Specifications

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154
VMware GSX Server Virtual Machine Guide
Use the Snapshot and Revert buttons on the console toolbar to take a snapshot and
revert to it later.
You can take a new snapshot at any time. When you do so, you replace the previous
snapshot. You can have only one active snapshot at a time.
Note: Taking a new snapshot when the virtual machine is powered off and 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 may not be able to
connect to the server host and the users trying to connect may see an error that the
VMware Registration Service (vmware-serverd) is not running.
The following sections describe snapshots in greater detail.
• What Is Captured by a Snapshot? on page 154
• Ways of Using Snapshots on page 155
• Snapshots and a Virtual Machine’s Hard Disks on page 156
• Snapshots and Other Activity in the Virtual Machine on page 156
• Settings for Snapshots on page 157
• Removing the Snapshot on page 157
• Snapshots and Legacy Disk Modes on page 158
• Snapshots and Repeatable Resume on page 158
• Snapshots and Legacy Virtual Machines on page 158
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 they were in
at the time you took the snapshot.
Note: In certain special purpose configurations, you may 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, then click
Advanced. On the advanced settings screen, select Independent. You have the
following options for an independent disk: