PowerCLi + PowerShell Method
-=Creating snapshots=-
Let’s say you are doing a maintenance, and need a quick way to snapshot certain VMs in the vCenter. The create_snapshot.ps1 PowerShell does just that, and it can be called from PowerCli.
- Open PowerCLi and connect to the desired vCenter
- From the directory that you have placed the create_snapshot.ps1 script, run the command and watch for output.
> .\create_snapshot.ps1 -vm <vm-name>,<vm-name> -name snapshot_name
Like so:
In vCenter recent tasks window, you’ll see something similar to:
-=Removing snapshots=-
Once you are ready to remove the snapshots, the remove_snapshot.ps1 PowerShell script does just that.
- Once you are logged into the vCenter through PowerCli like before, from the directory that you have placed the remove_snapshot.ps1 script, run the command and watch for output.
> .\remove_snapshot.ps1 -vm xx01-vmname,xx01-vmname -name snapshot_name
Like so:
In vCenter recent tasks window, you’ll see something similar to:
Those two PowerShell scripts can be found here:
create_snapshot.ps1 and remove_snapshot.ps1
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PowerCLi Method
-=Creating snapshots=-
The PowerCLi New-Snapshot cmdlet allows the creation of snapshots in similar fashion, and there’s no need to call on a PowerShell script. However can be slower
> get-vm an01-jump-win1,an01-1-automate | new-snapshot -Name "cbtest" -Description "testing" -Quiesce -Memory
- If the VM is running and it has virtual tools installed, you can opt for a quiescent snapshot with –Quiesce parameter. This has the effect of saving the virtual disk in a consistent state.
- If the virtual machine is running, you can also elect to save the memory state as well with the –Memory parameter
- You can also
Keep in mind using these options increases the time required to take the snapshot, but it should put the virtual machine back in the exact state if you need to restore back to it.
-=Listing Snapshots=-
If you need to check the vCenter for any VM that contains snapshots, the get-snapshot cmdlet allows you to do that. You can also use cmdlets like format-list to make it easier to read.
> Get-vm | get-snapshot | format-list vm,name,created
Other options:
Description
Created
Quiesced
PowerState
VM
VMId
Parent
ParentSnapshotId
ParentSnapshot
Children
SizeMB
IsCurrent
IsReplaySupported
ExtensionData
Id
Name
Uid
-=Removing snapshots=-
The PowerCLi remove-snapshot cmdlet does just that, and used in combination with the get-snapshot cmdlet looks something like this.
> get-snapshot -name cbtest -VM an01-jump-win1,an01-1-automate | remove-snapshot -RunAsync -confirm:$false
- If you don’t want to be prompted, include –confirm:$False.
- Removing a snapshot can be a long process so you might want to take advantage of the –RunAsync parameter again.
- Some snapshots may have child snapshots if you are taking many during a maintenance, so you can also use –RemoveChildren to clean those up as well.
CaptainvOPS 
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