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GSP1312

Overview

Google Cloud NetApp Volumes is a fully managed data storage service that lets you move file-based applications to Google Cloud. It has support for Network File System (NFSv3 and NFSv4.1) and Server Message Block (SMB) protocols built-in, so you don't need to re-architect your applications and can continue to get persistent storage for your applications.

Snapshots are virtual point-in-time versions of a volume that are taken on a scheduled basis. You can access snapshots using standard file system commands. Snapshots provide a RPO of as little as one hour. RTO depends on the amount of data you have to restore and is primarily limited by the volume throughput limit. Snapshots also allow users to restore specific files and directories, which decreases RTO even further. Snapshots only consume additional volume space for changes made to the volume.

In this lab you will learn how to manage Google Cloud NetApp Volumes snapshots.

Objectives

In this lab you will learn how to:

• Create manual snapshots.
• Schedule snapshots.
• Restore a specific data from a snapshot.
• Revert a volume from a snapshot.

Prerequisites

• A basic understanding of Google Cloud NetApp Volumes.

Setup and requirements

Before you click the Start Lab button

Read these instructions. Labs are timed and you cannot pause them. The timer, which starts when you click Start Lab, shows how long Google Cloud resources will be made available to you.

This Qwiklabs hands-on lab lets you do the lab activities yourself in a real cloud environment, not in a simulation or demo environment. It does so by giving you new, temporary credentials that you use to sign in and access Google Cloud for the duration of the lab.

What you need

To complete this lab, you need:

• Access to a standard internet browser (Chrome browser recommended).
• Time to complete the lab.

Note: If you already have your own personal Google Cloud account or project, do not use it for this lab.

Note: If you are using a Pixelbook, open an Incognito window to run this lab.

How to start your lab and sign in to the Google Cloud Console

1. Click the Start Lab button. If you need to pay for the lab, a pop-up opens for you to select your payment method. On the left is a panel populated with the temporary credentials that you must use for this lab.

   

2. Copy the username, and then click Open Google Console. The lab spins up resources, and then opens another tab that shows the Sign in page.

   

   Tip: Open the tabs in separate windows, side-by-side.

3. In the Sign in page, paste the username that you copied from the Connection Details panel. Then copy and paste the password.

   Important: You must use the credentials from the Connection Details panel. Do not use your Qwiklabs credentials. If you have your own Google Cloud account, do not use it for this lab (avoids incurring charges).

4. Click through the subsequent pages:

   • Accept the terms and conditions.
   • Do not add recovery options or two-factor authentication (because this is a temporary account).
   • Do not sign up for free trials.

After a few moments, the Cloud Console opens in this tab.

Activate Cloud Shell

Cloud Shell is a virtual machine that is loaded with development tools. It offers a persistent 5GB home directory and runs on the Google Cloud. Cloud Shell provides command-line access to your Google Cloud resources.

In the Cloud Console, in the top right toolbar, click the Activate Cloud Shell button.

Click Continue.

It takes a few moments to provision and connect to the environment. When you are connected, you are already authenticated, and the project is set to your PROJECT_ID. For example:

gcloud is the command-line tool for Google Cloud. It comes pre-installed on Cloud Shell and supports tab-completion.

You can list the active account name with this command:

gcloud auth list

(Output)

Credentialed accounts: - <myaccount>@<mydomain>.com (active)

(Example output)

Credentialed accounts: - google1623327_student@qwiklabs.net

You can list the project ID with this command:

gcloud config list project

(Output)

[core] project = <project_ID>

(Example output)

[core] project = qwiklabs-gcp-44776a13dea667a6

Task 1. Mount the volume

1. In the Google Cloud console search bar (), type NetApp Volumes and select the result to open the service.

2. In the navigation pane, click Volumes. A volume (volume1) has already been created for this lab.

3. Open Compute Engine → VM Instances in a new browser tab and click the SSH button for vm1.

4. Return to the NetApp Volumes page. In the row for the volume (volume1), click the overflow menu (), then select Mount Instructions.

5. Run the following commands from the Mount instructions into the SSH window in the following order:

• Install the nfs utilities on the Linux VM:

sudo apt-get install nfs-common -y

• Create a directory in the VM:

sudo mkdir /share1

• Mount the volume by copying the sudo mount command from the Mount instructions and running it in the SSH terminal. The command includes the unique IP address of the volume. It will look like the command below:

sudo mount -t nfs -o rw,hard,rsize=65536,wsize=65536,vers=3,tcp <IP_ADDRESS>:/share1 /share1 Note: Please run the mount command exactly as it appears in your specific Mount instructions panel, as the IP address in this command is unique to your volume.

