic access to Hetzner Cloud operations.

Install the hcloud CLI

macOS:

brew install hcloud

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt install -y hcloud-cli

Or download the binary from the Hetzner GitHub releases page.

Authenticate

1. In the Hetzner Cloud console, navigate to Security → API Tokens.
2. Click Generate API Token, give it a descriptive name, and select Read & Write permissions.
3. Copy the token — it is shown only once.

Configure the CLI:

hcloud context create my-project
# Paste the API token when prompted

Create a Snapshot via CLI

hcloud server create-image --type snapshot --description "auto-$(date +%Y-%m-%d-%H%M)" YOUR_SERVER_NAME

Replace YOUR_SERVER_NAME with the server's name or ID.

Automate with Cron

Create a script at /home/deploy/scripts/snapshot.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

SERVER_NAME="laravel-prod-01"
DESCRIPTION="auto-$(date +%Y-%m-%d-%H%M)"

hcloud server create-image \
    --type snapshot \
    --description "$DESCRIPTION" \
    "$SERVER_NAME"

echo "[$(date)] Snapshot created: $DESCRIPTION" >> /home/deploy/logs/snapshot.log

Make it executable and schedule it via cron:

chmod +x /home/deploy/scripts/snapshot.sh
crontab -e

Add a cron entry (example: daily at 02:00):

0 2 * * * /home/deploy/scripts/snapshot.sh

Cleaning Up Old Snapshots

List all snapshots:

hcloud image list --type snapshot --sort created:desc

Delete a specific snapshot by ID:

hcloud image delete SNAPSHOT_ID

For automated cleanup, you can script a retention policy. Example: keep only the last 14 snapshots:

#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

KEEP=14
SNAPSHOT_IDS=$(hcloud image list --type snapshot -o noheader -o columns=id --sort created:asc | head -n -$KEEP)

for id in $SNAPSHOT_IDS; do
    hcloud image delete "$id"
    echo "[$(date)] Deleted snapshot $id" >> /home/deploy/logs/snapshot-cleanup.log
done

Common Failure Modes

Security Considerations

• Store the hcloud API token securely. Do not commit it to a Git repository. Use environment variables or a secrets manager.
• An API token with write access can delete servers, snapshots, and volumes. Restrict token scope to the minimum necessary and rotate tokens periodically.
• Snapshot images may contain sensitive data (database credentials, application secrets, user data). Hetzner encrypts data at rest, but treat snapshot access as equivalent to server access.
• If you automate snapshot creation via cron on a server, ensure the cron user has access to the hcloud configuration context.

When to Contact INNOVATECH GROUP Support

Open a support ticket if:

• You need guidance on a backup strategy for INNOVATECH GROUP-managed hosting or cloud services
• You are unsure whether your hosting plan includes automatic backups as a managed feature
• You need help configuring backup-related services on infrastructure managed by INNOVATECH GROUP
• You encounter issues with a Hetzner Cloud service that is part of your INNOVATECH GROUP hosted environment