This is how I use the VirtualBox snapshot option on my headless server. I use this feature for creating a restore point for a critical mail server upgrade I will soon post about. Because I will use this option more often it comes handy when recorded somewhere.

Specs:

• Debian 6.0.6 “Squeeze”
• Virtualbox 4.1.22-80657

See the Virtualbox snapshot syntax below

VBoxManage snapshot | take [–description ] [–pause] | delete | | restore | | restorecurrent | edit ||–current [–name ] [–description ] | list [–details|–machinereadable] showvminfo |

1. Shutdown the system (taking a snapshot while running resulted in a error)

VBoxManage snapshot vm04-zca8 take snap1-before-upgrade 0%…10%…20%…30%…40%…50%…60%…70%…80%…90%…100%

2. Check if the snapshot is recorded

VBoxManage showvminfo vm04-zca8 <…> Snapshots: Name: snap1-before-upgrade (UUID: fc060f19-9fcc-4559-88df-20f6b61bfb28) *</…>

3. Start the system:

VBoxManage startvm vm04-zca8 –type headless Waiting for VM “vm04-zca8” to power on… VM “vm04-zca8” has been successfully started.

4. Now do your thing
5. In case you need to revert back to the snapshot

VBoxManage snapshot vm04-zca8 restore snap1-before-upgrade Restoring snapshot f96d12f8-4d50-493e-864a-6f7b001594dc 0%…10%…20%…30%…40%…50%…60%…70%…80%…90%…100%

6. Otherwise delete the snapshot because it uses disk space

VBoxManage snapshot vm04-zca8 delete snap1-before-upgrade 0%…10%…20%…30%…40%…50%…60%…70%…80%…90%…100%

That’s about it!