How to Take, Revert and Delete the VMware Snapshots

In this post, i will share with you the YouTube video that guides you through on how to take, revert, delete the VMware Snapshots and also the available process while you working with snapshots.

What is a snapshot? What is it for?

A snapshot preserves the state and data of a virtual machine (VM) and the system memory of your VM at a specific point in time. Taking snapshots of your VMs is very useful as it enabling you to revert to the snapshot in case something goes wrong with your VM. But it need proper management in order to avoid performance problems in the future.

A snapshot:

  • Represents the state of a virtual machine at the time it was taken.
  • Includes the files and memory state of a virtual machine’s guest operating system.
  • Includes the settings and configuration of a virtual machine and its virtual hardware.
  • Is stored as a set of files in the same directory as other files that comprise a virtual machine.
  • Should be taken when testing something with unknown or potentially harmful effects.
  • Is not meant to be a robust method of backup and recovery. If the files containing a virtual machine are lost, its snapshot files are also lost.
  • Negatively impacts the performance of a virtual machine. This is based on how long it has been in place and how much the virtual machine and its guest operating system have changed since the time it was taken. It is not recommended to run production virtual machines off of snapshots on a permanent basis.
  • Can take up as much disk space as the virtual machine itself. If multiple snapshots are possible, the amount of disk space used increases with the number of snapshots in place.

References :
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1009402
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1015180