Hello team , need a help over deploying vm from encrypted snapshot /disk .

Question

I want to know if Is possible to deploy a new vm or recover from an encrypted exiting VM by creating snapshot ?

Thank You ,

Answer 1

Hi Kanchan,

Yes, it is possible to deploy a new virtual machine (VM) or recover from an encrypted existing VM using snapshots, depending on the virtualization platform you're using. Snapshots are a feature provided by many virtualization platforms that allow you to capture the state of a VM at a specific point in time, including its encrypted data.

To deploy a new VM or recover from an encrypted VM using snapshots, you typically follow these steps:

Create a snapshot: Take a snapshot of the VM you want to work with. This creates a copy of the VM's disk data at a particular moment, including any encryption that's in place.

Provision a new VM: Use the snapshot as a template or source to create a new VM. This new VM will be an exact replica of the original VM at the time the snapshot was taken, including the encrypted data.

Configure encryption settings: If the original VM was encrypted, you may need to configure the encryption settings for the new VM, such as providing encryption keys or passwords.

Start the new VM: Once the new VM is set up and configured, you can start it up and access the recovered or newly deployed VM.

The exact steps you take and terminology may vary depending on the virtualization platform you're using, such as VMware, Hyper-V, or cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. It's important to check the documentation or support resources provided by your specific virtualization platform for detailed instructions on how to perform these actions.

I hope this helps with your issue?

Answer 2

Hello @Kanchan Tiwari

It is possible to deploy a new VM or recover from an encrypted existing VM by creating a snapshot, but there are some important considerations to keep in mind.

When you create a snapshot of an encrypted VM in Azure, the snapshot is encrypted with the same encryption settings as the original VM. This means that when you deploy a new VM or recover from a snapshot, you will need to provide the encryption settings, including the key vault URL and key name or secret name, in order to access the encrypted disks.

To create a snapshot of an encrypted VM, you can use the Azure portal, PowerShell, or the Azure CLI. Here's an example using PowerShell:

# Create a snapshot of the VM
$vm = Get-AzVM -Name "my-encrypted-vm" -ResourceGroupName "my-rg"
$snapshot = New-AzSnapshotConfig -SourceUri $vm.StorageProfile.OSDisk.ManagedDisk.Id -CreateOption Copy
New-AzSnapshot -Snapshot $snapshot -SnapshotName "my-encrypted-vm-snapshot" -ResourceGroupName "my-rg"

To deploy a new VM or recover from a snapshot of an encrypted VM, you can follow the same process as with a non-encrypted VM, but you will need to provide the encryption settings in addition to the other deployment settings. Here's an example of how to deploy a new encrypted VM from a snapshot using PowerShell:

# Create a new encrypted VM from the snapshot
$snapshot = Get-AzSnapshot -Name "my-encrypted-vm-snapshot" -ResourceGroupName "my-rg"
$diskConfig = New-AzDiskConfig -SkuName $snapshot.Sku.Name -OsType $snapshot.OsType -EncryptionSettings $snapshot.EncryptionSettings
$osDisk = New-AzDisk -DiskName "my-encrypted-vm-disk" -Disk $diskConfig -ResourceGroupName "my-rg" -SnapshotId $snapshot.Id
$vmConfig = New-AzVMConfig -VMName "my-new-encrypted-vm" -VMSize "Standard_D2s_v3"
$vmConfig = Set-AzVMOperatingSystem -VM $vmConfig -ManagedDiskId $osDisk.Id -Windows
New-AzVM -VM $vmConfig -ResourceGroupName "my-rg" -Location "eastus"

Again, it's important to ensure that you provide the correct encryption settings when deploying a new VM or recovering from a snapshot of an encrypted VM. Also, keep in mind that snapshots can be used for short-term backup and recovery scenarios, but for long-term backup and disaster recovery, it's recommended to use Azure Backup or a third-party backup solution.

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Regards!