Listing Snapshots

To list all snapshots of a particular virtual machine, use the pctl snapshot-list command:

# pctl snapshot-list MyVM

PARENT_SNAPSHOT_ID SNAPSHOT_ID

{989f3415-3e30-4494-936e-a0bbc104bd20}

{989f3415-3e30-4494-936e-a0bbc104bd20} *{063615fa-f2a0-4c14-92d4-4c935df15840}

This command shows that currently two snapshots exist for the MyVM virtual machine. The snapshot with ID {063615fa-f2a0-4c14-92d4-4c935df15840} is based on the snapshot with ID {989f3415-3e30-4494-936e-a0bbc104bd20} , i.e. the latter acts as the parent for the snapshot with ID {063615fa-f2a0-4c14-92d4-4c935df15840} . The * sign before {063615fa-f2a0-4c14-92d4-4c935df15840} denotes that this is the current snapshot for the given virtual machine.

You can also view the relationship between snapshots by specifying the -t option:

# pctl snapshot-list MyVM -t

_{989f3415-3e30-4494-936e-a0bbc104bd20}_{063615fa-f2a0-4c14-92d4-4c935df15840}

\*{712305b0-3742-4ecc-9ef1-9f1e345d0ab8}

The command output shows you that currently 2 branches exist for the MyVM virtual machine. The snapshot with ID {989f3415-3e30-4494-936e-a0bbc104bd20} is the baseline used as a starting point for these branches.

You can get detailed information on a particular snapshot using the -i option and specifying the snapshot ID:

# pctl snapshot-list MyVM -i {063615fa-f2a0-4c14-92d4-4c935df15840}

ID: {063615fa-f2a0-4c14-92d4-4c935df15840}

Name: Clean_System

Date: 2009-07-22 22:39:06

Current: yes

State: power_off

Description: <![CDATA[This snapshot was created right after installing Windows XP operating system]]>

The pctl snapshot-list command displays the following information about snapshots: