Snapshots

A VM snapshot captures the state of a VM at a particular point in time. The snapshot includes the configuration, disk data, and the current state. The purpose is to allow the user to revert to the snapshot in the event something happens to the VM to cause it not to work properly. This principle is similar to a restore point in the Windows OS. According to VMware’s KB article 1015180, when using a snapshot, the configuration settings reverted include, but are not limited to previous IP addresses, DNS names, Universal Unique Identifier (UUID), and guest OS patch versions. Snapshot data files are stored as files and are usually located in the same folder as the virtual machine by default. However, if the VM was imported with snapshots, they are stored in their own folder, and if the virtual machine has no snapshots, the virtual machine snapshot setting allows the snapshots to be stored in a specified folder. The functions associated with snapshots are as follows:

• CreateSnapshot creates a new snapshot and updates the current snapshot.

• RemoveSnapshot removes a snapshot and any associated storage.

• RemoveAllSnapshots removes all snapshots.

• RevertToSnapshot “rollbacks” a virtual machine.