| 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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| 2 | <!--
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| 3 | manpage, user manual, usage: VBoxManage snapshot
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| 4 | -->
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| 5 | <!--
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| 6 | Copyright (C) 2006-2023 Oracle and/or its affiliates.
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| 7 |
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| 8 | This file is part of VirtualBox base platform packages, as
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| 9 | available from https://www.alldomusa.eu.org.
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| 10 |
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| 11 | This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
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| 12 | modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
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| 13 | as published by the Free Software Foundation, in version 3 of the
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| 14 | License.
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| 15 |
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| 16 | This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
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| 17 | WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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| 18 | MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
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| 19 | General Public License for more details.
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| 20 |
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| 21 | You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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| 22 | along with this program; if not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses>.
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| 23 |
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| 24 | SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-only
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| 25 | -->
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| 26 | <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
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| 27 | "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd"[
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| 28 | <!ENTITY % all.entities SYSTEM "all-entities.ent">
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| 29 | %all.entities;
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| 30 | ]>
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| 31 | <refentry id="vboxmanage-snapshot" lang="en">
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| 32 | <refentryinfo>
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| 33 | <pubdate>$Date: 2023-03-23 12:02:19 +0000 (Thu, 23 Mar 2023) $</pubdate>
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| 34 | <title>VBoxManage snapshot</title>
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| 35 | </refentryinfo>
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| 36 |
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| 37 | <refmeta>
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| 38 | <refentrytitle>VBoxManage-snapshot</refentrytitle>
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| 39 | <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
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| 40 | </refmeta>
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| 41 |
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| 42 | <refnamediv>
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| 43 | <refname>VBoxManage-snapshot</refname>
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| 44 | <refpurpose>manage virtual machine snapshots</refpurpose>
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| 45 | <refclass>&product-name;</refclass>
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| 46 | </refnamediv>
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| 47 |
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| 48 | <refsynopsisdiv>
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| 49 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot">
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| 50 | <!-- The 'id' is mandatory and must start with 'synopsis-'. -->
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| 51 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 52 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 53 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 54 |
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| 55 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-take">
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| 56 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 57 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 58 |
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| 59 | <arg choice="plain">take</arg>
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| 60 |
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| 61 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
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| 62 |
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| 63 | <arg>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></arg>
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| 64 |
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| 65 | <arg>--live</arg>
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| 66 |
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| 67 | <arg>--uniquename Number,Timestamp,Space,Force</arg>
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| 68 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 69 |
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| 70 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-delete">
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| 71 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 72 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 73 |
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| 74 | <arg choice="plain">delete</arg>
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| 75 |
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| 76 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
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| 77 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 78 |
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| 79 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-restore">
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| 80 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 81 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 82 |
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| 83 | <arg choice="plain">restore</arg>
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| 84 |
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| 85 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
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| 86 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 87 |
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| 88 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-restorecurrent">
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| 89 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 90 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 91 |
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| 92 | <arg choice="plain">restorecurrent</arg>
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| 93 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 94 |
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| 95 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-edit">
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| 96 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 97 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 98 |
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| 99 | <arg choice="plain">edit</arg>
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| 100 |
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| 101 | <group choice="req">
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| 102 | <arg choice="plain"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
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| 103 | <arg choice="plain">--current</arg>
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| 104 | </group>
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| 105 |
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| 106 | <arg>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></arg>
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| 107 |
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| 108 | <arg>--name=<replaceable>new-name</replaceable></arg>
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| 109 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 110 |
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| 111 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-list">
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| 112 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 113 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 114 |
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| 115 | <arg choice="plain">list</arg>
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| 116 |
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| 117 | <group>
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| 118 | <arg choice="plain">--details</arg>
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| 119 | <arg choice="plain">--machinereadable</arg>
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| 120 | </group>
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| 121 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 122 |
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| 123 | <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-snapshot-showvminfo">
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| 124 | <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command>
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| 125 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></arg>
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| 126 |
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| 127 | <arg choice="plain">showvminfo</arg>
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| 128 |
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| 129 | <arg choice="req"><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>
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| 130 | </cmdsynopsis>
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| 131 | </refsynopsisdiv>
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| 132 |
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| 133 | <refsect1>
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| 134 | <title>Description</title>
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| 135 | <para>
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| 136 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command> command manages
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| 137 | snapshots.
