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Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP

Manage snapshot policies

Contributors netapp-rlithman
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Manage snapshot policies for FSx for ONTAP volumes in workload factory. A snapshot policy defines how the system creates snapshots for a volume.

About this task

Snapshot management operations like assigning, changing, and deleting snapshot policies for volumes in an FSx for ONTAP file system are managed at the storage VM level. Snapshot policies can be shared with a single storage VM or with all storage VMs.

Some management tasks require you to associate a link with the FSx for ONTAP file system. Learn about workload factory links.

By default, every volume is associated with the file system's default snapshot policy. We recommend using this policy for most workloads.

Change a snapshot policy

You can change the snapshot policy name, schedule, and number of copies to retain, and enable or disable immutable snapshots. It isn't possible to enable or disable policy sharing across storage VMs. This option is available only during snapshot policy creation.

Before you begin

To display existing snapshot policies, you must associate a link. Learn how to associate an existing link or to create and associate a new link. After the link associates, return to this operation.

Steps

  1. Log in using one of the console experiences.

  2. In Storage, select Go to storage inventory.

  3. In the FSx for ONTAP tab, select the three-dot menu of the file system and then select Manage.

  4. In the file system overview, select the Storage VMs tab.

  5. From the Storage VMs tab, select the three-dot menu for the storage VM containing the volume to protect with scheduled snapshots, then Advanced actions, and then Manage snapshot policies.

  6. On the Snapshot policy management page, select the three-dot menu for the snapshot policy to change and then select Edit.

  7. In the Edit snapshot policy dialog, make the necessary changes to the snapshot policy.

  8. Select Apply.

Result

The snapshot policy is updated.

Enable immutable snapshots

Lock snapshots to prevent them from being deleted during the retention period.

Before you begin

You must associate a link to enable immutable snapshots. Learn how to associate an existing link or to create and associate a new link. After the link associates, return to this operation.

Steps

  1. Log in using one of the console experiences.

  2. In Storage, select Go to storage inventory.

  3. In the FSx for ONTAP tab, select the three-dot menu of the file system that contains the volume to lock snapshots for and then select Manage.

  4. In the file system overview, select the Volumes tab.

  5. From the Volumes tab, select the three-dot menu for the volume to protect.

  6. Select Data protection actions, Snapshots, then Make a snapshot immutable.

  7. In the Make a snapshot immutable dialog, do the following:

    1. Snapshot name: Select the snapshot to lock.

    2. Set the Retention period in number of hours, days, months, or years.

    3. Accept the statement.

  8. Select Apply.

Result

The volume snapshot is now locked.

Assign a snapshot policy to a volume

You can assign a snapshot policy to a single volume to create scheduled snapshots for the volume.

Before you begin

You must associate a link to assign a snapshot policy. Learn how to associate an existing link or to create and associate a new link. After the link associates, return to this operation.

Steps

  1. Log in using one of the console experiences.

  2. In Storage, select Go to storage inventory.

  3. In the FSx for ONTAP tab, select the three-dot menu of the file system that contains the volume to assign a snapshot policy to and then select Manage.

  4. In the file system overview, select the Storage VMs tab.

  5. From the Storage VMs tab, select the three-dot menu for the storage VM containing the volume to protect with scheduled snapshots, then Advanced actions, and then Manage snapshot policies.

  6. On the Snapshot policy management page, select the three-dot menu of the snapshot policy and then select Assign policy to volume.

  7. In the Assign snapshot policy dialog, select a snapshot policy to assign to the volume and review the policy schedule.

    If the policy contains immutable snapshots, and you want use it, accept the statement.

  8. Select Assign.

Result

The snapshot policy is assigned to the volume.

Remove a snapshot policy from a volume

Remove a snapshot policy from a volume because you no longer want snapshots of the volume or because you want to delete a snapshot policy that is assigned to multiple volumes. To delete a snapshot policy that is assigned to more than one volume, you must manually remove it from all volumes.

Before you begin

You must associate a link to remove a snapshot policy. Learn how to associate an existing link or to create and associate a new link. After the link associates, return to this operation.

Steps

  1. Log in using one of the console experiences.

  2. In Storage, select Go to storage inventory.

  3. In the FSx for ONTAP tab, select the three-dot menu of the file system that contains the volume to assign a snapshot policy to and then select Manage.

  4. In the file system overview, select the Storage VMs tab.

  5. From the Storage VMs tab, select the three-dot menu for the storage VM containing the volume to protect with scheduled snapshots, then Advanced actions, and then Manage snapshot policies.

  6. On the Snapshot policy management page, select the three-dot menu of the snapshot policy and then select Assign policy to volume.

  7. In the Assign snapshot policy dialog, select None to remove the snapshot policy.

  8. Select Assign.

Result

The snapshot policy is removed from the volume.

Delete a snapshot policy

Delete a snapshot policy when you no longer need it.

When a snapshot policy is assigned to more than one volume, you must manually remove it from all volumes to delete the snapshot policy. Alternatively, you can assign a different snapshot policy to the volumes.

Steps

  1. Log in using one of the console experiences.

  2. In Storage, select Go to storage inventory.

  3. In the FSx for ONTAP tab, select the three-dot menu of the file system with the volume and then select Manage.

  4. In the file system overview, select the Storage VMs tab.

  5. From the Storage VMs tab, select the three-dot menu of the storage VM with the snapshot policy to delete, then Advanced actions, and then Manage snapshot policies.

  6. On the Snapshot policy management page, select the three-dot menu for the snapshot policy to delete and then select Delete.

  7. In the Delete dialog, select Delete to delete the policy.

Result

The snapshot policy is deleted.