How to migrate existing volumes and snapshots to Scaleway's new Block Storage management

Reviewed on January 14, 2025

To enhance performance and reliability, Scaleway is transitioning the management of Block Storage volumes and snapshots from Compute to Storage.

To facilitate the transition to Scaleway's new Block Storage management, two main approaches for migrating your volumes exist, each with its unique benefits and drawbacks:

Using the Instance API/CLI migration endpoint (Plan and Apply):
- Advantage: Migration can occur without service interruption, as the volume remains attached to the running Instance and fully accessible.
- Drawback: Only the volume's representation is migrated to the SBS API; the data itself does not move. This means the migrated volume will not benefit from low latency or higher IOPS, as it retains the original b_ssd characteristics.
Using the snapshot export/import features:
- Advantage: The migrated volume will fully support low latency, and it is possible to modify the IOPS up to 15k. All existing data of the old volume will be copied to the new Block Storage Low Latency volume.
- Drawback: A snapshot must be manually created, exported, and imported. After importing, the snapshot must be converted into a volume, which must then be attached to the Instance. This process may require downtime.

Each method caters to different needs, balancing uninterrupted service against achieving maximum performance benefits. After migration, these resources will be managed under Storage instead of Compute.
Learn more about the advantages of migrating from the Instance API to the Block Storage API for managing block volumes and snapshots.

Comparison of migration methods

Migration Method	Advantage	Drawback
Instance API/CLI migration	No service interruption, volume remains accessible	Data characteristics remain the same; no performance boost
Snapshot export/import	Full support for low latency and customizable IOPS	Requires downtime; manual snapshot handling

This guide offers step-by-step instructions to migrate your volumes and snapshots using either the Scaleway Command Line Interface (CLI) tool (recommended) or the Instances API. Alternatively, you can use the snapshot export/import feature to migrate your unified volumes and snapshots to Block Storage Low Latency volumes.

Important

Volumes created and managed through Kubernetes do not fall within the scope of the migration described on this page. Find specific instructions for migrating Kubernetes volumes behind the Scaleway Block Storage API in the managing storage for Kubernetes documentation.

Comparison of Block Storage volume types

Volume type	IOPS	Underlying hardware	Latency	Max volume size	Recommended use cases	Availability & resilience
`b_ssd` (Block Storage 5K legacy)	5,000	Legacy SSDs	Higher	Up to 10 TB	General-purpose workloads that do not demand high IOPS or low latency	Data is replicated three times across multiple disks for high availability and integrity
`sbs_5k` (Block Low Latency 5K)	5,000	Modern NVMe disks	Low	5 GB to 10 TB	Development environments, web servers, and applications needing consistent performance	99.99% SLA, triple-replicated data to safeguard against hardware failures
`sbs_15k` (Block Low Latency 15K)	15,000	Modern NVMe disks	Very low	5 GB to 10 TB	High-performance databases, transactional applications, and I/O-intensive workloads	99.99% SLA, triple-replicated data to safeguard against hardware failures

You can attach a maximum of 16 volumes (including the mandatory boot volume) to a single Instance.

Tip

Refer to Understand the difference between Block Storage volumes and Block Storage Low Latency volumes for more information on the differences between Block Storage 5K legacy volumes and Block Storage Low Latency 5K volumes.

Additional details:

b_ssd: These volumes are based on older SSD technology, providing reliable performance but with limitations in terms of speed and latency.
sbs_5k: These volumes use NVMe technology, offering better performance and lower latency. They allow flexibility to adjust storage based on your needs.
sbs_15k: These volumes offer even higher performance, with up to 15,000 IOPS, making them ideal for workloads requiring fast and reliable data access.
Note
To maximize compatibility with Block Storage Low Latency 15K, select an Instance with at least 3 GiB/s of Block bandwidth.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

A Scaleway account logged into the console
An Instance using Block Storage volumes

Tip

The easiest way to migrate your Block Storage volumes and snapshots is by using the Scaleway Command Line Interface (CLI) tool.
If you encounter an error about quota limitations during the migration process, contact our support team for assistance.

Important

To ensure continued access to managing your volumes, you must convert your unified volumes and snapshots into either local or Block volumes before the end-of-life date of June 2nd, 2025. After this date, unified volumes and snapshots will no longer be supported by any API.

Key migration deadlines:

April 30th, 2025:
- Creation of new unified volumes via the Instance API will be disabled.
- Unified volumes will no longer be supported by the Instance API.
June 2nd, 2025:
- Unified volumes and snapshots can no longer be managed via any API. Existing unified resources must be converted by this date to avoid loss of manageability.

