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Volumes are block storage devices that you attach to instances to enable persistent storage. You can attach a volume to a running instance or detach a volume and attach it to another instance at any time. You can also create a snapshot from or delete a volume. Only administrative users can create volume types.

Log in to the dashboard, choose a project, and click the Volumes category. Click Create Volume. In the window that opens, enter or select the following values. Volume Name A name to identify the volume. Description A brief description for the volume. Type Leave this field blank. Size (GB) The size of the volume in GB. Volume Source Options are: No source, empty volume - Choose this option to create an empty volume. An empty volume does not contain either a file system or a partition table. Image - Choose this option to create a volume from an image. Select the image from the dropdown list. Click the Create Volume button to confirm your changes. The dashboard shows the volume in the Volumes category.

After you create one or more volumes, you can attach them to instances. Log in to the dashboard, choose a project, and click the Volumes category. Select the volume to add to an instance and click Edit Attachments. In the Manage Volume Attachments window, select an instance. Enter the name of the device from where the volume should be accessible on the virtual machine. The actual device name might differ due to hypervisor settings. Click Attach Volume to confirm your changes. The dashboard shows the instance to which the volume is now attached and the device name. You can attach a volume to one instance at a time. View the status of a volume in the Volumes category of the dashboard. The volume is either available or In-Use. Now you can log in to the instance and mount, format, and use the disk.

Log in to the dashboard, choose a project, and click the Volumes category. Select the volume and click Edit Attachments. Click Detach Volume and confirm your changes. A message indicates whether the action was successful.

Log in to the dashboard, choose a project, and click the Volumes category. Select a volume from which to create a snapshot. From the More drop-down list, select Create Snapshot. In the window that opens, enter a snapshot name and a brief description. Confirm your changes. The dashboard shows the new volume snapshot in the Images & Snapshots category.

When you delete an instance, the data of its attached volumes is not destroyed. Log in to the dashboard, choose a project, and click the Volumes category. Activate the check boxes in front of the volumes that you want to delete. Click Delete Volumes and confirm your choice in the pop-up that appears. A message indicates whether the action was successful.