A snapshot represents the state of a disk or virtual machine at a given moment in time. It is separate to the backups concept to which the differences can be read about below. A snapshot allows you to capture a disk or virtual machine's current state in case it should need to be rolled back - ideal for those just in case it might break moments. Katapult creates a daily snapshot for every disk which is kept until the next automatic snapshot is taken the following day.
Backups vs Snapshots
A comparison on the two can be found in the backups how-to guide. It's worth a read to help your understanding of the two concepts within Katapult.
Access the automatic disk snapshot
The automatic daily snapshot is titled Managed Daily Snapshot Schedule within the snapshots table. See the steps outlined in the access snapshot lists section below to find it.
Access snapshots list
System Disk
Click Compute -> Virtual Machines on the sidebar
Select the virtual machine in question
Select Disks -> System disks from the navbar
Select the disk in question
Click Snapshots above the right sidebar
Shared Disk
Select Storage -> Shared disks from the sidebar
Select the disk in question
Click Snapshots above the right sidebar
Create a disk snapshot
System Disk
Click Compute -> Virtual Machines on the sidebar
Select the virtual machine in question
Select Disks -> System disks from the navbar
Select the disk in question
Click Take snapshot from the Disk actions sidebar
Give the snapshot a name and click Create snapshot button.
The snapshot will then be queued. You can track it's progress in the tasks list at the bottom of the disk page.
Shared Disk
Select Storage -> Shared disks from the sidebar
Select the disk in question
Click Take snapshot from the Disk actions sidebar
Give the snapshot a name and click Create snapshot button.
The snapshot will then be queued. You can track it's progress in the tasks list at the bottom of the disk page.
Delete a disk snapshot
System Disk
Click Compute -> Virtual Machines on the sidebar
Select the virtual machine in question
Select Disks -> System disks from the navbar
Select the disk in question
Click Snapshots above the right sidebar
Select the snapshot you wish to delete
Click Delete snapshot from the actions sidebar
Confirm the action
Shared Disk
Select Storage -> Shared disks from the sidebar
Select the disk in question
Click Snapshots above the right sidebar
Select the snapshot you wish to delete
Click Delete snapshot from the actions sidebar
Confirm the action
Create a new disk from a snapshot
To access the contents of a snapshot you must create a new disk from its contents and then mount said disk to the virtual machine.
System Disk
Click Compute -> Virtual Machines on the sidebar
Select the virtual machine in question
Select Disks -> System disks from the navbar
Select the disk in question
Click Snapshots above the right sidebar
Select the snapshot you wish to create a new disk from
Click Create new disk from this snapshot from the actions sidebar
It is possible to create a disk template from a given snapshot which you can then mount on a future virtual machine(s). This is covered in the disk templates how-to guide.