/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load

Appropriate Vault Enterprise license required

Manage the state of loaded snapshots within the Vault cluster.

Load a snapshot into Vault

Method	Path
`POST`	`/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load`

Load a new snapshot into the Vault cluster without overwriting the cluster with the snapshot's data. After loading a snapshot, you can recover, read, and list individual pieces of data from the loaded snapshot.

Restrictions for loading snapshots

The snapshot must be from the same cluster and have the same unseal keys as the current cluster.
You can only load one snapshot into a cluster at a time.
Vault automatically unloads snapshots 72 hours after they are loaded.
If your cluster's active node changes, the loaded snapshot's status updates to error and it cannot be used for any recover operations. You must unload and reload the snapshot to use it again.
You cannot load a snapshot if your cluster has mlock enabled in its Vault configuration.

Sample request

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request POST \
    --data-binary @raft.snap \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load

Sample response

{
  "data": {
    "cluster_id": "2ec84695-cfe5-44f3-b351-3f08a9ccc0c8",
    "created_at": "2025-05-22T15:07:58.187769+01:00",
    "expires_at": "2025-05-25T15:07:58.187769+01:00",
    "snapshot_id": "2403d301-94f2-46a1-a39d-02be83e2831a",
    "status": "loading"
  }
}

List loaded snapshots

List all snapshots currently loaded in the cluster.

Method	Path
`LIST`	`/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load`

Sample request

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request LIST \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load

Sample response

{
  "data": {
    "keys": ["2403d301-94f2-46a1-a39d-02be83e2831a"]
  }
}

Read loaded snapshot

Read the status details of a given snapshot loaded in the cluster.

Method	Path
`GET`	`/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load/:snapshot_id`

Sample request

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load/2403d301-94f2-46a1-a39d-02be83e2831a

Sample responses

For a snapshot loaded as a binary file:

{
  "data": {
    "cluster_id": "2ec84695-cfe5-44f3-b351-3f08a9ccc0c8",
    "created_at": "2025-05-22T15:07:58.187769+01:00",
    "expires_at": "2025-05-25T15:07:58.187769+01:00",
    "snapshot_id": "2403d301-94f2-46a1-a39d-02be83e2831a",
    "status": "ready"
  }
}

For a snapshot loaded from an Automated Snapshot configuration:

{
  "data": {
    "auto_config_name": "config1",
    "cluster_id": "2ec84695-cfe5-44f3-b351-3f08a9ccc0c8",
    "created_at": "2025-05-22T15:07:58.187769+01:00",
    "expires_at": "2025-05-25T15:07:58.187769+01:00",
    "snapshot_id": "2403d301-94f2-46a1-a39d-02be83e2831a",
    "status": "ready",
    "url": "https://example.com/raft.snap"
  }
}

Unload loaded snapshot

Unloads a currently loaded snapshot from the cluster.

Method	Path
`DELETE`	`/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load/:snapshot_id`

Query parameters

force (boolean: false) - If set to true, forces the unload of a snapshot even if it is in use by an ongoing recovery operation or is still loading.

Sample request

$ curl \
    --header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
    --request DELETE \
    http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/sys/storage/raft/snapshot-load/2403d301-94f2-46a1-a39d-02be83e2831a