Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware, Inc. 113
Chapter 5 Preserving the State of a Virtual Machine
NOTE Taking!a!new!snapshot!when!a!snapshot!already!exists!can!take!a!long!time,!
as!the!original!snapshot!needs!to!be!removed.!While!you!are!taking!a!new!
snapshot,!other!consoles!might!not!be!able!to!connect!to!the!server!host!and!
the!users!trying!to!connect!might!see!an!error
!that!the!VMware!Registration!
Service!(vmware-serverd)!is!not!running.!You!cannot!take!snapshots!if!using!
an!Independent!disk!while!the!virtual!machine!is!powered!on!or!suspended.
The!following!sections!describe!snapshots!in!greater!detail.
! “What!Is!Captured!by!a!Snapshot?”!on!page 113
! “Ways!of!Using!Snapshots”!on!page 114
! “Snapshots!and!a!Virtual!Machine’s!Hard!Disks”!on!page 114
! “Snapshots!and!Other!Activity!in!the!Virtual!Machine”!on!page 115
! “Settings!for!Snapshots”!on!page 115
! “Snapshot!Actions!as!Background!Activity”!on!page 116
! “Snapshots!and!Legacy!Disk!Modes”!on!page 117
! “Snapshots!and!Legacy!Virtual!Machines”!on!page 117
! “Snapshots!and!Legacy!Virtual!Machines”!on!page 117
What Is Captured by a Snapshot?
A!snapshot!captures!the!entire!state!of!the!virtual!machine!at!the!time!you!take!the!
snapshot.!This!includes:
! The!state!of!all!the!virtual!machine’s!disks.
! The!contents!of!the!virtual!machine’s!memory.
! The!virtual!machine!settings.
When!you!revert!to!the!snapshot,!you!return!all!these!items!to!the!state!at!the!time!you!
took!the!snapshot.
NOTE In!certain!special!purpose!configurations,!you!might!want!to!exclude!one!or!
more!of!the!virtual!machine’s!disks!from!the!snapshot.!To!exclude!a!disk!from!
the!snapshot,!choose!VM!>!Settings,!select!the!drive!you!want!to!exclude,!and!
click!Advanced.!On!the!advanced!settings!screen,!select!Independent.!
You!
have!the!following!options!for!an!independent!disk: