Move a cloud server or cloud infrastructure

Last update: July 08 2026

If you need to move a configured infrastructure (servers, networks, volumes, backups, and other resources) or if it is important to save the public IP address when moving a server, we recommend moving the infrastructure project to another account. When moving this way, you cannot select a different pool segment.

A cloud server can be transferred to another pool segment, project, or account. To do this, you need to create and transfer the boot volume image of the server or transfer the server volume directly. When transferring an image to another project or account, you can also change the pool segment. It is not possible to transfer a server directly.

Move a cloud infrastructure project to another account

To move cloud infrastructure to another account, move the project.

You can only transfer a project within a single pool segment. All project objects will be preserved: servers, networks, public IP addresses, volumes, and other resources.

To move a project to another account, use the instructions Moving services to another account.

Move a cloud server to another pool segment, project, or account

warning

When transferring a cloud server, its public IP address and other project resources will not be transferred. After the transfer, you can connect a new public IP address — a public floating IP address, public direct IP address or create a public subnet. If you want to keep the public IP address, transfer the entire project to another account.

A cloud server can be transferred to another pool segment, project, and account. When transferring an image to another project or account, you can also change the pool segment, including selecting a different pool and region.

You can move a server in two ways:

• move the boot volume image to use it for creating a new server in another pool segment, project, or account. We recommend using this method to move a server with a small amount of data;
• move the server volume directly to a server in another pool segment, project, or account. We recommend using this method for moving a server with a large amount of data.

Move a volume image

1. See the name and type of the boot volume of the source cloud server.

2. Create a boot volume image of the source cloud server.

3. Move the image to the account, project, or pool segment to which you want to move the cloud server.

4. Create a target cloud server from the boot volume image.

5. If standard volumes are used on the source server, move them and connect them to the target server.

6. If the source and target servers are in different pools, create a new public floating IP address for the server.

1. View the name and type of the boot volume of the source server

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. Open the Servers tab → server page.

3. Open the Configuration tab. If there is a Local disk field on the tab, the server has a local boot disk.

4. Open the Network volumes tab. If there is a Bootable tag in the volume line, the server has a bootable network volume.

2. Create a boot volume image of the source server

Control panel

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. In the server menu, select Turn off. The server status will change to SHUTOFF.

3. Go to the Images section.

4. Click Create image.

5. Enter the image name.

6. Select a location to which the image will be uploaded. Images smaller than 16 GB are automatically replicated to neighboring pool segments of the location.

7. Select a volume as the image source.

8. Select a volume — an image can only be created in the pool where the volume is located.

9. Optional: check the Specify minimum disk and memory requirements box. Specify the minimum RAM in MB and disk size in GB. When a cloud server is created from this image, the Control panel or API will automatically check these restrictions.

10. Click Create.

OpenStack CLI

The image will only be available to the project and pool for which you have configured OpenStack API authorization.

The image creation process depends on the type of volume you checked earlier.

Local disk

1. Open the OpenStack CLI.

2. Turn off the server — an inconsistent image might be created from a running volume:

   openstack server stop <server>

   Specify <server> — the server ID or name. You can view the list using the openstack server list command.

   The server status will change to SHUTOFF.

3. Create a local disk image:

   openstack server image create --name <image_name> <server>

   Specify:

   • <image_name> — the image name;
   • <server> — the server ID or name. You can view the list using the openstack server list command.

Network volume

1. Open the OpenStack CLI.

2. Turn off the server — an inconsistent image might be created from a running volume:

   openstack server stop <server>

   Specify <server> — the server ID or name. You can view the list using the openstack server list command

   The server status will change to SHUTOFF.

3. Disconnect the network volume from the server:

   openstack server remove volume <server> <volume>

   Specify:

   • <server> — the server ID or name. You can view the list using the openstack server list command;
   • <volume> — the network volume ID or name. You can view the list using the openstack volume list command.

4. Check that the network volume has transitioned to the AVAILABLE status:

   openstack volume list

5. Create a network volume image:

   openstack image create --volume <volume> <image_name>

   Specify <image_name> — image name.

