How to Back Up an Amazon EBS Volume – Deep Dive with Examples

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) provides a powerful way to create backups using EBS Snapshots. Backups are critical to protect your data from accidental deletion, corruption, or system failures.

1. Understanding EBS Snapshots

An EBS Snapshot is an incremental backup of your EBS volume stored in Amazon S3.

Incremental Backup: Only stores changes since the last snapshot, reducing storage costs.
Durability: Data is automatically replicated across multiple AWS Availability Zones (AZs).
Restorable: You can restore snapshots into a new EBS volume anytime.
Cross-Region Copy: You can copy snapshots to another AWS Region for disaster recovery.
Automated Backups: You can automate backups using AWS Backup or Lifecycle Policies.

2. Methods to Back Up an EBS Volume

There are four primary ways to back up an EBS volume:

Manually via AWS Console
Using AWS CLI (Command Line Interface)
Automating with AWS Backup Service
Using AWS Lifecycle Manager for Scheduled Snapshots

3. Method 1: Backing Up an EBS Volume via AWS Console (Manual Snapshot)

Step 1: Navigate to EBS Snapshots

Sign in to AWS Management Console
Go to EC2 Dashboard
In the left panel, click Snapshots under Elastic Block Store

Step 2: Create a Snapshot

Click Create Snapshot
Select the EBS Volume you want to back up
Enter a Snapshot Name and Description
Click Create Snapshot

The snapshot will now be created, and you can use it later to restore the volume.

4. Method 2: Backing Up an EBS Volume via AWS CLI

Step 1: Find the Volume ID

Run the following command to list your EBS volumes:

aws ec2 describe-volumes --query "Volumes[*].{ID:VolumeId,Size:Size,AZ:AvailabilityZone}"

Example Output:

[
    {
        "ID": "vol-0a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8",
        "Size": 100,
        "AZ": "us-east-1a"
    }
]

Step 2: Create a Snapshot

Use the following command to create a snapshot of an EBS volume:

aws ec2 create-snapshot \
    --volume-id vol-0a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8 \
    --description "Backup of my EBS volume"

Example Output:

{
    "SnapshotId": "snap-1234567890abcdef0",
    "VolumeId": "vol-0a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8",
    "State": "pending",
    "StartTime": "2025-02-26T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Snapshot is now created and can be restored anytime.

5. Method 3: Automating EBS Backups Using AWS Backup

Instead of manually taking snapshots, you can use AWS Backup to create automatic backups.

Step 1: Create a Backup Plan

Go to AWS Backup service
Click Create Backup Plan
Select Build a new plan
Provide a name (e.g., Daily-EBS-Backup)
Define Backup Frequency (e.g., Daily, Weekly)
Set Retention Period (e.g., 7 days, 30 days)

Step 2: Assign the EBS Volume

Click Assign resources
Select EC2 Instance or EBS Volume
Click Create Assignment

Now, AWS Backup will automatically create EBS snapshots based on your schedule.

6. Method 4: Scheduling EBS Snapshots Using Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM)

Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) allows you to automate EBS snapshot creation and deletion.

Step 1: Open Amazon DLM

Go to EC2 Dashboard
Click Lifecycle Manager under Elastic Block Store

Step 2: Create a New Policy

Click Create lifecycle policy
Select EBS Volume as the resource type
Choose Target Volumes (by tag or specific volume)
Set Snapshot Frequency (e.g., every 12 hours)
Define Retention Rules (e.g., keep last 7 snapshots)

Step 3: Enable the Policy

Review and click Create Policy
Your snapshots will now be automatically taken and deleted based on the policy.

This is useful for regular backups without manual effort.

7. Restoring an EBS Snapshot (Recovery Process)

If your original volume is lost or corrupted, you can restore a snapshot into a new volume.

Step 1: Find the Snapshot ID

Run the following command:

aws ec2 describe-snapshots --owner-id self

Example Output:

{
    "SnapshotId": "snap-1234567890abcdef0",
    "VolumeId": "vol-0a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8"
}

Step 2: Create a New Volume from Snapshot

aws ec2 create-volume \
    --snapshot-id snap-1234567890abcdef0 \
    --availability-zone us-east-1a

Example Output:

{
    "VolumeId": "vol-0z9y8x7w6v5u4t3s2",
    "State": "creating"
}

New volume is created and can be attached to an EC2 instance.

8. Copying an EBS Snapshot to Another Region

For disaster recovery, you can copy a snapshot to another AWS region.

aws ec2 copy-snapshot \
    --source-region us-east-1 \
    --source-snapshot-id snap-1234567890abcdef0 \
    --destination-region us-west-2

Snapshot is now available in us-west-2.

9. Deleting an EBS Snapshot (Cleanup Process)

Step 1: List Snapshots

aws ec2 describe-snapshots --owner-id self

Step 2: Delete a Snapshot

aws ec2 delete-snapshot --snapshot-id snap-1234567890abcdef0

Snapshot deleted successfully!

10. Conclusion

EBS Snapshots provide a secure and cost-effective way to back up EC2 data.
You can create manual backups via Console or CLI.
AWS Backup & Lifecycle Manager help automate EBS backups.
Snapshots are incremental, saving storage costs.
Snapshots can be restored, copied, and deleted easily.

If you need more information or want to outsource your AWS project, feel free to contact us! We provide expert AWS solutions, including EBS management, EC2 setup, cost optimization, and infrastructure maintenance.

Get in touch today!