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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
manpage, user manual, usage: VBoxManage snapshot
-->
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This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
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-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd"[
<!ENTITY % all.entities SYSTEM "all-entities.ent">
%all.entities;
]>
<refentry id="vboxmanage-snapshot" lang="en">
<refentryinfo>
<pubdate>$Date: 2024-09-16 16:03:52 +0200 (Mon, 16 Sep 2024) $</pubdate>
<title>VBoxManage snapshot</title>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>VBoxManage-snapshot</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>VBoxManage-snapshot</refname>
<refpurpose>manage virtual machine snapshots</refpurpose>
<refclass>&product-name;</refclass>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot">
<!-- The 'id' is mandatory and must start with 'synopsis-'. -->
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-take">
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">take</arg>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
<arg>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></arg>
<arg>--live</arg>
<arg>--uniquename Number,Timestamp,Space,Force</arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-delete">
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">delete</arg>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-restore">
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">restore</arg>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-restorecurrent">
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">restorecurrent</arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-edit">
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">edit</arg>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain">--current</arg>
</group>
<arg>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></arg>
<arg>--name=<replaceable>new-name</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-list">
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">list</arg>
<group>
<arg choice="plain">--details</arg>
<arg choice="plain">--machinereadable</arg>
</group>
</cmdsynopsis>
<cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-showvminfo">
<command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
<group choice="req">
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
<arg choice="plain"><replaceable>vmname</replaceable></arg>
</group>
<arg choice="plain">showvminfo</arg>
<arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-description">
<title>Description</title>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command> command manages
snapshots.
</para>
<para>
&product-name; uses snapshots to capture the state of a virtual
machine (VM). You can later use the snapshot to revert to the
state described by the snapshot.
</para>
<para>
A snapshot is a complete copy of a VM's settings. If you take a
snapshot while the VM is running, the snapshot also includes the
VM's current running state.
</para>
<para>
After you take a snapshot, &product-name; creates a
<emphasis>differencing hard disk</emphasis> for each normal hard
disk that is associated with the host machine. When you restore a
snapshot, &product-name; uses these differencing files to quickly
restore the contents of the VM's virtual hard disks.
</para>
<para>
For each <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command> command, you must
specify the name or the universal unique identifier (UUID) of the
VM for which you want to take a snapshot.
</para>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-common-args">
<title>General Command Operand</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option><replaceable>uuid</replaceable> | <replaceable>vmname</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the UUID or name of the VM.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-take">
<title>Take a Snapshot of a Virtual Machine</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot take</command> command takes a
snapshot of the current state of the VM. You must supply a name
for the snapshot and can optionally supply a description. The
new snapshot is inserted into the snapshots tree as a child of
the current snapshot (if the VM has any snapshots) and then
becomes the new current snapshot.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies a description of the snapshot.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--live</option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that the VM is not stopped while you create the
snapshot. This operation is know as live snapshotting.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--uniquename Number,Timestamp,Space,Force</option></term>
<listitem><para>
TBD.
</para><remark>
What does this option do and how is it used?
</remark></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the name of the snapshot to create.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-delete">
<title>Delete a Snapshot</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot delete</command> command
removes the specified snapshot.
</para>
<para>
The delete operation may take some time to finish. This is
because the differencing images that are associated with the
snapshot may need to be merged with their child differencing
images.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-restore">
<title>Restore a Snapshot</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot restore</command> command
restores the specified snapshot. This operation resets the VM's
settings and current state to that of the snapshot. The state of
the VM on which you restore a snapshot is lost. When restored,
the specified snapshot becomes the new current snapshot and
subsequent snapshots become children of that snapshot.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-restorecurrent">
<title>Restore the Current Snapshot</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot restorecurrent</command>
command restores the current snapshot. The current snapshot is
the one from which the current state is derived. This command is
equivalent to using the <command>VBoxManage snapshot
restore</command> command and specifying the name or UUID of the
current snapshot.
</para>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-edit">
<title>Change the Name or Description of an Existing Snapshot</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot edit</command> command enables
you to change the name or the description of a specified
snapshot.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot to edit.
</para><para>
This option is mutually exclusive with the
<option>--current</option> option.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--current</option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that you update the current version of the
snapshot.
</para><para>
This option is mutually exclusive with a specific snapshot
name or its UUID.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies a new description for the snapshot.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--name=<replaceable>new-name</replaceable></option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies a new name for the snapshot.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-list">
<title>List the Snapshots</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot list</command> command lists
all the snapshots for a VM.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--details</option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that the output shows detailed information about
the snapshot.
</para><para>
This option is mutually exclusive with the
<option>--machinereadable</option> option.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><option>--machinereadable</option></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies that the output is shown in a machine-readable
format.
</para><para>
This option is mutually exclusive with the
<option>--details</option> option.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
<refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-showvminfo">
<title>Show Information About a Snapshot's Settings</title>
<remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
<para>
The <command>VBoxManage snapshot showvminfo</command> command
enables you to view the VM settings that are part of an existing
snapshot.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
<listitem><para>
Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsect1>
<refsect1 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-examples">
<title>Examples</title>
<remark role="help-scope" condition="GLOBAL"/>
<para>
The following command creates a snapshot of the
<computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM. The snapshot is called
<computeroutput>ol7u4-snap-001</computeroutput>. The command uses
the <option>--description</option> option to provide a description
of the snapshot contents.
</para>
<screen>
$ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 take ol7u4-snap-001 \
--description="Oracle Linux 7.4"
</screen>
<para>
The following command lists the snapshots for the
<computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM.
</para>
<screen>
$ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 list
</screen>
<para>
The following command changes the description for the
<computeroutput>ol7u4-snap-001</computeroutput> snapshot of the
<computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM.
</para>
<screen>
$ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 edit ol7u4-snap-001 \
--description="Oracle Linux 7.4 with UEK4 kernel"
</screen>
<para>
The following command shows VM settings for the
<computeroutput>ol7u1-snap-001</computeroutput> snapshot of the
<computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM.
</para>
<screen>
$ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 showvminfo ol7u4-snap-001
Name: ol7u4
Groups: /
Guest OS: Oracle (64-bit)
UUID: 43349d78-2ab3-4cb8-978f-0e755cd98090
Config file: C:\Users\user1\VirtualBox VMs\ol7u4\ol7u4.vbox
...
Snapshots:
Name: ol7u4-snap-001 (UUID: 1cffc37d-5c37-4b86-b9c5-a0f157a55f43)
Description: Oracle Linux 7.4 with UEK4 kernel
</screen>
</refsect1>
</refentry>
|
