Managing Snapshots

This is for discussing general topics about how to use VirtualBox.
Post Reply
JohnBoy
Posts: 4
Joined: 1. Oct 2007, 00:22

Managing Snapshots

Post by JohnBoy »

I have checked the forum posts but did not find a clear answer, but of course I may have missed it.

I am new to Virtualisation and have installed Win2K in a VM on a Linux host. I messed up on my first attempt so for the second attempt I took Snapshots after each stage of installation - basic install, some updates, application install, more updates etc.

Now I have about six or more snapshots between my first install and the current image. I have not been able to get a clear picture of how to tidy up this.

Am I correct in saying that I can right click on a Snapshot and choose to delete it, and this action will merge the snapshots on either side of it and no data will be lost? {I am not even asking the question properly}

What I would like to have is just the one image of this installation when I am finished tidying up, without losing any of the tweaks and application installations that I have done since the beginning. The manual is not very clear on this - unless I missed a part of it.

If someone can give me the most secure method of achieving my goal I would appreciate it. I really don't want to go through that installation process again. :D

Thanks.
Ingo
Volunteer
Posts: 731
Joined: 22. Aug 2007, 10:13
Location: Germany

Post by Ingo »

Hi JohnBoy,
you are right, the documentation for snapshots is not very extensive. Here I have made some minor tests.
http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=1876
Maybe it helps you a little bit.
JohnBoy
Posts: 4
Joined: 1. Oct 2007, 00:22

Post by JohnBoy »

Ingo,
Thank you for that link.
If I understand correctly, I should be able to discard all the snapshots, beginning at the first one, and working right up to the 'Current State' and have my present state work properly.
Is it best to do these deletions in sequence from oldest to newest, or does it matter?

I will feel more confident deleting those Snapsjots when I have this sorted in my head. :?

I also thought to clone the VM but I cannot quite figure out the syntax of the command. Could you possibly give me an example (with false data of course} that I can use to compare with my incorrect one?

Thank you for taking the time to help. I appreciate it.

Regards,

JohnBoy
Ingo
Volunteer
Posts: 731
Joined: 22. Aug 2007, 10:13
Location: Germany

Post by Ingo »

Hi JohnBoy,
please don't make me responsible if you have lost your data or a snapshot. I have read in this forum from guys who have got orphaned snapshots with no access anymore. So please be very careful and check double and make backups, or use test data first.
JohnBoy wrote:If I understand correctly, I should be able to discard all the snapshots, beginning at the first one, and working right up to the 'Current State' and have my present state work properly.
Is it best to do these deletions in sequence from oldest to newest, or does it matter?
I've tested just the other direction, deleting from the newest (last) snapshot to the oldest (first) till the base VDI, means working like a stack.
JohnBoy wrote:I also thought to clone the VM but I cannot quite figure out the syntax of the command. Could you possibly give me an example (with false data of course} that I can use to compare with my incorrect one?

Code: Select all

$ VBoxManage clonevdi VDI/myImage.vdi clonedImage.vdi
But again be careful. This does not work with snapshots. You only get a clone of the based VDI without the snapshots.
JohnBoy
Posts: 4
Joined: 1. Oct 2007, 00:22

Post by JohnBoy »

Ingo,
Thank you for the reply.
Don't worry, it is my PC and I am responsible :D
I appreciate your reply. Thanks for the tip about the original image only, being cloned.

I had thought I would get a copy of the latest state of the OS.

Regards,

JohnBoy
Post Reply