You can delete a snapshot of your storage volume. For example, you might want to do this if you have taken many snapshots of a storage volume over time and you don't need the older snapshots. Because snapshots are incremental backups, if you delete a snapshot, only the data that is not needed in other snapshots is deleted.
Topics
On the Amazon EBS console, you can delete snapshots one at a time. For information about how to delete snapshots using the Amazon EBS console, see Deleting an Amazon EBS Snapshot in the Amazon EC2 User Guide.
To delete multiple snapshots at a time, you can use one of the AWS SDKs that supports Storage Gateway operations. For examples, see Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS SDK for Java, Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS SDK for .NET, and Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell.
Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS
SDK for Java
To delete many snapshots associated with a volume, you can use a programmatic approach. The example following demonstrates how to delete snapshots using the AWS SDK for Java. To use the example code, you should be familiar with running a Java console application. For more information, see Getting Started in the AWS SDK for Java Developer Guide. If you need to just delete a few snapshots, use the console as described in Deleting snapshots of your storage volumes.
Example : Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS SDK for Java
The following Java code example lists the snapshots for each volume of a gateway and whether the snapshot start time is before or after a specified date. It uses the AWS SDK for Java API for Storage Gateway and Amazon EC2. The Amazon EC2 API includes operations for working with snapshots.
Update the code to provide the service endpoint, your gateway Amazon Resource
Name (ARN), and the number of days back you want to save snapshots. Snapshots
taken before this cutoff are deleted. You also need to specify the Boolean value
viewOnly, which indicates whether you want to view the
snapshots to be deleted or to actually perform the snapshot deletions. Run the
code first with just the view option (that is, with viewOnly set to
true) to see what the code deletes. For a list of AWS service
endpoints you can use with Storage Gateway, see AWS Storage Gateway Endpoints and Quotas in
the AWS General Reference.
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Calendar;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
import java.util.List;
import com.amazonaws.auth.PropertiesCredentials;
import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.AmazonEC2Client;
import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.model.DeleteSnapshotRequest;
import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.model.DescribeSnapshotsRequest;
import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.model.DescribeSnapshotsResult;
import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.model.Filter;
import com.amazonaws.services.ec2.model.Snapshot;
import com.amazonaws.services.storagegateway.AWSStorageGatewayClient;
import com.amazonaws.services.storagegateway.model.ListVolumesRequest;
import com.amazonaws.services.storagegateway.model.ListVolumesResult;
import com.amazonaws.services.storagegateway.model.VolumeInfo;
public class ListDeleteVolumeSnapshotsExample {
public static AWSStorageGatewayClient sgClient;
public static AmazonEC2Client ec2Client;
static String serviceURLSG = "https://storagegateway.us-east-1.amazonaws.com";
static String serviceURLEC2 = "https://ec2.us-east-1.amazonaws.com";
// The gatewayARN
public static String gatewayARN = "*** provide gateway ARN ***";
// The number of days back you want to save snapshots. Snapshots before this cutoff are deleted
// if viewOnly = false.
public static int daysBack = 10;
// true = show what will be deleted; false = actually delete snapshots that meet the daysBack criteria
public static boolean viewOnly = true;
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
// Create a Storage Gateway and amazon ec2 client
sgClient = new AWSStorageGatewayClient(new PropertiesCredentials(
ListDeleteVolumeSnapshotsExample.class.getResourceAsStream("AwsCredentials.properties")));
sgClient.setEndpoint(serviceURLSG);
ec2Client = new AmazonEC2Client(new PropertiesCredentials(
ListDeleteVolumeSnapshotsExample.class.getResourceAsStream("AwsCredentials.properties")));
ec2Client.setEndpoint(serviceURLEC2);
List<VolumeInfo> volumes = ListVolumesForGateway();
DeleteSnapshotsForVolumes(volumes, daysBack);
}
public static List<VolumeInfo> ListVolumesForGateway()
{
List<VolumeInfo> volumes = new ArrayList<VolumeInfo>();
String marker = null;
do {
ListVolumesRequest request = new ListVolumesRequest().withGatewayARN(gatewayARN);
ListVolumesResult result = sgClient.listVolumes(request);
marker = result.getMarker();
for (VolumeInfo vi : result.getVolumeInfos())
{
volumes.add(vi);
