Problem: AWS Lightsail Backup & Restore Failures – Snapshot Creation or Restoration Issues

Problem: AWS Lightsail Backup & Restore Failures – Snapshot Creation or Restoration Issues

Common Error Messages:

# When creating a snapshot
An error occurred (ServiceException) when calling the 
CreateInstanceSnapshot operation:  
Instance snapshot creation failed due to an internal service error.

# When restoring a snapshot
An error occurred (InvalidInputException) when calling the 
CreateInstances operation:  
The specified snapshot ID 'WebServer-Snapshot' is invalid.

# When trying to delete a snapshot
An error occurred (AccessDeniedException) when calling the 
DeleteInstanceSnapshot operation:  
User is not authorized to perform this action.

Issue:
AWS Lightsail backups use instance snapshots, but sometimes creating, restoring, or deleting snapshots fails. This usually happens due to:

• Snapshot Limit Reached – AWS enforces limits on the number of snapshots per instance.
• Invalid Snapshot ID – The snapshot name may be incorrect or the snapshot does not exist.
• Permissions Issue – The AWS IAM user may not have proper permissions.
• Instance Size Conflict – Trying to restore a snapshot to a smaller instance may cause errors.
• AWS Internal Error – A temporary service issue may prevent snapshot creation.

Fix: Verify Snapshot Status and Apply Fixes

# Step 1: List all available snapshots
$ aws lightsail get-instance-snapshots

# Expected Output...
{
    "instanceSnapshots": [
        {
            "name": "WebServer-Snapshot",
            "createdAt": "2025-02-10T12:00:00Z",
            "state": "available",
            "fromInstanceName": "WebServer",
            "sizeInGb": 20
        }
    ]
}

# If no snapshots are listed, the snapshot does not exist.  
# Check the snapshot name and try again.

# Step 2: Create a new snapshot (if necessary)
$ aws lightsail create-instance-snapshot \
    --instance-name "WebServer" \
    --instance-snapshot-name "WebServer-Snapshot-New"

# Expected Output...
{
    "operations": [
        {
            "operationType": "CreateInstanceSnapshot",
            "status": "Started"
        }
    ]
}

# Step 3: Verify the snapshot status
$ aws lightsail get-instance-snapshots \
    --query "instanceSnapshots[].{Name:name, State:state}"

# Expected Output...
[
    {
        "Name": "WebServer-Snapshot",
        "State": "available"
    }
]

# If the state is "pending" or "failed," the snapshot 
# did not complete successfully.

# Step 3.1: If the snapshot is stuck in "pending," wait and retry
$ aws lightsail create-instance-snapshot \
    --instance-name "WebServer" \
    --instance-snapshot-name "WebServer-Snapshot-Retry"

# Step 3.2: If the snapshot is "failed," delete and retry
$ aws lightsail delete-instance-snapshot \
    --instance-snapshot-name "WebServer-Snapshot"

# Expected Output...
{
    "operations": [
        {
            "operationType": "DeleteInstanceSnapshot",
            "status": "Started"
        }
    ]
}

# Step 3.3: Check instance health before retrying snapshot creation
$ aws lightsail get-instance-metric-data \
    --instance-name "WebServer" \
    --metric-name StatusCheckFailed \
    --period 60 \
    --statistics Maximum \
    --unit Count

# Expected Output...
{
    "datapoints": [
        {
            "timestamp": "2025-02-10T12:00:00Z",
            "maximum": 1.0,
            "unit": "Count"
        }
    ],
    "label": "StatusCheckFailed"
}

# Step 3.4: If the "maximum" value is 1.0 or higher, 
# check if it's an AWS issue
$ aws lightsail get-instance-metric-data \
    --instance-name "WebServer" \
    --metric-name StatusCheckFailed_System \
    --period 60 \
    --statistics Maximum \
    --unit Count

# If StatusCheckFailed_System = 1.0, AWS detected a hardware failure.
# Solution: Create a new instance from a working snapshot instead.

# Step 3.5: If AWS did not detect a system failure, restart and retry
$ aws lightsail reboot-instance \
    --instance-name "WebServer"

$ aws lightsail create-instance-snapshot \
    --instance-name "WebServer" \
    --instance-snapshot-name "WebServer-Snapshot-Retry"

# Step 4: Restore the snapshot to a new instance
$ aws lightsail create-instances \
    --instance-names "WebServer-Restored" \
    --availability-zone "us-east-1a" \
    --blueprint-id "ubuntu_22_04" \
    --bundle-id "medium_3_0" \
    --source-instance-id "WebServer-Snapshot"

# Expected Output...
{
    "operations": [
        {
            "operationType": "CreateInstancesFromSnapshot",
            "status": "Started"
        }
    ]
}

# Step 5: If you hit the snapshot limit, delete old snapshots
$ aws lightsail delete-instance-snapshot \
    --instance-snapshot-name "Old-Snapshot"

# Expected Output...
{
    "operations": [
        {
            "operationType": "DeleteInstanceSnapshot",
            "status": "Started"
        }
    ]
}

# Step 6: If permissions issues occur, check IAM policies
$ aws lightsail get-instance-access-details \
    --instance-name "WebServer"

# Expected Output (If user is unauthorized)...
An error occurred (AccessDeniedException) when calling the 
GetInstanceAccessDetails operation:  
User is not authorized to perform this action.

# Fix: Ensure the IAM user has the required Lightsail permissions
# Navigate to the AWS IAM console and attach the following policy:

{
    "Effect": "Allow",
    "Action": [
        "lightsail:GetInstanceSnapshots",
        "lightsail:CreateInstanceSnapshot",
        "lightsail:DeleteInstanceSnapshot",
        "lightsail:CreateInstancesFromSnapshot"
    ],
    "Resource": "*"
}

# Step 7: If AWS service issues persist, check AWS status
$ curl -s https://status.aws.amazon.com | grep Lightsail

# If AWS is experiencing service outages, wait and retry later.

# FINAL STEP: Verify that the new instance is running
$ aws lightsail get-instances \
    --query "instances[].{Name:name, State:state.name}"

# Expected Output...
[
    {
        "Name": "WebServer-Restored",
        "State": "running"
    }
]

Need AWS Expertise?

If you're looking for guidance on Amazon Lightsail or any cloud challenges, feel free to reach out! We'd love to help you tackle your Lightsail projects. 🚀

Email us at: info@pacificw.com

Image: Gemini