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| 138 | </para>
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| 139 | <para>
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| 140 | &product-name; uses the snapshot to capture the state of a virtual
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| 141 | machine (VM). You can later use the snapshot to revert to the
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| 142 | state described by the snapshot.
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| 143 | </para>
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| 144 | <para>
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| 145 | A snapshot is a complete copy of a VM's settings. If you take the
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| 146 | snapshot while the VM is running, the snapshot also includes the
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| 147 | VM's state file.
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| 148 | </para>
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| 149 | <para>
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| 150 | After you take a snapshot, &product-name; creates a
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| 151 | <emphasis>differencing hard disk</emphasis> for each normal hard
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| 152 | disk that is associated with the host machine. When you restore a
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| 153 | snapshot, &product-name; uses these differencing files to quickly
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| 154 | reset the contents of the VM's virtual hard disks.
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| 155 | </para>
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| 156 | <para>
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| 157 | For each <command>VBoxManage snapshot</command> command, you must
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| 158 | specify the name or the universal unique identifier (UUID) of the
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| 159 | VM for which you want to take a snapshot.
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| 160 | </para>
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| 161 | <refsect2>
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| 162 | <title>General Command Operand</title>
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| 163 | <variablelist>
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| 164 | <varlistentry>
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| 165 | <term><replaceable>uuid|vmname</replaceable></term>
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| 166 | <listitem><para>
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| 167 | Specifies the UUID or name of the VM.
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| 168 | </para></listitem>
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| 169 | </varlistentry>
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| 170 | </variablelist>
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| 171 | </refsect2>
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| 172 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-take">
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| 173 | <title>Take a Snapshot of a Virtual Machine</title>
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| 174 | <remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
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| 175 | <para>
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| 176 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot take</command> command takes a
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| 177 | snapshot of the current state of the VM. You must supply a name
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| 178 | for the snapshot and can optionally supply a description. The
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| 179 | new snapshot is inserted into the snapshots tree as a child of
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| 180 | the current snapshot and then becomes the new current snapshot.
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| 181 | </para>
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| 182 | <variablelist>
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| 183 | <varlistentry>
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| 184 | <term><option>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></option></term>
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| 185 | <listitem><para>
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| 186 | Specifies a description of the snapshot.
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| 187 | </para></listitem>
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| 188 | </varlistentry>
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| 189 | <varlistentry>
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| 190 | <term><option>--live</option></term>
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| 191 | <listitem><para>
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| 192 | Specifies that the VM is not stopped while you create the
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| 193 | snapshot. This operation is know as live snapshotting.
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| 194 | </para></listitem>
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| 195 | </varlistentry>
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| 196 | <varlistentry>
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| 197 | <term><option>--uniquename Number,Timestamp,Space,Force</option></term>
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| 198 | <listitem><para>
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| 199 | TBD.
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| 200 | </para><remark>
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| 201 | What does this option do and how is it used?
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| 202 | </remark></listitem>
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| 203 | </varlistentry>
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| 204 | <varlistentry>
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| 205 | <term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
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| 206 | <listitem><para>
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| 207 | Specifies the name of the snapshot to create.
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| 208 | </para></listitem>
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| 209 | </varlistentry>
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| 210 | </variablelist>
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| 211 | </refsect2>
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| 212 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-delete">
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| 213 | <title>Delete a Snapshot</title>
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| 214 | <remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
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| 215 | <para>
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| 216 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot delete</command> command
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| 217 | removes the specified snapshot.