Migrating using the Instance API/CLI migration endpoint (Plan and Apply):

Note

During migration, unified snapshots will be converted into Block Storage snapshots and removed from Compute. If a unified snapshot is part of an image, it will be replaced by the corresponding Block Storage snapshot.

Migrating an existing Block Storage volume to Scaleway Block Storage management

Important

This process applies only to Block SSD (b_ssd) volumes.

Note

When you migrate a volume, the volume and any snapshots created from it will be migrated as well.

Use the following command to list your Block Storage volumes and retrieve the ID of the volume you wish to migrate:

$ scw instance volume list
  ID                                    STATE      SERVER ID  SERVER NAME
  369feb53-165f-437d-875e-188725df462b  available

Plan the volume migration using the scw instance volume plan-migration <VOLUME_ID> command. This command returns the volume and its snapshots that will be migrated, along with a unique ValidationKey required to start the migration.

$ scw instance volume plan-migration 369feb53-165f-437d-875e-188725df462b
  Volume.ID                     369feb53-165f-437d-875e-188725df462b
  Volume.Name                   vol-peaceful-davinci
  Volume.Size                   25 GB
  Volume.VolumeType             b_ssd
  Volume.CreationDate           2 weeks ago
  Volume.ModificationDate       2 weeks ago
  Volume.Organization           4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Volume.Project                4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Volume.Server.ID              177c6ed5-e999-4cc7-b152-8ce56217579c
  Volume.Server.Name            scw-naughty-robinson
  Volume.State                  available
  Volume.Zone                   fr-par-1
  Snapshots.0.ID                a377afe5-a9a3-4706-b8c2-8d1c247a620f
  Snapshots.0.Name              image-scw-quirky-torvalds_snap_0
  Snapshots.0.Organization      4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.0.Project           4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.0.VolumeType        b_ssd
  Snapshots.0.Size              10 GB
  Snapshots.0.State             available
  Snapshots.0.CreationDate      2 weeks ago
  Snapshots.0.ModificationDate  5 days ago
  Snapshots.0.Zone              fr-par-1
  Snapshots.1.ID                384799c2-c4dd-40ab-bd65-ed95cd7b4d5c
  Snapshots.1.Name              snap-eloquent-edison
  Snapshots.1.Organization      4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.1.Project           4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.1.VolumeType        b_ssd
  Snapshots.1.Size              10 GB
  Snapshots.1.State             available
  Snapshots.1.CreationDate      2 weeks ago
  Snapshots.1.ModificationDate  5 days ago
  Snapshots.1.Zone              fr-par-1
  ValidationKey                 30d129ca895c4cd59f4c429e12dab300

Execute the migration using the scw instance volume apply-migration <VOLUME_ID> validation-key=<VALIDATION_KEY> zone=<VOLUME_ZONE> command.

$ scw instance volume apply-migration 369feb53-165f-437d-875e-188725df462b validation-key=30d129ca895c4cd59f4c429e12dab300 zone=fr-par-1
  ✅ Success

The volume migration is complete. You can now manage the migrated volume from the Block Storage volumes section in the Scaleway console.

Note

When you migrate a volume using the API, the volume and any snapshots created from the volume will be migrated.

Plan the migration by sending a POST request to the Scaleway API:

curl --location "https://api.scaleway.com/instance/v1/zones/$SCW_AVAILABILITY_ZONE/block-migration/plan" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--header "X-Auth-Token: $SCW_SECRET_KEY" \
--data "{
    \"volume_id\": \"$SCW_VOLUME_ID\"
}"

This request returns the volume and its snapshots that will be migrated, along with a unique ValidationKey required to start the migration.

Confirm and execute the migration by sending another POST request:

curl --location "https://api.scaleway.com/instance/v1/zones/$SCW_AVAILABILITY_ZONE/block-migration/apply" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--header "X-Auth-Token: $SCW_SECRET_KEY" \
--data "{
    \"volume_id\": \"$SCW_VOLUME_ID\",
    \"validation_key\": \"$SCW_VALIDATION_KEY\"
}"

Important

After the migration, your volume's type will still be b_ssd (displayed as Block SSD 5K legacy in the Scaleway console). To benefit from the new features and performance of Scaleway Block Storage, you must create a new volume (sbs_5k or sbs_15k displayed as Block Low Latency 5K or Block Low Latency 15K in the Scaleway console) using the snapshot export/import feature. For more information, see Migrating using the snapshot export/import features.

Migrating an existing Block Storage snapshot to Scaleway Block Storage management

Important

This process applies to Block SSD (b_ssd) or Unified (unified) snapshots.