• Verify that the volume has been mounted to your VM successfully:

df -h | grep share1

Click Check my progress to verify that you've performed the above task. Mount the volume

Task 2. Create a manual snapshot

1. In vm1, create folders and files by running the following commands:

sudo mkdir /share1/folder1 sudo mkdir /share1/folder2 sudo bash -c 'echo "important" > /share1/file1.txt' sudo bash -c 'echo "top secret" > /share1/file2.txt'

2. List the contents of the volume:

sudo ls /share1

3. In the Google Cloud console, go to the NetApp Volumes page.

4. In the navigation pane, click Volumes.

5. In the row for the volume (volume1), click the overflow menu (), then select Create snapshot.

6. For the Snapshot name, type snapshot1

7. Skip the remaining options and click Create.

8. Click volume1, then click the Snapshots tab. Verify that your new snapshot appears in the list.

Click Check my progress to verify that you've performed the above task. Create a manual snapshot

Task 3. Restore a file from a snapshot

You can use snapshots to restore deleted or corrupted files and directories using file access operations based on your operating system. While this lab demonstrates the process using a Linux client, the same functionality is available for Windows clients.

1. In the navigation pane, click Volumes.

2. Click volume1, then click Edit.

3. Expand the Snapshot configuration section and verify that Make snapshot directory visible is enabled.

4. In vm1, delete a file by running the following command:

sudo rm /share1/file1.txt

5. Verify that file1 has been deleted:

sudo ls /share1

6. View the mount point to see the hidden .snapshot folder. This folder contains all snapshots for the volume:

sudo ls -la /share1

7. List the contents of the .snapshot folder to see snapshot1, which was created in the previous task:

sudo ls -la /share1/.snapshot

8. List the contents of snapshot1. You will see that file1, which was deleted from the active filesystem, is preserved here:

sudo ls -la /share1/.snapshot/snapshot1

9. Restore file1 to the active filesystem by copying it from the snapshot:

sudo cp /share1/.snapshot/snapshot1/file1.txt /share1/

10. Verify that file1 is restored and visible in the active filesystem:

sudo ls /share1

Task 4. Schedule the snapshots of a volume

NetApp Volumes allows you to create manual snapshots and also includes an integrated snapshot scheduler.

1. In the navigation pane, click Volumes.

2. Click volume1, then click Edit.

3. Expand the Snapshot configuration section and select the Allow scheduled snapshots checkbox.

Note: Once enabled, snapshots are created automatically according to the schedule configured. You can specify the number of snapshots to keep at hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly snapshot intervals.

4. You can customize the scheduled snapshots configuration based on your RPO needs. Include the following configuration:

• Hourly: Snapshots to keep = 24 (Minute = 0)
• Daily: Snapshots to keep = 7 (Hour = 0, Minute = 0)
• Weekly: Snapshots to keep = 8 (Weekdays = Sunday, Hour = 0, Minute = 0)
• Monthly: Snapshots to keep = 3 (Days of the month = 1, Hour = 0, Minute = 0)

5. Click Save

Click Check my progress to verify that you've performed the above task. Schedule volume snapshots

Task 5. Restore the entire volume from a snapshot

Google Cloud NetApp Volumes lets you revert a volume to a previous state using the data captured in a snapshot. Volume reversion restores all the contents of a volume back to the point in time a snapshot was taken

1. In vm1, delete all the files previously created by running the following command:

sudo rm /share1/file1.txt sudo rm /share1/file2.txt sudo rm -rf /share1/folder1 sudo rm -rf /share1/folder2

2. Verify that the files have been deleted:

sudo ls /share1

3. In the Google Cloud console, go to the NetApp Volumes page.

4. In the navigation pane, click Volumes.

5. Click volume1, then click the Snapshots tab. Verify that snapshot1 appears in the list.

6. In the row for the snapshot (snapshot1), click the overflow menu (), then select Revert.

7. Review the details and click Revert.

8. To confirm the action, type the volume name (volume1) and click Revert.

   Note: Reverting a volume is a permanent action that cannot be undone. If it feels like it is taking too long to complete, click **Refresh**.

9. In vm1, verify that the files and folders have been recovered:

sudo ls /share1

Click Check my progress to verify that you've performed the above task. Revert the volume

Congratulations!

You have learned how to create manual snapshots, scheduled snapshots, restore specific data from a snapshot, and restore an entire volume from a snapshot.

Next steps / Learn more

Be sure to check out the official NetApp Volumes documentation:

• NetApp Volumes documentation

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Manual last updated January 12, 2026

Manual Last tested January 12, 2026

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