3. Move the image

An image can be moved to another account, project, or pool segment.

When moving an image to another account or project, you can also change the pool segment.

Control panel

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. Go to the Images section.

3. In the menu of the boot volume image, select Copy link.

4. Go to the account you want to move the server to.

5. Open the projects menu (the current project name) and select the required project.

6. Click Create image.

7. Enter the image name.

8. Select a location to which you want to transfer the image. The cloud server will be transferred to the same location.

9. Select URL as the image source.

10. Paste the image URL that you copied in step 3.

11. Select the image format and container format.

    If you do not know which formats to specify, set the image format to raw and the container format to bare.

12. Select the operating system.

13. Optional: check the Specify minimum disk and memory requirements box. Specify the minimum RAM in MB and disk size in GB. When a cloud server is created from this image, the Control panel or API will automatically check these restrictions.

14. Click Create.

OpenStack CLI

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. Go to the Images section.

3. In the menu of the boot volume image, select Copy link.

4. Open the OpenStack CLI.

5. Configure OpenStack API authorization for the account, project, and pool to which you want to move the cloud server.

6. Create an empty image:

   openstack image create <image_name>

   Specify <image_name> — image name.

7. Import the image:

   openstack image import \
     --method web-download \
     --uri <image_url> \
     <image_name>

   Specify:

   • <image_url> — image URL that you copied in step 3;
   • <image_name> — image name.

4. Create a target server from the image

Control panel

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. Click Create server.

3. Enter the cloud server name. It will be set as the hostname in the server's operating system.

4. Select the location to which you moved the boot volume image.

5. In the Source block, open the Images tab.

6. Select the boot volume image you created earlier.

7. Click Select.

8. Select the configuration of the line for the cloud server:

   • fixed - ranges of configurations with different specifications, in which the resource ratio is fixed;
   • custom - configurations in which any resource ratio can be specified.

   Different processors are used across various server lines and configurations depending on the pool segment. You can add GPUs to configurations — see the Creating a cloud server with GPU instructions for more details.

   After creating the server, you can change its configuration.

   The amount of RAM allocated to the server may be less than specified — the operating system kernel reserves some RAM depending on the kernel version and distribution. You can check the allocated volume on an existing server using the sudo dmesg | grep Memory command.

9. Select the boot (system) volume of the server:

   • local disk without network latency — check the Local SSD NVMe disk box. If you have selected a custom configuration, specify the local disk size. If you selected a fixed configuration, the disk size will depend on the configuration;
   • or network volume — in the Disk Type field, select the type of disk and specify its size.

   After server creation, you will be able to replace only the bootable network volume.

10. Click Add.

11. Optional: to add an additional disk to the server, click Add. You can add multiple disks.

    After the server is created, you can detach additional disks from it and attach new ones.

    You can transfer the additional disks that were attached to the original server.

12. In the Internet block, configure public access to the server:

    12.1. In the Internet connection field, select the access type:

    • public floating IP address — a static public IP address with a private subnet. The server to which the public IP address is currently connected will be accessible from the internet;
    • no internet access — the server will only be accessible from the private subnet or via the console.

    12.2. If you selected Public floating IP address, select a public IP address or create a new one.

13. In the Private network block, attach an existing private subnet with a cloud router or create a new one:

    Existing private subnet

    13.1. In the Subnet field, select a subnet.

    13.2. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

    New private subnet

    13.1. In the Subnet field, select New private subnet.

    13.2. In the Network field, select an existing network or create a new one.

    13.3. Optional: change the subnet CIDR.

    13.4. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

    13.5. Optional: in the Router field, select a cloud router or create a new one.

14. Select security groups to filter traffic on server ports. Without security groups, traffic will be denied. If the section is missing, traffic filtering (port security) is disabled in the server network. With filtering disabled, all traffic will be allowed.

15. To connect to the server securely, place an SSH key on it. You can add multiple keys. Key types ed25519, rsa, ecdsa, and dsa are supported.