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| 218 | </para>
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| 219 | <para>
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| 220 | The delete operation may take some time to finish. This is
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| 221 | because the differencing images that are associated with the
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| 222 | snapshot may need to be merged with their child differencing
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| 223 | images.
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| 224 | </para>
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| 225 | <variablelist>
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| 226 | <varlistentry>
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| 227 | <term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
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| 228 | <listitem><para>
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| 229 | Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot.
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| 230 | </para></listitem>
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| 231 | </varlistentry>
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| 232 | </variablelist>
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| 233 | </refsect2>
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| 234 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-restore">
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| 235 | <title>Restore a Snapshot</title>
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| 236 | <remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
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| 237 | <para>
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| 238 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot restore</command> command
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| 239 | restores the specified snapshot. This operation resets the VM's
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| 240 | settings and current state to that of the snapshot. The state of
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| 241 | the VM on which you restore a snapshot is lost. When restored,
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| 242 | the specified snapshot becomes the new current snapshot and
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| 243 | subsequent snapshots are children of that snapshot.
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| 244 | </para>
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| 245 | <variablelist>
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| 246 | <varlistentry>
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| 247 | <term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
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| 248 | <listitem><para>
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| 249 | Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot.
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| 250 | </para></listitem>
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| 251 | </varlistentry>
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| 252 | </variablelist>
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| 253 | </refsect2>
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| 254 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-restorecurrent">
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| 255 | <title>Restore the Current Snapshot</title>
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| 256 | <remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
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| 257 | <para>
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| 258 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot restorecurrent</command>
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| 259 | command restores the current snapshot. The current snapshot is
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| 260 | the one from which the current state is derived. This command is
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| 261 | equivalent to using the <command>VBoxManage snapshot
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| 262 | restore</command> command and specifying the name or UUID of the
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| 263 | current snapshot.
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| 264 | </para>
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| 265 | </refsect2>
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| 266 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-edit">
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| 267 | <title>Change the Name or Description of an Existing Snapshot</title>
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| 268 | <remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
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| 269 | <para>
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| 270 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot edit</command> command enables
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| 271 | you to change the name or the description of a specified
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| 272 | snapshot.
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| 273 | </para>
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| 274 | <variablelist>
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| 275 | <varlistentry>
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| 276 | <term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
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| 277 | <listitem><para>
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| 278 | Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot to edit.
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| 279 | </para><para>
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| 280 | This option is mutually exclusive with the
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| 281 | <option>--current</option> option.
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| 282 | </para></listitem>
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| 283 | </varlistentry>
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| 284 | <varlistentry>
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| 285 | <term><option>--current</option></term>
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| 286 | <listitem><para>
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| 287 | Specifies that you update the current version of the
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| 288 | snapshot.
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| 289 | </para><para>
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| 290 | This option is mutually exclusive with a specific snapshot
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| 291 | name or its UUID.
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| 292 | </para></listitem>
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| 293 | </varlistentry>
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| 294 | <varlistentry>
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| 295 | <term><option>--description=<replaceable>description</replaceable></option></term>
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| 296 | <listitem><para>
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| 297 | Specifies a new description for the snapshot.
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| 298 | </para></listitem>
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| 299 | </varlistentry>
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| 300 | <varlistentry>
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| 301 | <term><option>--name=<replaceable>new-name</replaceable></option></term>
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| 302 | <listitem><para>
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| 303 | Specifies a new name for the snapshot.
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| 304 | </para></listitem>
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| 305 | </varlistentry>
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| 306 | </variablelist>
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| 307 | </refsect2>
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| 308 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-list">
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| 309 | <title>List the Snapshots</title>
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| 310 | <remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
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| 311 | <para>
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| 312 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot list</command> command lists
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| 313 | all the snapshots for a VM.
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| 314 | </para>
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| 315 | <variablelist>
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| 316 | <varlistentry>
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| 317 | <term><option>--details</option></term>
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| 318 | <listitem><para>
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| 319 | Specifies that the output shows detailed information about
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| 320 | the snapshot.
