To return a virtual machine to its original state, or to return to another snapshot in the snapshot hierarchy, you can restore a snapshot.
When you restore a snapshot, you return the virtual machine's memory, settings, and the state of the virtual machine disks to the state they were in at the time you took the snapshot. If you want the virtual machine to be suspended, powered on, or powered off when you start it, make sure that it is in the correct state when you take the snapshot.
You can restore snapshots in the following ways:
- Revert to Latest Snapshot
- Restores the parent snapshot, one level up in the hierarchy from the You are Here position. Revert to Latest Snapshot activates the parent snapshot of the current state of the virtual machine.
- Revert To
- Lets you restore any snapshot in the snapshot tree and makes that snapshot the parent snapshot of the current state of the virtual machine. Subsequent snapshots from this point create a new branch of the snapshot tree.
Restoring snapshots has the following effects:
- The current disk and memory states are discarded, and the virtual machine reverts to the disk and memory states of the parent snapshot.
- Existing snapshots are not removed. You can restore those snapshots at any time.
- If the snapshot includes the memory state, the virtual machine will be in the same power state as when you created the snapshot.
Table 1. Virtual Machine Power State After Restoring a Snapshot Virtual Machine State When Parent Snapshot Is Taken Virtual Machine State After Restoration Powered on (includes memory) Reverts to the parent snapshot, and the virtual machine is powered on and running. Powered on (does not include memory) Reverts to the parent snapshot and the virtual machine is powered off. Powered off (does not include memory) Reverts to the parent snapshot and the virtual machine is powered off.
Virtual machines running certain kinds of workloads can take several minutes to resume responsiveness after reverting from a snapshot.
Note: vApp metadata for virtual machines in vApps does not follow the snapshot semantics for virtual machine configuration. vApp properties that are deleted, modified, or defined after a snapshot is taken remain intact (deleted, modified, or defined) after the virtual machine reverts to that snapshot or any previous snapshots.
