Restore virtual machines

VMs are restored by creating a new VM from a backup.

---

Restore a virtual machine using the control panel

It is not possible to restore an existing virtual machine (VM) from a backup. Instead, you create a new VM from a backup. This approach is equivalent to restoring the VM but allows the current VM to continue running until the new one is fully set up. The new VM is created without any assigned IP addresses.

Once you are fully satisfied with the newly restored VM, you can release the IP addresses from the old VM and assign them to the new one. The new VM will then be identical to the old one.

To restore and create a new VM from a backup, start by navigating to the VM's overview.

Select Virtual machines from the left-hand menu under Compute, then click on the VM to be restored. After that, click on the Backups tab.

Select the backup from which you want to restore the VM in the following dialog box. Here, we choose the most recent one. Click the three dots to the right of the backup and select Restore.

Select the data center where you want to restore the server. Currently, you can choose between Falkenberg, Stockholm, and Oulu. Here, you can also view the cost of the restored VM. Click Restore after selecting the data center.

Once the VM is restored, it appears in the VM overview. It appears and functions identically to any other VM, but is powered off and lacks assigned IP addresses. It is also named after the original VM with the suffix restored. The description of the server indicates from which snapshot the VM was created; for example, Restored from snapshot taken at: 2025-05-27-17-28-UTC.

If you need to change the restored VM before transferring the IP addresses from the old VM, you can start it and log in via the console.

The next step is to release the IP addresses from the old VM and assign them to the new one. You accomplish this by navigating to the overview of the old VM in the control panel, located under Virtual machines in the left-hand menu, and then clicking on the specific VM.

Locate the IP Addresses section and click the red crosses next to the IP addresses you wish to delete from the virtual machine. It is crucial to ensure that Keep IP is checked. Once you confirm that Keep IP is selected, click the Confirm delete button. The IP address is removed from the server but remains available in the project.

Next, navigate to the newly restored VM under Virtual machines in the left-hand menu. Locate the IP Addresses section, then click the + Add IPv4 and + Add IPv6 buttons.

You can now locate the old VM's IP addresses under the Reserved IP Addresses section. In the example below, we are viewing the IPv6 Addresses. Select the IP addresses to assign to the restored VM. The selected IP addresses are highlighted in bold and marked with a checkmark on the right. Once you have chosen the appropriate IP addresses, click Add Selected.

Now, you can start the VM. Scroll to the top of the server page, click on Actions, and then select Power on.

The VM is now fully restored to its original state, as when the backup was taken. It also has the same IP addresses as the old VM. You can now log in to it just as before, using SSH or Remote Desktop.

Restore a virtual machine using the API

Use the server/listbackups endpoint to list the currently available backups for the VM. Then, to create a new VM from a backup, use the server/createfrombackup endpoint. See Platform → API on how to use the API.