GCP
DATA_LOSS - Data Loss: Unrecoverable Data Corruption
DATA_LOSS indicates unrecoverable data corruption or permanent loss—GCP's backend storage systems detected integrity failures that can't be fixed automatically. This critical server-side error means data is corrupted, lost, or damaged beyond recovery. Most common in Compute Engine when disks suffer storage failures or corruption, but also appears in Cloud SQL with database corruption, GKE with persistent volume corruption, and BigQuery with table data corruption. This is a permanent issue—you must restore from backups or snapshots if available, or contact GCP support for recovery assistance.
#Common Causes
- →Data Corruption: Data integrity is compromised due to storage failures, system errors, or hardware issues. Corrupted data can't be used for operations. This is persistent—you must restore from backup.
- →Unrecoverable Data Loss: Data has been permanently lost and can't be recovered. This may occur due to storage failures, accidental deletion, or system errors. This is persistent—you must restore from backup if available.
- →Storage Failure: The underlying storage system has failed and data is inaccessible or corrupted. Storage health issues prevent data operations. This is persistent—you must restore from backup or contact GCP support.
- →Service-Specific Data Loss: Data loss behavior varies by service. Some services have better recovery mechanisms than others.
✓Solutions
- 1Step 1: Diagnose - Check disk status to see if the disk is accessible: gcloud compute disks describe DISK_NAME --zone ZONE --format="get(status)" --project PROJECT_ID
- 2Step 2: Diagnose - Check for available snapshots that can be used for recovery: gcloud compute snapshots list --filter="sourceDisk:projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/disks/DISK_NAME" --project PROJECT_ID
- 3Step 3: Diagnose - Review error message for specific data issues and corruption details.
- 4Step 4: Diagnose - Check storage health by reviewing storage system status in Cloud Console.
- 5Step 5: Fix - Restore from backup if available: gcloud compute disks create restored-disk --source-snapshot SNAPSHOT_NAME --zone ZONE --project PROJECT_ID
- 6Step 6: Fix - Check for available backups: gcloud compute snapshots list --filter="sourceDisk:projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/disks/DISK_NAME" --project PROJECT_ID
- 7Step 7: Fix - Contact GCP support if no backups exist or storage is unhealthy. GCP support can provide recovery assistance.
- 8Step 8: Verify - After restoring from backup, verify data integrity by checking the restored resource.
</>Code Examples
Data Loss Recovery from Snapshots
1# This script helps recover from DATA_LOSS errors by restoring from snapshots
2
3PROJECT_ID="my-project"
4DISK_NAME="my-disk"
5ZONE="us-central1-a"
6
7# Step 1: Check disk status
8echo "Checking disk status..."
9DISK_STATUS=$(gcloud compute disks describe $DISK_NAME \
10 --zone $ZONE \
11 --project $PROJECT_ID \
12 --format="value(status)" 2>/dev/null)
13
14if [ -z "$DISK_STATUS" ]; then
15 echo "ERROR: Disk $DISK_NAME not found in zone $ZONE"
16 exit 1
17fi
18
19echo "Disk status: $DISK_STATUS"
20
21# Step 2: Check for available snapshots
22echo "Checking for available snapshots..."
23SNAPSHOTS=$(gcloud compute snapshots list \
24 --filter="sourceDisk:projects/$PROJECT_ID/zones/$ZONE/disks/$DISK_NAME" \
25 --format="table(name,creationTimestamp,diskSizeGb)" \
26 --project $PROJECT_ID)
27
28if [ -z "$SNAPSHOTS" ] || [ "$SNAPSHOTS" == "NAME" ]; then
29 echo "WARNING: No snapshots found for disk $DISK_NAME"
30 echo "You may need to contact GCP support for recovery assistance"
31 exit 1
32fi
33
34echo "Available snapshots:"
35echo "$SNAPSHOTS"
36
37# Step 3: Get the most recent snapshot
38LATEST_SNAPSHOT=$(gcloud compute snapshots list \
39 --filter="sourceDisk:projects/$PROJECT_ID/zones/$ZONE/disks/$DISK_NAME" \
40 --sort-by=~creationTimestamp \
41 --format="value(name)" \
42 --limit=1 \
43 --project $PROJECT_ID)
44
45if [ -z "$LATEST_SNAPSHOT" ]; then
46 echo "ERROR: Could not find latest snapshot"
47 exit 1
48fi
49
50echo "Latest snapshot: $LATEST_SNAPSHOT"
51
52# Step 4: Restore from snapshot
53RESTORED_DISK_NAME="$DISK_NAME-restored-$(date +%s)"
54echo "Creating restored disk $RESTORED_DISK_NAME from snapshot $LATEST_SNAPSHOT..."
55gcloud compute disks create $RESTORED_DISK_NAME \
56 --source-snapshot $LATEST_SNAPSHOT \
57 --zone $ZONE \
58 --project $PROJECT_ID
59
60echo "Restored disk created: $RESTORED_DISK_NAME"
61echo "You can now attach this disk to a VM or use it to replace the corrupted disk"↗Related Errors
Provider Information
This error code is specific to GCP services. For more information, refer to the official GCP documentation.