---
title: "Restore a Volume from a Snapshot"
slug: "restore-a-volume-from-a-snapshot-2-5"
updated: 2026-11-03T22:08:05Z
published: 2026-11-03T22:08:05Z
canonical: "docs.vastdata.com/restore-a-volume-from-a-snapshot-2-5"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vastdata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Restore a Volume from a Snapshot

To restore a PVC from an existing snapshot, attach the snapshot to another PVC.

You can choose to provide read-only or read/write access to the restored volume using `accessModes` options in the YAML configuration file:

- If attached in read-only mode (`ReadOnlyMany`), the restored volume is mounted to the snapshot's source folder (`<snapshot path>/.snapshot/<snapshot name>`). It does not have a view or a quota on the VAST cluster, not can it be expanded through Kubernetes volume expansion.
- If attached in read/write mode (`ReadWriteMany`), a view and a quota is created automatically for it on the VAST cluster, and the restored volume is mounted to the view's directory. The restored volume can be expanded like any other regular volume.

To restore a volume:

1. Create a YAML configuration file to attach the snapshot to a PVC. In the file (see the example below for correct indentation and line breaks when specifying the keywords):

  - In `metadata`:

    - `name` is the Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) name for the volume that will contain the restored data.
  - In `spec`:

    - `storageClassName` is the name of the storage class used for the PVC.
    - In `dataSource`:

      - `name` is the PVC name of the volume that stores the snapshot.
    - In `accessModes`, specify the access mode for the restored volume:

      - `ReadWriteMany` for read/write
      - `ReadOnlyMany` for read-only

For example:

```plaintext
apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: pvc-restore
spec:
  storageClassName: vastdata-filesystem
  dataSource:
    name: snapshot-pvc-1
    kind: VolumeSnapshot
    apiGroup: snapshot.storage.k8s.io
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteMany
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 1Gi
```
2. Deploy the YAML configuration file:

```plaintext
kubectl apply -f vast-csi-deployment.yaml
```

The output is similar to the following:

```plaintext
persistentvolumeclaim/pvc-restore created
```
3. Verify that the restored PVC can be displayed:

```plaintext
kubectl get pvc
```

The output is similar to the following:

```plaintext
NAME        STATUS VOLUME                                   CAPACITY ACCESS MODES STORAGECLASS        AGE
pvc-restore Bound  pvc-c212dc9e-1b72-49da-8a58-8c1ceb97b9e3 1Gi      RO           vastdata-filesystem 7s
```