Create a snapshot

Snapshots could be useful when you are testing something with unknown or potentially harmful effects. However, keep in mind that they are not meant to be a robust method for backup and recovery.

If the files containing a virtual machine are lost, its snapshot files are also lost. You should also be aware that snapshots could negatively impact the performance of a virtual machine based on how long they've been in place and how much the virtual machine and its guest operating system have changed since the time the snapshots were taken.

We do not recommend running production virtual machines off of snapshots on a permanent basis.

Note: To be able to take snapshots, you must be an administrator. Also, the Maximum Snapshots Allowed setting for the cloud must contain a non-zero, numeric value.
  1. Select an ESXi guest and click Snapshot Manager.
  2. Provide a name for the snapshot. You can include only alphanumeric characters, hyphens, underscores, and periods (a-z 0-9 _ . -). The name can contain a maximum of 32 characters. Duplicate snapshot names are not allowed.
  3. Enter any additional details in Description. You can include only alphanumeric characters, hyphens, underscores, and periods (a-z 0-9 _ . -). The description can contain 250 characters or less.
  4. Click Create New Snapshot.
The new snapshot is added to your Snapshots Tree View. The maximum number of snapshots you can create is determined by the Maximum Snapshots Allowed setting for the cloud from which this host is provisioned. For standalone ESXi guests (that are not inside a cloud) Maximum Snapshot Allowed is set to 10.