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Snapshots and monitoring

Save and restore a machine's disk, read its log, and watch its CPU, memory, disk and network live.

Each machine has its own snapshots, log and live statistics, all in its details panel. Open Super MachinesMachines, select the prefix, and click the machine's card or Super Id (or use ActionView). Then pick a tab.

Snapshots

A snapshot saves the state of the machine's disk at a moment in time. Take one before an upgrade or a risky change, so you can go back if something breaks.

Create a snapshot

  1. Open the machine and go to the Snapshots tab.
  2. Click Create Snapshot.
  3. Check the Super Id and Machine Name in the Create Snapshot dialog, then click Create.

The panel switches to the Logs tab so you can follow progress; it refreshes again after 10 seconds. When the log shows the snapshot is done, go back to the Snapshots tab to see it in the list with its Name and Created At. The list doesn't update by itself: click the tab again to reload it.

Automatic snapshots don't run yet

The tab also has a Schedule Automatic Snapshots button. It shows a confirmation when you click Save Schedule, but the schedule isn't saved and no snapshots are taken automatically. Create snapshots by hand when you need them.

Revert to a snapshot

Reverting replaces the current disk

Everything written to the disk since the snapshot was taken is lost, and you can't undo the revert. If you might need the current state, create a new snapshot first.

  1. Open the machine and go to the Snapshots tab.
  2. Find the snapshot by its Name and Created At, and click Revert.
  3. Check the Snapshot Name in the Revert Warning! dialog: Are you sure you want to revert using snapshot?
  4. Click Revert.

The panel switches to the Logs tab and refreshes after 10 seconds so you can follow the revert.

Delete a snapshot

Deleting a snapshot can't be undone

You can no longer revert to it.

  1. In the Snapshots tab, click Delete on the snapshot.
  2. Check the Snapshot Name in the Warning! dialog: Are you sure you want to delete snapshot?
  3. Click Delete.

The panel switches to the Logs tab, which refreshes after 5 seconds.

Logs

The Logs tab lists everything that happened to the machine: creation, starts and stops, resizes, snapshots and errors. Each line reads:

<date and time>  [STATUS:<n>] ==> <what happened>

The newest line is at the bottom. The number after STATUS: is the status the machine was in: 0 Running, 1 Stopped, 2 Terminated, 3 Creating, 4 Starting, 5 Updating, 6 Paused, 7 Failed to provision, 8 Failed to process.

The log reloads each time you click the tab. To read the logs of all machines in a prefix from one place, use Event logs.

Monitor a machine

The Live Stats tab shows what the machine is using right now, refreshed every 5 seconds while the tab is open.

CardWhat it shows
CPUUse in %, with current and maximum vCPUs, and a rolling chart.
MemoryUse in %, with used and allocated MB, and a chart.
Disk I/OPer disk: data read and written, and read/write operations.
Network I/OPer network interface: data and packets received and sent.

A badge at the top shows the machine's state (for example running or shutoff) and when the numbers were taken.

See the busiest processes

Click Show Processes to list up to 15 processes running inside the machine, with PID, Name, CPU %, Mem % and RSS. The list refreshes every 10 seconds. Click Hide Processes to close it.

The process list needs the guest agent running inside the machine. If you see Process list is not available for this VM right now. or Unable to fetch the process list right now., the agent isn't reachable: the other stats keep working.

If the stats don't show

  • This VM is not currently running. Live stats are only available for a running machine. Start it: see Stop and start.
  • Live stats are temporarily unavailable, followed by a retry notice. Three refreshes in a row failed and the tab stopped updating. Click another tab and then Live Stats again to restart it.
  • No disks reported or No network interfaces reported. The machine didn't send that data in the last sample. Wait for the next refresh.

Stats stop updating when you leave the tab or close the panel, and start again when you come back.