ESXi Snapshots

[chrisb101]

Hi All,

I've done some searching but could someone just help out with some snap shots. I have taken a copy of a linux machine that is currently running on a snapshot and I want to load it onto another ESXi server. When I load all of the files on the new Esxi server and boot it up it doesn't contain any of the snapshot information, even though the snapshot files are present so i'm guessing the new machine doesn't know about them.

I could do with loading this machine up so that it has the snap shop loaded. Is there anyway to load the snap shot on the new ESXi server?

Also if you delete the snapshot in snapshot manager, does this commit the changes to the original vm or revert back to the original? I'm sure it commits but just want to double check?

Thanks for the help in advance

Chris

[admin]

These questions and more are all discussed in a new Knowledgebase article: Understanding virtual machine snapshots in VMware ESX. This is a fairly big topic so many links are provided to other relevant information.

Rick Blythe

Social Media Specialist

VMware Inc.

[aldikan · Accepted solution]

Hi Chris,

"Also if you delete the snapshot in snapshot manager, does this commit the changes to the original vm or revert back to the original? I'm sure it commits but just want to double check?"

Deleting snapshot in Snapshot manager will commit the changes,

Please be aware that if changes are large in size, you may recieve "operation time out" error,

You should be patient, despite the error, operation will finish successfully.

Hope this helps a little,

(Not sure what the issue is with your first question about snapshot info missing after loading to the other ESXi server, but I think it has something to do with this second ESXi not being aware of snapshot existence.., someone should be able to clarify this.

[DSTAVERT]

Keeping snapshots for more than a few days is a bad practice to get into. Snapshots are typically used for backups, testing an update, or verifying a change. Delta files (the snapshot disks) can grow to approach the size of the original disk. They can drastically affect performance and put your VM at risk.

I would commit (delete all) snapshots before the move.