System.out.println(OutputVolumeInfo(vi));
}
} while (marker != null);
return volumes;
}
private static void DeleteSnapshotsForVolumes(List<VolumeInfo> volumes,
int daysBack2) {
// Find snapshots and delete for each volume
for (VolumeInfo vi : volumes) {
String volumeARN = vi.getVolumeARN();
String volumeId = volumeARN.substring(volumeARN.lastIndexOf("/")+1).toLowerCase();
Collection<Filter> filters = new ArrayList<Filter>();
Filter filter = new Filter().withName("volume-id").withValues(volumeId);
filters.add(filter);
DescribeSnapshotsRequest describeSnapshotsRequest =
new DescribeSnapshotsRequest().withFilters(filters);
DescribeSnapshotsResult describeSnapshotsResult =
ec2Client.describeSnapshots(describeSnapshotsRequest);
List<Snapshot> snapshots = describeSnapshotsResult.getSnapshots();
System.out.println("volume-id = " + volumeId);
for (Snapshot s : snapshots){
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
boolean meetsCriteria = !CompareDates(daysBack, s.getStartTime());
sb.append(s.getSnapshotId() + ", " + s.getStartTime().toString());
sb.append(", meets criteria for delete? " + meetsCriteria);
sb.append(", deleted? ");
if (!viewOnly & meetsCriteria) {
sb.append("yes");
DeleteSnapshotRequest deleteSnapshotRequest =
new DeleteSnapshotRequest().withSnapshotId(s.getSnapshotId());
ec2Client.deleteSnapshot(deleteSnapshotRequest);
}
else {
sb.append("no");
}
System.out.println(sb.toString());
}
}
}
private static String OutputVolumeInfo(VolumeInfo vi) {
String volumeInfo = String.format(
"Volume Info:\n" +
" ARN: %s\n" +
" Type: %s\n",
vi.getVolumeARN(),
vi.getVolumeType());
return volumeInfo;
}
// Returns the date in two formats as a list
public static boolean CompareDates(int daysBack, Date snapshotDate) {
Date today = new Date();
Calendar cal = new GregorianCalendar();
cal.setTime(today);
cal.add(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, -daysBack);
Date cutoffDate = cal.getTime();
return (snapshotDate.compareTo(cutoffDate) > 0) ? true : false;
}
}
Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS
SDK for .NET
To delete many snapshots associated with a volume, you can use a programmatic approach. The following example demonstrates how to delete snapshots using the AWS SDK for .NET version 2 and 3. To use the example code, you should be familiar with running a .NET console application. For more information, see Getting Started in the AWS SDK for .NET Developer Guide. If you need to just delete a few snapshots, use the console as described in Deleting snapshots of your storage volumes.
Example : Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS SDK for .NET
In the following C# code example, an AWS Identity and Access Management user can list the snapshots for each volume of a gateway. The user can then determine whether the snapshot start time is before or after a specified date (retention period) and delete snapshots that have passed the retention period. The example uses the AWS SDK for .NET API for Storage Gateway and Amazon EC2. The Amazon EC2 API includes operations for working with snapshots.
The following code example uses the AWS SDK for .NET version 2 and 3. You can migrate older versions of .NET to the newer version. For more information, see Migrating Your Code to the Latest Version of the AWS SDK for .NET.
Update the code to provide the service endpoint, your gateway Amazon Resource
Name (ARN), and the number of days back you want to save snapshots. Snapshots
taken before this cutoff are deleted. You also need to specify the Boolean value
viewOnly, which indicates whether you want to view the
snapshots to be deleted or to actually perform the snapshot deletions. Run the
code first with just the view option (that is, with viewOnly set to
true) to see what the code deletes. For a list of AWS service
endpoints you can use with Storage Gateway, see AWS Storage Gateway Endpoints and Quotas in
the AWS General Reference.
First, you create an user and attach the minimum IAM policy to the user. Then you schedule automated snapshots for your gateway.
The following code creates the minimum policy that allows an user to delete
snapshots. In this example, the policy is named
sgw-delete-snapshot.
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Sid": "StmtEC2Snapshots",
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"ec2:DeleteSnapshot",
"ec2:DescribeSnapshots"
],
"Resource": [
"*"
]
},
{
"Sid": "StmtSgwListVolumes",
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"storagegateway:ListVolumes"
],
"Resource": [
"*"
]
}
]
}The following C# code finds all snapshots in the specified gateway that match the volumes and the specified cut-off period and then deletes them.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Amazon.EC2;
using Amazon.EC2.Model;
using Amazon.StorageGateway.Model;
using Amazon.StorageGateway;
namespace DeleteStorageGatewaySnapshotNS
{
class Program
{
/*
* Replace the variables below to match your environment.
