Amazon Lightsail

Automate Amazon Lightsail server and volume snapshots on a custom schedule.

SimpleBackups connects to your AWS account through IAM credentials to create and manage Lightsail snapshots automatically. This guide walks you through creating a least-privilege IAM policy, generating access keys, and linking your Lightsail account to SimpleBackups.

Create a custom Lightsail policy for snapshots

1. Connect to your AWS Console
2. Head to the IAM/Policies management page
3. Click Create policy
4. Click JSON and paste the custom policy below:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Sid": "SimpleBackupsLightsailSnapshots",
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Action": [
                "lightsail:GetInstance",
                "lightsail:GetInstances",
                "lightsail:GetInstanceSnapshot",
                "lightsail:GetInstanceSnapshots",
                "lightsail:CreateInstanceSnapshot",
                "lightsail:DeleteInstanceSnapshot",
                "lightsail:GetDisk",
                "lightsail:GetDisks",
                "lightsail:GetDiskSnapshot",
                "lightsail:GetDiskSnapshots",
                "lightsail:CreateDiskSnapshot",
                "lightsail:DeleteDiskSnapshot",
                "lightsail:TagResource",
                "lightsail:UntagResource",
                "lightsail:CopySnapshot"
            ],
            "Resource": "*"
        }
    ]
}

5. Click Next: Tags, then Next: Review
6. Give the policy a name (for example, LightsailSnapshotsPolicy) and click Create policy

Create a Lightsail user for snapshots

1. Head to the IAM/Users management page
2. Click Add users

Step 1: Set user access

Define a name for your user and choose Access key - Programmatic access for the credential type.

Step 2: Attach policy to user

Select Attach existing policies directly and choose the LightsailSnapshotsPolicy you created earlier. Select Create user without a permission boundary.

Step 3: Finalize user creation

Skip the tags step and click Next. Review the details and create the user.

Step 4: Copy your access credentials

Copy both the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.

!Save your credentials

The secret key is displayed only once. Copy it immediately and store it securely.

Connect Lightsail to SimpleBackups

1. Note which region your Lightsail instance is hosted in from the Lightsail console

2. In SimpleBackups, go to the Snapshots/Create page

3. Click Connect a new Provider and select Amazon Lightsail

4. Enter a name, paste your access key and secret, select the region where your Lightsail instance is hosted, and click Save provider

5. Select your Lightsail instance from the resource list

6. Configure your schedule, retention, and a descriptive name, then click Create Snapshot