Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Saving and Restoring Sandbox Files with Snapshots

Create a snapshot to save workspace files, then use it to create a new sandbox.

Snapshots preserve filesystem contents. They don't preserve running processes, command execution, or memory. Restoring a snapshot creates a new sandbox with a new sandbox ID.

Save a snapshot before stopping the source sandbox or allowing it to expire. Set the snapshot expiration duration to the period for which you need its files.

profile_name="DEFAULT"
region="us-chicago-1"
sandbox_id="SANDBOX_ID"
project_id="PROJECT_OCID"

Creating a Snapshot

This example requests a snapshot with a seven-day retention period:

snapshot_id=$(oci --profile "$profile_name" --auth security_token --region "$region" \
  generative-ai-sandbox sandbox-snapshot create \
  --sandbox-id "$sandbox_id" \
  --expiration-duration P7D \
  --query 'data.id' --raw-output)

Save the snapshot ID. Inspect its lifecycle state before using it as a source:

oci --profile "$profile_name" --auth security_token --region "$region" \
  generative-ai-sandbox sandbox-snapshot get \
  --snapshot-id "$snapshot_id"

Creating a Sandbox from a Snapshot

After snapshot creation completes, create a new sandbox using its ID:

sandbox_id=$(oci --profile "$profile_name" --auth security_token --region "$region" \
  generative-ai-sandbox sandbox create-from-snapshot \
  --project-id "$project_id" \
  --source-snapshot-id "$snapshot_id" \
  --display-name restored-sandbox \
  --expiration-duration PT30M \
  --query 'data.id' --raw-output)

Wait for the new sandbox to reach RUNNING. Start any required processes again, and use the new ID for commands and file operations.

Listing and Inspecting Snapshots

List snapshots for a project. Add --sandbox-id to filter by the source sandbox:

oci --profile "$profile_name" --auth security_token --region "$region" \
  generative-ai-sandbox sandbox-snapshot list \
  --project-id "$project_id" \
  --sandbox-id "SOURCE_SANDBOX_ID" \
  --limit 25

The source sandbox ID is the ID used when creating the snapshot, which can differ from a restored sandbox's ID. Use the get command above to inspect one snapshot.

Deleting a Snapshot

Delete a snapshot when its saved files are no longer needed for creating sandboxes:

oci --profile "$profile_name" --auth security_token --region "$region" \
  generative-ai-sandbox sandbox-snapshot delete \
  --snapshot-id "$snapshot_id"

Review and confirm the CLI deletion prompt.