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| 321 | </para><para>
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| 322 | This option is mutually exclusive with the
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| 323 | <option>--machinereadable</option> option.
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| 324 | </para></listitem>
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| 325 | </varlistentry>
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| 326 | <varlistentry>
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| 327 | <term><option>--machinereadable</option></term>
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| 328 | <listitem><para>
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| 329 | Specifies that the output is shown in a machine-readable
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| 330 | format.
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| 331 | </para><para>
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| 332 | This option is mutually exclusive with the
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| 333 | <option>--details</option> option.
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| 334 | </para></listitem>
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| 335 | </varlistentry>
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| 336 | </variablelist>
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| 337 | </refsect2>
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| 338 | <refsect2 id="vboxmanage-snapshot-showvminfo">
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| 339 | <title>Show Information About a Snapshot's Settings</title>
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| 340 | <remark role="help-copy-synopsis"/>
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| 341 | <para>
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| 342 | The <command>VBoxManage snapshot showvminfo</command> command
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| 343 | enables you to view the VM settings that are part of an existing
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| 344 | snapshot.
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| 345 | </para>
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| 346 | <variablelist>
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| 347 | <varlistentry>
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| 348 | <term><replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></term>
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| 349 | <listitem><para>
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| 350 | Specifies the UUID or name of the snapshot.
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| 351 | </para></listitem>
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| 352 | </varlistentry>
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| 353 | </variablelist>
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| 354 | </refsect2>
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| 355 | </refsect1>
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| 356 |
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| 357 | <refsect1>
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| 358 | <title>Examples</title>
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| 359 | <remark role="help-scope" condition="GLOBAL"/>
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| 360 | <para>
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| 361 | The following command creates a snapshot of the
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| 362 | <computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM. The snapshot is called
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| 363 | <computeroutput>ol7u4-snap-001</computeroutput>. The command uses
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| 364 | the <option>--description</option> option to provide a description
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| 365 | of the snapshot contents.
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| 366 | </para>
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| 367 | <screen>
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| 368 | $ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 take ol7u4-snap-001 \
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| 369 | --description="Oracle Linux 7.4"
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| 370 | </screen>
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| 371 | <para>
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| 372 | The following command lists the snapshots for the
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| 373 | <computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM.
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| 374 | </para>
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| 375 | <screen>
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| 376 | $ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 list
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| 377 | </screen>
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| 378 | <para>
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| 379 | The following command changes the description for the
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| 380 | <computeroutput>ol7u4-snap-001</computeroutput> snapshot of the
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| 381 | <computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM.
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| 382 | </para>
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| 383 | <screen>
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| 384 | $ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 edit ol7u4-snap-001 \
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| 385 | --description="Oracle Linux 7.4 with UEK4 kernel"
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| 386 | </screen>
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| 387 | <para>
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| 388 | The following command shows VM settings for the
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| 389 | <computeroutput>ol7u1-snap-001</computeroutput> snapshot of the
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| 390 | <computeroutput>ol7u4</computeroutput> VM.
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| 391 | </para>
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| 392 | <screen>
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| 393 | $ VBoxManage snapshot ol7u4 showvminfo ol7u4-snap-001
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| 394 | Name: ol7u4
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| 395 | Groups: /
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| 396 | Guest OS: Oracle (64-bit)
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| 397 | UUID: 43349d78-2ab3-4cb8-978f-0e755cd98090
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| 398 | Config file: C:\Users\user1\VirtualBox VMs\ol7u4\ol7u4.vbox
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| 399 | ...
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| 400 | Snapshots:
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| 401 |
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| 402 | Name: ol7u4-snap-001 (UUID: 1cffc37d-5c37-4b86-b9c5-a0f157a55f43)
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| 403 | Description: Oracle Linux 7.4 with UEK4 kernel
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| 404 | </screen>
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| 405 | </refsect1>
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| 406 | </refentry>
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