You can manage virtual machine snapshots by using vmware-cmd. A snapshot captures the entire state of the virtual machine at the time you take the snapshot.
Virtual machine state includes the following aspects of the virtual machine.
- Memory state - Contents of the virtual machine's memory.
- Settings state - Virtual machine settings.
- Disk state - State of all the virtual machine's virtual disks.
When you revert to a snapshot, you return these items to the state they were in at the time that you took the snapshot. If you want the virtual machine to be running or to be shut down when you start it, make sure that it is in that state when you take the snapshot.
You can use snapshots as restoration points when you install update packages, or during a branching process, such as installing different versions of a program. Taking snapshots ensures that each installation begins from an identical baseline. The vSphere Virtual Machine Administration documentation discusses snapshots in detail.