*/
/* IAM AccessKey */
static String AwsAccessKey = "AKIA................";
/* IAM SecretKey */
static String AwsSecretKey = "*******************************";
/* Account number, 12 digits, no hyphen */
static String OwnerID = "123456789012";
/* Your Gateway ARN. Use a Storage Gateway ID, sgw-XXXXXXXX* */
static String GatewayARN = "arn:aws:storagegateway:ap-southeast-2:123456789012:gateway/sgw-XXXXXXXX";
/* Snapshot status: "completed", "pending", "error" */
static String SnapshotStatus = "completed";
/* Region where your gateway is activated */
static String AwsRegion = "ap-southeast-2";
/* Minimum age of snapshots before they are deleted (retention policy) */
static int daysBack = 30;
/*
* Do not modify the four lines below.
*/
static AmazonEC2Config ec2Config;
static AmazonEC2Client ec2Client;
static AmazonStorageGatewayClient sgClient;
static AmazonStorageGatewayConfig sgConfig;
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// Create an EC2 client.
ec2Config = new AmazonEC2Config();
ec2Config.ServiceURL = "https://ec2." + AwsRegion + ".amazonaws.com";
ec2Client = new AmazonEC2Client(AwsAccessKey, AwsSecretKey, ec2Config);
// Create a Storage Gateway client.
sgConfig = new AmazonStorageGatewayConfig();
sgConfig.ServiceURL = "https://storagegateway." + AwsRegion + ".amazonaws.com";
sgClient = new AmazonStorageGatewayClient(AwsAccessKey, AwsSecretKey, sgConfig);
List<VolumeInfo> StorageGatewayVolumes = ListVolumesForGateway();
List<Snapshot> StorageGatewaySnapshots = ListSnapshotsForVolumes(StorageGatewayVolumes,
daysBack);
DeleteSnapshots(StorageGatewaySnapshots);
}
/*
* List all volumes for your gateway
* returns: A list of VolumeInfos, or null.
*/
private static List<VolumeInfo> ListVolumesForGateway()
{
ListVolumesResponse response = new ListVolumesResponse();
try
{
ListVolumesRequest request = new ListVolumesRequest();
request.GatewayARN = GatewayARN;
response = sgClient.ListVolumes(request);
foreach (VolumeInfo vi in response.VolumeInfos)
{
Console.WriteLine(OutputVolumeInfo(vi));
}
}
catch (AmazonStorageGatewayException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
return response.VolumeInfos;
}
/*
* Gets the list of snapshots that match the requested volumes
* and cutoff period.
*/
private static List<Snapshot> ListSnapshotsForVolumes(List<VolumeInfo> volumes, int snapshotAge)
{
List<Snapshot> SelectedSnapshots = new List<Snapshot>();
try
{
foreach (VolumeInfo vi in volumes)
{
String volumeARN = vi.VolumeARN;
String volumeID = volumeARN.Substring(volumeARN.LastIndexOf("/") + 1).ToLower();
DescribeSnapshotsRequest describeSnapshotsRequest = new DescribeSnapshotsRequest();
Filter ownerFilter = new Filter();
List<String> ownerValues = new List<String>();
ownerValues.Add(OwnerID);
ownerFilter.Name = "owner-id";
ownerFilter.Values = ownerValues;
describeSnapshotsRequest.Filters.Add(ownerFilter);
Filter statusFilter = new Filter();
List<String> statusValues = new List<String>();
statusValues.Add(SnapshotStatus);
statusFilter.Name = "status";
statusFilter.Values = statusValues;
describeSnapshotsRequest.Filters.Add(statusFilter);
Filter volumeFilter = new Filter();
List<String> volumeValues = new List<String>();
volumeValues.Add(volumeID);
volumeFilter.Name = "volume-id";
volumeFilter.Values = volumeValues;
describeSnapshotsRequest.Filters.Add(volumeFilter);
DescribeSnapshotsResponse describeSnapshotsResponse =
ec2Client.DescribeSnapshots(describeSnapshotsRequest);
List<Snapshot> snapshots = describeSnapshotsResponse.Snapshots;
Console.WriteLine("volume-id = " + volumeID);
foreach (Snapshot s in snapshots)
{
if (IsSnapshotPastRetentionPeriod(snapshotAge, s.StartTime))
{
Console.WriteLine(s.SnapshotId + ", " + s.VolumeId + ",
" + s.StartTime + ", " + s.Description);
SelectedSnapshots.Add(s);
}
}
}
}
catch (AmazonEC2Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
return SelectedSnapshots;
}
/*
* Deletes a list of snapshots.
