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Table Of Contents
VMware Server User’s Guide
198 VMware, Inc.
Excluding Virtual Disks from Snapshots
Incertainvirtualmachineconfigurations,youmightwanttorevertsomediskstoa
snapshotwhileotherdisksretainallchanges.Forexample,youmightwantasnapshot
topreserveadiskwithyouroperatingsystemandapplications,whilealwayskeeping
thechangestoadiskwithyourdocumentsanddata.
Whenyouaddanewvirtualdisk,settheDiskModetoIndependentModeifyoudo
notwantittobeaffectedbysnapshots,asdescribedin“A d d i n g aHardDisktoaVirtual
Machine”onpage 144.
Youcanexcludeexistingvirtualdisksfromasnapshotbychangingthedisk
mode.If
youhaveasnapshot,youmustremoveitbeforeyoucanchangethediskmode.See
“EditingaVirtualHardDisk”onpage 145.
Taking a Snapshot
Youcantakeasnapshotwhileavirtualmachineispoweredon,poweredoff,or
suspended.Ifyouaresuspendingavirtualmachine,waituntilthesuspendoperation
hasfinishedbeforetakingasnapshot.AsdescribedinActivitiesThatConflictwith
Snapshots”onpage 196,donottakeasnapshotwhenthe
virtualmachineis
communicatingwithanothercomputer.
To take a snapshot
1IntheCommandssectionofthevirtualmachine’sSummarytab,expandthe
Snapshotcommand(ifnotalreadyexpanded)andclickTakeSnapshot.
2Ifasnapshotalreadyexists,adialogboxasksyouifyouwanttooverwritethe
existingsnapshot.Ifyouwant
tooverwriteit,clickYes.
Anewsnapshotiscreated.
N
OTEIfyouruseofvirtualmachinesisstronglyperformanceoriented,consider
defragmentingtheguestoperatingsystemsdrivesbeforetakingasnapshot.Usethe
guestoperatingsystem’sdefragmentationutility.See“VirtualDiskMaintenanceTasks”
onpage 147.