> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://notes.kodekloud.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Consul Snapshot Agent Enterprise > Consul’s Snapshot Agent automates cluster backups with scheduling, retention, and storage management for enterprise users. Consul’s Snapshot Agent is an enterprise-only, long-running daemon that automates cluster backups. While open-source users must script snapshots via cron or CI/CD, the Snapshot Agent provides built-in scheduling, retention, and storage management. The Snapshot Agent requires Consul Enterprise. If you’re on OSS Consul, implement external scripting for snapshots. ## Key Features ![The image is a slide about the Consul Snapshot Agent (Enterprise), describing its features such as customizable intervals, retention configuration, and multiple storage options including local filesystem, S3-compatible storage, Azure Blob Storage, and Google Cloud Storage.](https://kodekloud.com/kk-media/image/upload/v1752877792/notes-assets/images/HashiCorp-Certified-Consul-Associate-Certification-Consul-Snapshot-Agent-Enterprise/consul-snapshot-agent-features-storage-options.jpg) * **Custom intervals**: e.g., hourly, six-hourly, daily * **Retention policies**: automatically purge old snapshots * **Storage backends**: local filesystem, S3-compatible (AWS S3, MinIO), Azure Blob, Google Cloud Storage Configure `snapshot.interval` (e.g., `24h`) and `snapshot.retain` (e.g., `48`) to control scheduling and purge behavior. ## Supported Storage Backends By default, manual snapshots are written locally. The Snapshot Agent lets you offload backups to resilient, off-node stores: | Backend | Use Case | Example Setting | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | | S3-Compatible | AWS S3, MinIO, DigitalOcean Spaces | `aws_storage.s3_bucket = "consul-snapshots"` | | Azure Blob Storage | Enterprise-grade Blob management | `azure_storage.account = "myaccount"` | | Google Cloud Storage | GCS buckets for global redundancy | `gcs_storage.bucket = "consul-gcs-snapshots"` | | Local Filesystem | On-node backups (default for CLI/API) | `filesystem.path = "/var/consul/snapshots"` | ## Benefits ![The image is an informational slide about the Consul Snapshot Agent (Enterprise), highlighting its benefits such as automated snapshots, high availability, failover, consistent snapshots, and health checks.](https://kodekloud.com/kk-media/image/upload/v1752877793/notes-assets/images/HashiCorp-Certified-Consul-Associate-Certification-Consul-Snapshot-Agent-Enterprise/consul-snapshot-agent-benefits-slide.jpg) * **Automated snapshots** on a defined schedule * **High availability** via agent-level leader election * **Automatic failover**: a new leader takes over if the current one fails * **Consistent backups**: only one snapshot per interval cluster-wide * **Service registration & health checks** for monitoring leader status When the agent starts, it registers a Consul service with health checks. You can alert on missing leaders or failed snapshot jobs using your monitoring tools. ## Configuration Setup involves two files: a JSON config for the agent and a systemd unit to manage the service. ### 1. Snapshot Agent JSON Save as `/etc/snapshot.d/snapshot.json`: ```json theme={null} { "snapshot_agent": { "http_addr": "127.0.0.1:8500", "token": "your-acl-token", "datacenter": "dc1", "snapshot": { "interval": "30m", "retain": 336, "deregister_after": "8h" }, "aws_storage": { "s3_region": "us-east-1", "s3_bucket": "consul-snapshots" } } } ``` Fields: * `http_addr`: Consul HTTP API address * `token`: ACL token with `snapshot` scope * `datacenter`: Optional target datacenter * `snapshot.interval`: Interval between snapshots * `snapshot.retain`: Number of snapshots to keep * `snapshot.deregister_after`: Deregister unhealthy agent after this duration * Storage blocks: one of `aws_storage`, `azure_storage`, `gcs_storage`, or `filesystem` Refer to the [Consul Snapshot Agent docs](https://www.consul.io/docs/enterprise/snapshot) for full details. ### 2. systemd Unit Create `/etc/systemd/system/consul-snapshot.service`: ```ini theme={null} [Unit] Description=Consul Snapshot Agent Documentation=https://www.consul.io/ Requires=network-online.target After=consul.service ConditionFileNotEmpty=/etc/snapshot.d/snapshot.json [Service] User=consul Group=consul ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/consul snapshot agent -config-dir=/etc/snapshot.d/ KillMode=process Restart=on-failure LimitNOFILE=65536 [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target ``` Then reload and enable: ```bash theme={null} sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl start consul-snapshot sudo systemctl enable consul-snapshot ``` ## Process Overview ![The image illustrates the Consul Snapshot Agent (Enterprise) process, showing how snapshots are created by a leader node and stored in an Amazon S3 bucket, with old snapshots being deleted for retention.](https://kodekloud.com/kk-media/image/upload/v1752877795/notes-assets/images/HashiCorp-Certified-Consul-Associate-Certification-Consul-Snapshot-Agent-Enterprise/consul-snapshot-agent-process-amazon-s3.jpg) 1. All nodes run the Snapshot Agent. 2. Agents hold a leader election each interval. 3. The leader captures the snapshot and uploads it to storage (e.g., S3). 4. The retention policy deletes older snapshots beyond the configured limit. ## Summary The Consul Snapshot Agent simplifies enterprise-grade backup automation with scheduled snapshots, multi-backend support, and built-in high availability. It ensures consistent, recoverable cluster state without external scripting. This functionality will be demonstrated in the accompanying lab. ## Links and References * [Consul Enterprise Snapshot Agent Documentation](https://www.consul.io/docs/enterprise/snapshot) * [AWS S3 Documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/s3/) * [Azure Blob Storage Overview](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/storage/blobs/) * [Google Cloud Storage](https://cloud.google.com/storage)