Exporting OpenStack Flex Images

The following guide will show you how to export images from your Rackspace OpenStack Flex account.

Prerequisites

To download an Instance Snapshot, be sure you have at least the following:

• Internet access to install Python packages
• Valid OpenStack account with CLI access permissions

Method 1: Downloading the Snapshot from Object Storage

After taking a Snapshot of a VM, you'll notice that under the Storage > Object Storage section of the Skyline UI you'll have a new container called 'glance_(random uuid here)'. The random UUID represents the Snapshot ID that you'll see from the Compute > Snapshots section of the portal.

Click on the Object Storage container that matches the ID of the Snapshot you want to download. Inside you'll see the stored chunks of your Instance Snapshot. They will be broken up into smaller files and there will be a single manifest file of 0 bytes listed at the top.

Downloading this 0 byte manifest file will download the Snapshot in it's entirety. However, if you're experiencing issues downloading that file - I recommend using Cyberduck to connect to your storage and download the manifest file that way.

Note: The file is in qcow2 format, but will be downloaded without it's file extension. So be sure to add that in manually after the fact if you plan to upload it or re-use it.

Method 2: Using the OpenStack CLI to Download the Snapshot

If you have the OpenStack CLI setup for your OpenStack Flex project where the Snapshot resides - you can very easily download the Snapshot with a single command. The command is listed below:

1 - First, list out the images in your project with the image list command:

 openstack image list

2 - Identify the ID for the Snapshot you want to download and then run the image download command, this will download the Snapshot to the directory you are in currently:

openstack image save --file Snapshot1.qcow2 c305c4ea-1234-4657e-bad2-02390asd019b

You won't see any response to the command unfortunately - this is the default behavior. But if you open another terminal window and then list out the contents of the directory from where ran the command - you'll see the file and it's size as it downloads.

3 - After it finishes downloading the command will return you to the normal prompt and you can use your downloaded Snapshot file.