Snapshots

Snapshots

Snapshots are the safety net: when chat goes too far (deleted drivers, bricked boots), !revertvm brings the machine back.

Keep the tree flat

Snapshot chains (child-on-parent) waste disk space - every link keeps its own copy-on-write diff, and chains compound. The recommended workflow keeps exactly one snapshot at all times:

1. Set up the VM the way you want it (installed programs, desktop shortcuts, etc.).
2. Take ONE snapshot, e.g. RFS 2 - this is your restore baseline.
3. Stream. When chaos happens, !revertvm restores that baseline.
4. When you change the VM permanently (new programs), power it off, delete the old snapshot, install, then take a fresh one.

Why delete the old snapshot first?

Deleting the current snapshot merges its content into the live state - nothing is lost. The machine keeps its exact current state; only the snapshot entry disappears. So the flow is:

poweroff -> snapshot delete "RFS 2" -> install programs -> snapshot take "RFS 3"

Result: a single flat snapshot again, no chain, no wasted space.

Command reference (VBoxManage)

# list snapshots
VBoxManage snapshot "VM Name" list

# take a snapshot (VM may be off - cleanest - or running)
VBoxManage snapshot "VM Name" take "RFS 2" --description "baseline"

# restore the current snapshot (VM must be off, or use the graceful !revertvm)
VBoxManage snapshot "VM Name" restorecurrent

# delete a snapshot - merges its data, doesn't lose state
VBoxManage snapshot "VM Name" delete "RFS 1"

Deleting the current snapshot requires the VM to be powered off.

In-game

Chat only ever sees !revertvm (vote-gated, see Voting). Everything above is operator-side.