6.0

Remove Virtual Machines from the Datastore
You use the Delete from Disk option to remove a virtual machine from a host and delete all virtual machine
files, including the configuration file and virtual disk files, from the datastore.
Prerequisites
Power off the virtual machine.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Client inventory, right-click the virtual machine and select Delete from Disk.
2 Click Yes in the confirmation dialog box.
The host deletes the virtual machine from its datastore. Disks that are shared with other virtual machines
are not deleted.
Return a Virtual Machine or Template to a Host
If you remove a virtual machine or template from a host, but do not remove it from the host’s datastore, you
can return it to the host's inventory by using the Datastore Browser.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Client, navigate to Home > Inventory > Datastores and Datastore Clusters.
2 Right-click the datastore and select Browse Datastore.
3 Navigate to the virtual machine or template folder to add to the inventory.
4 Right-click the virtual machine or template .vmx file and select Add to Inventory.
5 Complete the Add to Inventory wizard to add the virtual machine or template.
Using Snapshots To Manage Virtual Machines
Snapshots preserve the state and data of a virtual machine at the time you take the snapshot. Snapshots are
useful when you must revert repeatedly to the same virtual machine state, but you do not want to create
multiple virtual machines.
You can take multiple snapshots of a virtual machine to create restoration positions in a linear process. With
multiple snapshots, you can save many positions to accommodate many kinds of work processes. Snapshots
operate on individual virtual machines. Taking snapshots of multiple virtual machines, for example, taking
snapshots for all members of a team, requires that you take a separate snapshot of each team member's
virtual machine.
Snapshots are useful as a short term solution for testing software with unknown or potentially harmful
effects. For example, you can use a snapshot as a restoration point during a linear or iterative process, such
as installing update packages, or during a branching process, such as installing different versions of a
program. Using snapshots ensures that each installation begins from an identical baseline.
With snapshots, you can preserve a baseline before diverging a virtual machine in the snapshot tree.
The Snapshot Manager in the vSphere Web Client and the vSphere Client provide several operations for
creating and managing virtual machine snapshots and snapshot trees. These operations let you create
snapshots, restore any snapshot in the snapshot hierarchy, delete snapshots, and more. You can create
extensive snapshot trees that you can use to save the virtual machine state at any specific time and restore
the virtual machine state later. Each branch in a snapshot tree can have up to 32 snapshots.
Chapter 16 Managing Virtual Machines
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