Rebuild a virtual machine

Rebuild replaces what is on a VM’s disk, either with a freshly installed operating system or with a snapshot of the same VM. The VM itself stays: you keep its IP address and go on paying the same plan.

A rebuild erases the disk

Everything on the VM’s disk is replaced: the system, your programs and your data. This cannot be undone. Copy what you need somewhere else first, or take a snapshot.

What stays and what is lost

Stays	Lost
The VM, its name, its plan and its price	Everything on the disk
Its location	The list of apps installed from the App Market on this VM
Its IP addresses
Its domains
Its snapshots

A rebuild is not charged separately.

Which VMs can be rebuilt

• Not VMs on Gcore and Scaleway: a rebuild is not available for these two providers.
• The VM must be Running. A ProVM can also be rebuilt while it is Stopped.

Rebuild with a fresh operating system

1. Open the VM from Virtual Machines, My Virtual Machines, and select Rebuild.

2. On the Operating system tab of the Rebuild VM dialog, select a system and its Version. The systems offered are the ones the VM’s plan offers when you create a VM. You may choose a different system from the one the VM has now.

3. Select Rebuild.

Rebuild from a snapshot

This puts the VM back to the state of one of its own snapshots.

1. On the VM’s page, select Rebuild, then the Snapshots tab of the dialog.

2. Select the snapshot. Only snapshots taken from this VM, with the status Available, can be used.

3. Type REBUILD in the field that appears.

4. Select Rebuild.

To use a snapshot of another VM, create a new VM from it instead: see Snapshots.

While it runs, and after

With a fresh operating system, the VM’s status is Starting while the disk is replaced and the new system starts. When the system accepts SSH connections again, the status becomes Running.

With a snapshot, the dashboard confirms with Rebuild started. The VM cannot be reached until its disk has been restored.

After a rebuild:

• The Access tab shows the username and how to log in. See Connect to a VM.

• The Installed apps list on the Overview tab is emptied. After a fresh operating system the apps themselves are gone with the disk: install them again.

• After a fresh operating system, ssh on your computer warns that the host identification has changed, because the new system has a new fingerprint. Remove the old one and connect again:

  ssh-keygen -R YOUR_VM_IP

Rebuild, restore or a new VM

You want	Use
The same VM and IP address with a clean system	Rebuild, Operating system
The same VM back at an earlier state	Rebuild, Snapshots
A second VM with the content of a snapshot	Restore (new VM) on the snapshot
More CPU, memory or disk without losing data	Resize