*/
private static void DeleteSnapshots(List<Snapshot> snapshots)
{
try
{
foreach (Snapshot s in snapshots)
{
DeleteSnapshotRequest deleteSnapshotRequest = new DeleteSnapshotRequest(s.SnapshotId);
DeleteSnapshotResponse response = ec2Client.DeleteSnapshot(deleteSnapshotRequest);
Console.WriteLine("Volume: " +
s.VolumeId +
" => Snapshot: " +
s.SnapshotId +
" Response: "
+ response.HttpStatusCode.ToString());
}
}
catch (AmazonEC2Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
}
}
/*
* Checks if the snapshot creation date is past the retention period.
*/
private static Boolean IsSnapshotPastRetentionPeriod(int daysBack, DateTime snapshotDate)
{
DateTime cutoffDate = DateTime.Now.Add(new TimeSpan(-daysBack, 0, 0, 0));
return (DateTime.Compare(snapshotDate, cutoffDate) < 0) ? true : false;
}
/*
* Displays information related to a volume.
*/
private static String OutputVolumeInfo(VolumeInfo vi)
{
String volumeInfo = String.Format(
"Volume Info:\n" +
" ARN: {0}\n" +
" Type: {1}\n",
vi.VolumeARN,
vi.VolumeType);
return volumeInfo;
}
}
}Deleting Snapshots by Using the
AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell
To delete many snapshots associated with a volume, you can use a programmatic approach. The example following demonstrates how to delete snapshots using the AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell. To use the example script, you should be familiar with running a PowerShell script. For more information, see Getting Started in the AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell. If you need to delete just a few snapshots, use the console as described in Deleting snapshots of your storage volumes.
Example : Deleting Snapshots by Using the AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell
The following PowerShell script example lists the snapshots for each volume of a gateway and whether the snapshot start time is before or after a specified date. It uses the AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell cmdlets for Storage Gateway and Amazon EC2. The Amazon EC2 API includes operations for working with snapshots.
You need to update the script and provide your gateway Amazon Resource Name
(ARN) and the number of days back you want to save snapshots. Snapshots taken
before this cutoff are deleted. You also need to specify the Boolean value
viewOnly, which indicates whether you want to view the
snapshots to be deleted or to actually perform the snapshot deletions. Run the
code first with just the view option (that is, with viewOnly set to
true) to see what the code deletes.
<#
.DESCRIPTION
Delete snapshots of a specified volume that match given criteria.
.NOTES
PREREQUISITES:
1) AWS Tools for Windows PowerShell from https://aws.amazon.com/powershell/
2) Credentials and AWS Region stored in session using Initialize-AWSDefault.
For more info see, https://docs.aws.amazon.com/powershell/latest/userguide/specifying-your-aws-credentials.html
.EXAMPLE
powershell.exe .\SG_DeleteSnapshots.ps1
#>
# Criteria to use to filter the results returned.
$daysBack = 18
$gatewayARN = "*** provide gateway ARN ***"
$viewOnly = $true;
#ListVolumes
$volumesResult = Get-SGVolume -GatewayARN $gatewayARN
$volumes = $volumesResult.VolumeInfos
Write-Output("`nVolume List")
foreach ($volumes in $volumesResult)
{ Write-Output("`nVolume Info:")
Write-Output("ARN: " + $volumes.VolumeARN)
write-Output("Type: " + $volumes.VolumeType)
}
Write-Output("`nWhich snapshots meet the criteria?")
foreach ($volume in $volumesResult)
{
$volumeARN = $volume.VolumeARN
$volumeId = ($volumeARN-split"/")[3].ToLower()
$filter = New-Object Amazon.EC2.Model.Filter
$filter.Name = "volume-id"
$filter.Value.Add($volumeId)
$snapshots = get-EC2Snapshot -Filter $filter
Write-Output("`nFor volume-id = " + $volumeId)
foreach ($s in $snapshots)
{
$d = ([DateTime]::Now).AddDays(-$daysBack)
$meetsCriteria = $false
if ([DateTime]::Compare($d, $s.StartTime) -gt 0)
{
$meetsCriteria = $true
}
$sb = $s.SnapshotId + ", " + $s.StartTime + ", meets criteria for delete? " + $meetsCriteria
if (!$viewOnly -AND $meetsCriteria)
{
$resp = Remove-EC2Snapshot -SnapshotId $s.SnapshotId
#Can get RequestId from response for troubleshooting.
$sb = $sb + ", deleted? yes"
}
else {
$sb = $sb + ", deleted? no"
}
Write-Output($sb)
}
}