In the Snapshot Manager of VirtualCenter, some snapshots have a green icon

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

In the snapshot manager of VirtualCenter, some snapshots have a green icon and some do not. What is the difference?

The following graphics displays the green icon:

Environment

VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x

Resolution

The green icon indicates that the snapshot was taken when the machine was powered on. You can revert the virtual machine to a running state by reverting to a snapshot that was taken in a running state. If you revert a virtual machine that is not green the virtual machine is powered off and must be booted again.

Snapshots are normally taken of disks but the running snapshots also have a snapshot of the RAM of a virtual machine so you can go back to the running state the machine was in when the snapshot was taken.

You do not have the green symbol even if you take a snapshot of a running virtual machine if you select not to take a snapshot of RAM.