Image Snapshots

[Metamogul]

QEMU offers the possibility to create file system snapshots of qcow2 files. This is useful if you for example want to test infrastructure provisioning with VMs instead of actual production metal, if you're researching malware, developing OS images, ... and frequently need to restore earlier system states. In such a use case a snapshot feature could safe a lot of disk space and disk usage compared to copying a VM('s disk). The config UI for a VM's drive also has a lot of empty space where a list of snapshots for restoring could be displayed.

Does a disk snapshot feature exist yet and I didn't find it? If not: Are there any known reasons why such a feature hasn't be implemented yet, like technical issues with snapshots via qemu-img, lack of working hours, low priority, ...? Do you think such a feature would be useful or useless?

[Metamogul]

Because I need that functionality myself (and because I'm not familiar with the architecture and intricacies of UTM) if created a proof-of-concept project: https://github.com/Metamogul/UTM-Snapshot-Manager. Let me know what you think!

[codecod3r]

Did you ever find a solution for this?

[Metamogul]

You mean a solution to the lack of snapshot functionality? I created the above mentioned tool as temporary solution until UTM will eventually support snapshots. You can easily clone and build the project if you need snapshots for VMs in UTM.