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VMware ACE Administrator’s Manual
Using the Snapshot
The snapshot feature is available to you when you are running a virtual machine in
VMware ACE Manager.
You may not include a virtual machine with a snapshot in a package for distribution to
end users.
The snapshot feature is most useful when you want to preserve the state of the virtual
machine so you can return to the same state repeatedly. You may, for example, want
to take a snapshot before you begin testing an update to software in the virtual
machine. If testing is successful, you can remove the snapshot, thus integrating the
changes you made into the base virtual machine. If there are problems during testing,
you can revert to the snapshot, thus discarding the changes made since you took the
snapshot.
To simply save the current state of your virtual machine, then pick up work later with
the virtual machine in the same state it was when you stopped, suspend the virtual
machine. For details, see Using Suspend and Resume on page 180.
You can take a snapshot while a virtual machine is powered on, powered off or
suspended. (If you are suspending a virtual machine, wait until the suspend operation
has finished before taking the snapshot.) A snapshot preserves the virtual machine
just as it was when you took the snapshot — the state of the data on all the virtual
machine’s disks and whether the virtual machine was powered on, powered off or
suspended. You can then revert to that snapshot at any time.
When you revert to a snapshot, you discard all changes made to the virtual machine
since you took the snapshot.
Use the Snapshot and Revert buttons on the Workstation toolbar to take a snapshot
and revert to it later.
You can take a new snapshot at almost any time. When you take a new snapshot, you
replace the previous snapshot. You can have only one active snapshot at a time.
What Is Captured by the Snapshot?
The 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.