Looking for a simple answer to some virtualbox options.What are the differences between Clone & Snapshot & Backup?Which should be used when?
I've just started with virtualbox & have Ubuntu running on OS X as host.
Basically i have setup Android SDK & ADK and other tools.Just before i start building, i want to have a 'backup' where if anything goes wrong, i can just revert to this instance of a clean installation.Previously i had a situation where Ubuntu locked me out completely & i was unable to do much other than a complete re-install.
Would it be just alright to have a snapshot & revert to this snapshot if something goes wrong?Or would i need a clone of it? or both?and to backup, is it just sufficient to have a copy of the folder alone?
thanks
user283471user283471
1 Answer
Clone: Duplicates your VM. It can be a linked clone referenced to your original VM via a snapshot, or it can be a full clone. You can create a clone to compact your disk image like VMware's Compact tool: use your virtualized OS to fill your free space with zeroes (Eraser Portable on Windows,
cat /dev/zero > ~/dsfargegfgsfds
then rm ~/dsfargegfgsfds
on Linux), delete any temporary files, and clone your VM; the new disk image will be created without the zeroed-out free space.Call the thing yellow-belly-chicken-baby mode or whatever if you want to discourage people from using it.
Make it clear people are not playing the game as intended all you want. But would having the option affect you all that much? AdvertisementI’ve since gone on to play the game not quite as intended to make it harder on myself by beating the game on soul level 1, trying to beat Sif as the first boss and doing speed runs, etc.
Snapshot: A kind of restoration point. When you create a snapshot VirtualBox will start saving new writes to the virtual disk to a differential image, when reading it will take into account the differential image as well as the drive. When you restore a snapshot you're basically telling VirtualBox to ignore the snapshots that don't lead to the specified restoration point.
Export: A packaged archive that contains your VM's hard drive image and configuration.
In my experience VirtualBox is a flimsy and fickle program that can fail unexpectedly in terrible ways (right now I'm trying to rescue a disk image that corrupted due to a program crash), so back up very often. Back in college I must have accumulated like 25 GB of VM backups out of a VM that was, like, 2 GB tops, because for every single little thing I had to export my progress or risk losing days of work and missing an assignment deadline.
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In this article, we will examine the steps to take a Snapshot of virtual machines used in Oracle VM VirtualBox virtualization software.
How to Take Snapshot on VM in Oracle VM VirtualBox
The use of Snapshot in VirtualBox can be compared to the Restore service used in Windows operating systems.
It is recommended you get Backup before installing an important program on a VM on VirtualBoxor performing a critical Windows update. In the event of a serious system failure, you can easily restore your system to its previous state with the backup you received.
Using Snapshot in virtualization programs such as VBox and VMware Workstation is the main reason to reduce the error rate of the operating system and to take precautions against errors that may occur.
NOT: The use of Snapshot on the latest version 6.0.4 of Oracle VM VBox is the same!
How to Take Snapshot of a VM in Oracle VM VirtualBox
Taking a backup on a virtual machine on VirtualBoxis an easy process. We will take a backup of a VM and restore it from backup again.
Follow the steps below to take Snapshot in VBox in order.
Step 1
Open the Oracle VM VBox program and run the VM you want to backup.
Step 2
Once the virtual machine is running, click on Machine / Take Snapshot from the menu.
Step 3
Type a name and description for the backup and click OK.
Step 4
Wait while you are getting a backup of your virtual machine. This process will complete in about 1 minute.
Step 5
Once you have received the backup, click on the Snapshots section as shown below.
Step 6
You can see the current status of the VM in the window below. You can also perform Restore in this window.
How to Restore VM to a Previous Snapshot
For example, after Snapshot is received, the operating system installed on the VM has collapsed. To recover your operating system, you can restore your backup on the VM and use it again in a short period of time.
That’s why using Snapshot in Oracle VBox is a great feature.
Step 1
Click on the Restore button on the Windows 7 VM in the right pane.
Step 2
The following window informs you that it will return from the backup named Snapshot-Fresh. If the option “Create a snapshot of the current VM” is checked, unchecked it and click on the Restore button.
Step 3
Wait while the Windows 7 VM restore.
How To Backup Virtualbox Image
Step 4
How To Backup Virtualbox Machine
Windows 7 VM restored from backup. To use the Snapshot in VBox, create a new folder on the desktop of the virtual machine and close the VM.
Step 5
Restore the Windows 7 VM again.
Step 6
Likewise, click on the Restore button to continue.
Step 7
Wait while the Windows VM restore.
Step 8
As you can see in the image below, the Windows 7 VM was restored to its previous state because the created folder is no longer available.
Step 9
In the window below you can see the virtual machine information from the backup taken.
How to Take Backup in Oracle VM Software on Windows 10 ⇒ Video
You can watch the following video to take and restore Snapshot in VBox. Also, you can subscribe to our YouTubechannel to support us!
Final Word
In this article, we have reviewed Snapshot, one of the most frequently used features when using the VBox virtualization program. Thanks for following us!
If this article is helpful, please send us feedback by commenting…
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