Note

When you migrate a snapshot, the source volume of the snapshot and any snapshots created from this volume will also be migrated.

Use the following command to list your snapshots and retrieve the ID of the snapshot you wish to migrate:

$ scw instance snapshot list
  ID                                    NAME
  a377afe5-a9a3-4706-b8c2-8d1c247a620f  snap-eloquent-edison

Plan the snapshot migration using the scw instance snapshot plan-migration <SNAPSHOT_ID> command. This command returns the source volume of the snapshot and any related snapshots that will be migrated, along with a unique ValidationKey.

$ scw instance snapshot plan-migration a377afe5-a9a3-4706-b8c2-8d1c247a620f
  Volume.ID                     369feb53-165f-437d-875e-188725df462b
  Volume.Name                   vol-peaceful-davinci
  Volume.Size                   25 GB
  Volume.VolumeType             b_ssd
  Volume.CreationDate           2 weeks ago
  Volume.ModificationDate       2 weeks ago
  Volume.Organization           4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Volume.Project                4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Volume.Server.ID              177c6ed5-e999-4cc7-b152-8ce56217579c
  Volume.Server.Name            scw-naughty-robinson
  Volume.State                  available
  Volume.Zone                   fr-par-1
  Snapshots.0.ID                a377afe5-a9a3-4706-b8c2-8d1c247a620f
  Snapshots.0.Name              image-scw-quirky-torvalds_snap_0
  Snapshots.0.Organization      4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.0.Project           4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.0.VolumeType        b_ssd
  Snapshots.0.Size              10 GB
  Snapshots.0.State             available
  Snapshots.0.CreationDate      2 weeks ago
  Snapshots.0.ModificationDate  5 days ago
  Snapshots.0.Zone              fr-par-1
  Snapshots.1.ID                384799c2-c4dd-40ab-bd65-ed95cd7b4d5c
  Snapshots.1.Name              snap-eloquent-edison
  Snapshots.1.Organization      4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.1.Project           4a2e00bf-5126-43ce-9b09-be943c619139
  Snapshots.1.VolumeType        b_ssd
  Snapshots.1.Size              10 GB
  Snapshots.1.State             available
  Snapshots.1.CreationDate      2 weeks ago
  Snapshots.1.ModificationDate  5 days ago
  Snapshots.1.Zone              fr-par-1
  ValidationKey                 30d129ca895c4cd59f4c429e12dab300

Execute the migration using the scw instance snapshot apply-migration <SNAPSHOT_ID> validation-key=<VALIDATION_KEY> zone=<SNAPSHOT_ZONE> command.

$ scw instance snapshot apply-migration a377afe5-a9a3-4706-b8c2-8d1c247a620f validation-key=30d129ca895c4cd59f4c429e12dab300 zone=fr-par-1
  ✅ Success.

The snapshot migration is complete. You can now manage the migrated snapshot from the Block Storage Snapshot section in the Scaleway console.

Note

When you migrate a snapshot using the API, the source volume of the snapshot and any snapshots created from this volume will also be migrated.

Plan the migration by sending a POST request to the Scaleway API:

curl --location "https://api.scaleway.com/instance/v1/zones/$SCW_AVAILABILITY_ZONE/block-migration/plan" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--header "X-Auth-Token: $SCW_SECRET_KEY" \
--data "{
    \"snapshot_id\": \"$SCW_SNAPSHOT_ID\"
}"

This request returns the source volume and any related snapshots that will be migrated, along with a unique ValidationKey.

Confirm and execute the migration by sending another POST request:

curl --location "https://api.scaleway.com/instance/v1/zones/$SCW_AVAILABILITY_ZONE/block-migration/apply" \
--header "Content-Type: application/json" \
--header "X-Auth-Token: $SCW_SECRET_KEY" \
--data "{
    \"snapshot_id\": \"$SCW_SNAPSHOT_ID\",
    \"validation_key\": \"$SCW_VALIDATION_KEY\"
}"

Important

Migrating using the snapshot export/import features

To convert your unified volumes and snapshots, you can use the snapshot export/import features as an alternative solution for transitioning a Block Storage legacy volume into a Block Storage Low Latency volume.

Important

The process below requires manual intervention and does not preserve the original volume’s ID. While this approach allows you to transition to a Block Storage Low Latency volume, it is only a workaround.

Follow the procedure below:

Going further

To learn more about managing your migrated Block Storage volumes and snapshots from the Scaleway console, refer to the Block Storage Quickstart Guide. Additionally, you can explore advanced features using the Scaleway Block Storage API.

If you encounter any issues during migration, contact Scaleway's support team for assistance.