Taking Snapshots

Capturing a point in time copy of a machine before you make a risky change.

A snapshot records the state of a machine at a moment in time so you can roll back if a change goes wrong. Take one before patching, upgrading an application or changing hardware.

A snapshot is not a backup. It lives on the same storage as the machine, so keep the scheduled backup job as your real protection.

How to take a snapshot

• Impersonate the tenant administrator and open the virtual machine

• Click Actions then Create Snapshot

• Give the snapshot a Name that says what it is for, for example before-june-patching

• Add a Description with the change reference or ticket number

• Click Apply

Working with snapshots

• Snapshots are listed on the Snapshots tab of the machine with the time each one was taken

• Remove a snapshot once the change is proven. Snapshots consume storage in the Virtual Data Center and slow the machine down if they are left in place

• Never use a snapshot as a long term restore point. Use the Backups tab for that

• If you need help rolling a machine back, raise a request with Hosted Network support