    Select an existing key or click Add SSH key. Enter a key name and paste the public SSH key in OpenSSH format. Click Add.

    If no SSH keys are created, generate them.

16. Optional: copy and save the root user password (a user with unlimited permissions for all system operations). Store the password in a secure place and do not transmit it in plain text.

17. Optional: to create a preemptible server, select the Preemptible server **** checkbox.

18. Optional: if you plan to create multiple servers and want to increase infrastructure fault tolerance, we recommend using placement groups or placing cloud servers in different pool segments — in other cases, we do not guarantee placement on different hosts.

    Select an existing placement group or click Create group and enter a group name. Select a placement policy:

    • best effort on different hosts — soft-anti-affinity, the system will try to place servers on different hosts. If there is no suitable host available when creating the server, it will be created on the same host;
    • mandatory on different hosts — anti-affinity, servers in the group will strictly be placed on different hosts. If we cannot find a suitable host, the server will not be created.

    Once a server is created, it cannot be added to a group directly — only by creating a copy.

19. Optional: to add additional information to a server or to filter servers in the list, add a tag. You can add multiple tags. OS and configuration tags are added automatically.

    In the Tags field, select existing tags or enter a new one. The maximum tag length is 60 characters. You can use Latin and Cyrillic letters, digits, and hyphens.

20. Optional: in the User data field, paste or upload a script that will run when the system boots. The maximum size of an unencoded script is 16 KB. Examples of scripts and supported formats can be found in the User data guide.

21. Click Create server.

OpenStack CLI

1. Open OpenStack CLI.

2. Create a cloud server:

openstack server create \
    [--image <image> | --volume <volume> | --snapshot <snapshot>] \
    --flavor <flavor> \
    --availability-zone <pool_segment> \
    --nic net-id=<net_uuid> \
    --security-group <security_group> \
    --key-name <key_name> \
    <server_name>

Specify:

• source type:
  • --image <image> — to create a server from a pre-built or custom image. The <image> parameter is the image ID or name. You can view the image list using the openstack image list`` command;
  • --volume <volume> — to create a server from a network volume. The <volume> parameter is the volume ID or name. You can view the network volume list using the openstack volume list`` command;
  • --snapshot <snapshot> — to create a server from a snapshot. The <snapshot> parameter is the snapshot ID or name. You can view the snapshot list using the openstack snapshot list`` command;
• <flavor> — the flavor ID or name. Flavors correspond to cloud server configurations and define the number of vCPUs, RAM, and local disk size (optional) of the server. You can use fixed configuration flavors or create a custom flavor. For example, 1015 is the ID to create a server with a fixed configuration from the Standard line with 4 vCPUs and 16 GB of RAM in pool ru-9. You can view the list of flavors using the openstack flavor list command or in the Fixed configuration flavors list for all pools table;
• <pool_segment> — the pool segment where the cloud server will be created, e.g., ru-9a. You can view the list of available pool segments in the Availability Matrix;
• <net_uuid> — the ID of the private or public network to which the server will be connected. You can view the list using the openstack network list`` command;
• <security_group> — the ID or name of the security group to be assigned to all server ports. To create a server with a security group, traffic filtering (port security) must be enabled in the network. You can view the group list using the openstack security group list`` command;
• <key_name> — the name of the SSH key pair for the service user. If no SSH keys are created, generate them. You can view the list using the openstack keypair list`` command;
• optional: --block-device-mapping vdb=<extra_volume> — the ID or name of the additional volume. You can view the list using the openstack volume list`` command;
• optional: --property x_cloud_smt_enabled=false — disable Hyper-Threading (SMT). If this parameter is not specified, Hyper-Threading (SMT) will be enabled by default. Only works with flavors that support dedicated cores. You can view the list of flavors in the Fixed configuration flavors list for all pools table;
• optional: --property x_cloud_numa_nodes=1 — place resources on a single NUMA node. Only works with flavors that support dedicated cores. You can view the list of flavors in the Fixed configuration flavors list for all pools table;
• optional: --tag <tag_name> --os-compute-api-version 2.52 — a tag to add extra information about the server;
• optional: --tag preemptible --os-compute-api-version 2.72 — a tag to create a preemptible server;
• optional: --user-data <user_data.file> — the path to a script with Base64-encoded data. Scenarios and tasks from the script will run upon the first boot of the OS. You can view examples of scripts in the User data guide;
• <server_name> — the server name.

