Snapshot Manager

• These screen shots attempt to demonstrate what happens with each of the three buttons in the ESX snapshot manager. In each shot, the console of the VM is shown in the background with the snapshot manager view in the foreground.

• I have demonstrated both linear and non-linear tree environments• Any errors are solely mine and if you have corrections, please post to the thread...this

was just something I put together to help me understand what was going on.

Scenario 1: I created a linear tree where each level I added a file depicting a state identifier. I ended a single linear tree consisting of three snaps.

Scenario 1: I tested the “Go To” button on all snaps and safely “reverted” to thatState (the one highlighted) with no commitments or losses of other snap states.

Scenario 1: I continued to test the “Go To” button on all snaps and safely “reverted” to that State (the one highlighted) with no commitments or losses of other snap states.

Scenario 1 (cont): I then returned back to the end of the tree and wanted to test the impact of The Delete key. I highlighted the end of the tree and hit “Delete”.

Scenario 1 (cont.) I selected the previous “snap with 1,2, & 3” and hit Delete…this screen below is the result. It indicates that the “You are Here” (current operational) state has all three .txt files. In other words, it committedthe previous snap to the current state so that the current state has all three original files.

Scenario 1 (cont.): I continued up the tree and at each point selected the “Delete”key and received the same results. In simple terms, the “Delete” key at the end of any tree branch will commit the “You Are Here” state to the snap above it.

Scenario 1 (cont.): I continued up the tree and at each point selected the “Delete”key and received the same results. In simple terms, the “Delete” key at the end Of any tree branch will commit the “You Are Here” state to the snap above it.

Scenario 2: I re-created the linear snapshot environment by adding a file for each incremental snap. Then, while highlighting the last snap in the tree, I selected Delete All…

IScenario 2: The results of the Delete All (at the end of the tree) committed all the snapshots in the linear tree as shown here. Notice all three files and noSnapshots remain. In essence, Delete All (at the end of the tree) is equivalent to“commit all” in a linear tree.

Scenario 3: I re-created the original linear tree, and then selected the middle stateand selected the Go To button in order to revert to the middle snap.Once in that state, I selected the Delete All button.

Scenario 3 (cont.) The “Delete All” button committed all the shots upward from the pointin the tree where I was at. (state one and two) and removed the other snap (the one below) without committing it. So it appears that Delete All in a linear tree is “commit all” from the point you are at in the branch, and removal of everything else (those snaps below) without committing them.

Scenario 4: Non-linear treesI re-created the original linear tree…

Scenario 4: I then selected the first snap and clicked “Go To”….reverted me to back to snap one as seen below…I am now going to create a new tree off the original snap.

Scenario 4: This is the non-linear tree. I have tested and reverted successfully to each state and confirmed that the snap description equals the files on the desktopso each branch operates the same as the first linear tree. In the next step, I selected “snap with state 1 &4” and hit delete…the next screen shot displays the result.

Scenario 4: I selected the snap with state 1 & 4 and hit Delete. It removes that snapshot with state 1 & 4 Icon and the current Operational state shows all three 1,4 & 5. I would expect the desktop I am seeing but I don’t think there was any “commitment”; it essentially looks like that action just removed the snapshot in question and “promoted the snap with 1,4 & 5 to a child of the original snap (snap with state one). It appears that “Delete” at the end of the tree means “commit” but “Delete” in the middle of a non-linear tree branch means “remove”.

Scenario 5: Non-linear tree and the Delete All Button

Okay…I selected the original snap and selected “Go To”. I confirmed that the only file on the original snap was “State One”. Then I selected the “Delete All” button. This is the warning message I received. It clearly states that all snapshots will be removed and consolidated into a single disk. Do you want to continue? The current “You Are Here” or operational state you will note is at the snap with 1,4 & 5. (The five is behind the warning box). I read consolidate as the same as commit. Let’s see what happens…

Scenario 5 (cont.)The results are that it consolidated only the current operational state for the branch of the tree I was on and Not any of the other directly related snapshot branches, but simply removed them. I think that the warning message may be mis-leading to some. I also am deducing (maybe incorrectly) that the “commit” all is only branch of the tree you are on. This means the consequence is that you will LOSE any other branches. It appears the solution to commit and not lose other branches is to perform a step by step delete and commit one at a time along a branch.

Scenario 6: More Delete All with non-linear treesOkay, The same linear tree is below, yet I am currently at the end of the first leg of the tree. I selected the “Delete All” option…..the same warning about consolidating all snapshots onto one virtual disk.

Scenario 6: More Delete All with non-linear trees

As you can see, all snapshots are removed, but only the one branch (and above) of the tree where I was located when hit Delete All, actually committed. The second leg of the tree was completely discarded even though they bothhad the same root.

Scenario 7: More Delete All with non-linear treesI created a fairly non-linear tree below. The question is what will the “Delete All” function do? Given that I am on a specific branch of a tree. I would expect the consolidation to have snap 1,2,3 & 7. All other snaps should be eliminated.

Scenario 7: More Delete All with non-linear trees…Consolidation as expected.