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Virtual Machine Snapshots

What is a virtual machine snapshot?​

A virtual machine snapshot allows you to capture the current state of a virtual machine (VM) by saving it to disk for later restoration. When a VM is snapshotted, its configuration and bootable volume data are saved, enabling quick recovery to that precise state in the future. During the snapshot process, if the VM is in an active state, it will be temporarily shut off, the snapshot will be taken, and then the VM will be restarted. This functionality is particularly useful for preserving a VM’s state before making significant changes, ensuring a rollback point if needed. By using snapshots, you can efficiently manage VM states without needing to keep the VM running continuously, optimizing resource use and minimizing costs for backup purposes.

How to snapshot a virtual machine​

In Hyperstack, you can create a snapshot of a virtual machine using these steps:

  1. Go to the details page of the VM you want to snapshot as illustrated below, and hover your cursor over the "More Options" dropdown in the top right corner of the window to see the VM state-changing actions available for execution on the virtual machine. Hyperstack VM state modification UI

  2. Select Create Snapshot. This will initiate the snapshot process for your virtual machine.

note

The snapshot process can take time, depending on the virtual machine type and the amount of data stored. If the VM is currently active, it will be shut off during the snapshot and then restarted automatically.

During the snapshot operation, further state modifications are disabled until the VM reaches a fully SNAPSHOTTED state.

Snapshot a virtual machine using the Infrahub API​

The Infrahub API can be used to snapshot your virtual machine by calling the Snapshot Virtual Machine endpoint.

Pricing​

Refer to Snapshot Billing for information on billing and pricing.

Snapshot Limitations​

  • There is a maximum storage limitation of 100Gb for Snapshots.
  • Snapshotting multiple Virtual Machines in parallel is not currently supported.
  • Snapshotting Kubernetes VMs is not currently suported.

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