5. Transfer additional volumes

If the source cloud server uses additional volumes, you can transfer them.

1. Create images of the additional volumes.

2. Transfer the additional volume images to the account, project, or pool segment to which you transferred the cloud server.

3. Create network volumes from the images.

4. Connect the network volumes to the new cloud server.

6. Create a public floating IP address for the server

Control Panel

1. In the Control panel, click Products in the top menu and select Cloud Servers.

2. Go to the Network section.

3. Open the Public IP addresses tab.

4. Click Create IP address.

5. Select a location in which the public floating IP address will be created.

6. Specify the number of public IP addresses.

7. Click Create.

OpenStack CLI

1. Open OpenStack CLI.

2. Create a public floating IP address:

   openstack floating ip create external-network

Transfer disk directly

1. View the name and type of the bootable volume of the source cloud server.

2. Create a target cloud server.

3. Transfer the source cloud server disk.

4. If the source server uses additional disks, transfer them and attach them to the target cloud server.

1. View the name and type of the bootable volume

1. In the Control panel, click Products in the top menu and select Cloud Servers.

2. Open the Servers tab → server page.

3. Open the Configuration tab. If the tab has a Local disk field, the server has a bootable local disk.

4. Open the Network volumes tab. If the volume line has a Bootable tag, the server has a bootable network volume.

2. Create a target server

Control Panel

1. In the Control panel, click Products in the top menu and select Cloud Servers.

2. Click Create server.

3. Enter the cloud server name. It will be set as the hostname in the server operating system.

4. Select a location in which the target server will be created.

5. In the Source block, select the source from which the server will be created. The boot type (BIOS or UEFI) of the source must match the boot type of the original server.

6. Click Select.

7. Select a configuration line for the cloud server:

   • Fixed — linear configurations with different technical specifications where the resource ratio is fixed;
   • Custom — configurations in which any resource ratio can be specified.

   Depending on the pool segment, different processors are used for different server lines and configurations. Graphic processors can be added to configurations — read more in the Create a cloud server with GPU instructions.

   After server creation, you can change the configuration.

   The amount of RAM allocated to the server may be less than specified — the operating system kernel reserves some RAM depending on the kernel version and distribution. You can check the allocated volume on an existing server using the sudo dmesg | grep Memory command.

8. Select the boot (system) disk for the server:

   • local disk without network latency — check the Local SSD NVMe disk box. If you selected a custom configuration, specify the local disk size. If you selected fixed, the disk size will depend on the configuration;
   • or network volume — in the Disk type field, select the disk type and specify its size.

   The disk must be no smaller than the original server disk size.

   After server creation, you can replace only the network boot volume.

9. Click Add.

10. Optional: to add an additional disk to the server, click Add. You can add multiple disks.

    After server creation, you can detach additional disks from it and attach new ones.

    You can transfer the additional disks that were attached to the source server.

11. In the Internet block, configure public access to the server:

    11.1. In the Internet connection field, select the access type:

    • public floating IP address — the server will be accessible from a private subnet that is connected to a cloud router with 1:1 NAT functionality. Access from the internet will be provided via the public floating IP address, and access to the internet via the router;

    • no access from the internet — the server will be available only from a private subnet or through the console.

    11.2. If you selected Public floating IP address, select a free static IP address or create a new one.

12. In the Private network block, attach an existing private subnet or create a new one:

    Control panel

    12.1. In the Subnet field, select a subnet.

    12.2. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

    12.3. In the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one.

    12.4. For a server without access from the internet, select the Connect router to the internet checkbox. An external IP address will be assigned to the router.

    For a server with a public floating IP address, a cloud router without an external network connection will be automatically connected to the internet after server creation.

    New private subnet

    12.1. In the Subnet field, select New private subnet.

    12.2. In the Network field, select an existing network or create a new one.

    12.3. Optional: change the subnet CIDR.

    12.4. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

    12.5. In the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one.

    12.6. For a server without access from the internet, select the Connect router to the internet checkbox. An external IP address will be assigned to the router.

    For a server with a public floating IP address, a cloud router without an external network connection will be automatically connected to the internet after server creation.

13. Select security groups to filter traffic on server ports. Without security groups, traffic will be denied. If the block is missing, traffic filtering (port security) is disabled in the server network. With filtering disabled, all traffic will be allowed.

14. To connect to the server securely, place an SSH key on it. You can add multiple keys. Supported key types are ed25519, rsa, ecdsa, and dsa.

    Select an existing key or click Add SSH key. Enter the key name and paste the public SSH key in OpenSSH format. Click Add.

    If SSH keys are not created, generate them.

15. Optional: copy and save the root user password (user with unlimited permissions for all system operations). Store the password in a secure place and do not transmit it in plaintext.

16. Optional: to create a preemptible server, select the Preemptible server checkbox.

17. Optional: if you plan to create multiple servers and want to improve infrastructure fault tolerance, we recommend using placement groups or placing cloud servers in different pool segments — in other cases, we do not guarantee placement on different hosts.

    Select an existing placement group or click Create group and enter a group name. Select a placement policy:

    • preferably on different hosts — soft-anti-affinity, the system will try to place servers on different hosts. If there is no suitable host available when creating the server, it will be created on the same host;
    • required on different hosts — anti-affinity, servers in the group are required to be located on different hosts. If we do not find a suitable host, the server will not be created.

    After server creation, the server cannot be added to a group directly — only by creating a copy.

18. Optional: to add additional information to the server or filter servers in the list, add a tag. You can add multiple tags. OS and configuration tags are added automatically.

    In the Tags field, select existing tags or enter a new one. The maximum tag length is 60 characters. You can use Latin and Cyrillic letters, numbers, and hyphens.

19. Optional: in the User data field, paste or upload a script that will run when the system boots. The maximum script size with data not encoded in Base64 is 16 KB. Examples of scripts and supported formats can be found in the User data instruction.

20. Click Create server.

OpenStack CLI

1. Open OpenStack CLI.

2. Create a cloud server:

   openstack server create \
       [--image <image> | --volume <volume> | --snapshot <snapshot>] \
       --flavor <flavor> \
       --availability-zone <pool_segment> \
       --nic net-id=<net_uuid> \
       --security-group <security_group> \
       --key-name <key_name> \
       <server_name>

   Specify:

   • source type:
     • --image <image> — for creating a server from a pre-built image or custom image. Parameter <image> — image ID or name. The image list can be viewed using the openstack image list command;
     • --volume <volume> — for creating a server from a network volume. Parameter <volume> — volume ID or name. The list of network volumes can be viewed using the openstack volume list command;
     • --snapshot <snapshot> — for creating a server from a snapshot. Parameter <snapshot> — snapshot ID or name. The list of snapshots can be viewed using the openstack snapshot list command;
   • <flavor> — flavor ID or name. Flavors correspond to cloud server configurations and define the number of vCPU, RAM, and the local disk size (optional) of the server. You can use fixed configuration flavors or create a flavor. For example, 1015 is the ID to create a server with a fixed configuration from the Standard line with 4 vCPU and 16 GB RAM in the ru-9 pool. The flavor list can be viewed using the openstack flavor list command or in the List of fixed configuration flavors in all pools table;
   • <pool_segment> — pool segment in which the cloud server will be created, e.g., ru-9a. The list of available pool segments can be viewed in the Availability matrix instruction;
   • <net_uuid> — ID of the private or public network to which the server will be connected. The list can be viewed using the openstack network list command;
   • <security_group> — ID or name of the security group that will be assigned to all server ports. To create a server with a security group, traffic filtering (port security) must be enabled in the network. The list of groups can be viewed using the openstack security group list command;
   • <key_name> — name of the SSH key pair for the service user. If SSH keys are not created, generate them. The list can be viewed using the openstack keypair list command;
   • optional: --block-device-mapping vdb=<extra_volume> — ID or name of an additional disk. The list can be viewed using the openstack volume list command;
   • optional: --property x_cloud_smt_enabled=false — disable Hyper-Threading (SMT). If this parameter is not specified, Hyper-Threading (SMT) will be enabled by default. Can only be used with flavors that support dedicated cores. The flavor list can be viewed in the List of fixed configuration flavors in all pools table;
   • optional: --property x_cloud_numa_nodes=1 — place resources on a single NUMA node. Can only be used with flavors that support dedicated cores. The flavor list can be viewed in the List of fixed configuration flavors in all pools table;
   • optional: --tag <tag_name> --os-compute-api-version 2.52 — tag to add additional information about the server;
   • optional: --tag preemptible --os-compute-api-version 2.72 — tag to create a preemptible server;
   • optional: --user-data <user_data.file> — path to a script with Base64-encoded data. Scenarios and tasks from the script will execute on the first OS boot. Examples of scripts can be viewed in the User data instruction;
   • <server_name> — server name.

3. Transfer the original server disk to the target

1. Connect to the target server.

2. View the boot volume ID: output volume information:

   lsblk

   Information about the server disks will appear in the output. The /boot/efi value in the MOUNTPOINTS column indicates the boot volume. For example:

   NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
   sda         8:0      0 931.5G  0 disk 
   └─sda1      8:1      0 931.5G  0 part /mnt/data
   nvme0n1     259:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
   ├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   512M  0 part /boot/efi
   ├─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0    16G  0 part [SWAP]
   └─nvme0n1p3 259:3    0 449.3G  0 part /

   Here nvme0n1 is the volume identifier.

3. Copy the boot volume ID that you obtained in step 2.

4. Boot the source server in Rescue mode.

5. Connect to the source cloud server.

6. View volume identifiers by outputting volume information:

   lsblk

   Information about the server volumes will appear in the output. The /boot/efi value in the MOUNTPOINTS column indicates the boot volume. For example:

   NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
   sda           8:0    0   1.8T  0 disk 
   └─sda1        8:1    0   1.8T  0 part /mnt/data
   sdb           8:16   0 931.5G  0 disk 
   └─sdb1        8:17   0 931.5G  0 part /mnt/backup
   nvme0n1     259:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
   ├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   512M  0 part /boot/efi
   ├─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0    16G  0 part [SWAP]
   └─nvme0n1p3 259:3    0 449.3G  0 part /

   12.3. Optional: change the subnet CIDR.

7. 12.4. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

8. 12.5. In the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one.

   ssh root@NEW-IP '> /dev/<target_disk_id>' < /dev/<source_disk_id>

   Specify:

   • For a server with a public floating IP address, a cloud router without an external network connection will automatically connect to the internet after server creation.
   • Select security groups to filter traffic on server ports. Without security groups, traffic will be blocked. If the block is missing, traffic filtering (port security) is disabled in the server network. With filtering disabled, all traffic will be allowed.

To securely connect to the server, place an SSH key on it. You can add multiple keys. Supported key types are ed25519, rsa, ecdsa, and dsa.

Select an existing key or click Add SSH key. Enter the key name and paste the public SSH key in OpenSSH format. Click Add.

1. If no SSH keys have been created, generate them.

2. Optional: copy and save the root user password (a user with unlimited rights to all system operations). Keep the password in a safe place and do not transmit it in plaintext.

3. Optional: to create an preemptible server, check the preemptible Server checkbox.

4. Optional: if you plan to create multiple servers and want to improve infrastructure fault tolerance, we recommend using placement groups or placing cloud servers in different pool segments — in other cases, we do not guarantee placement on different hosts.