Schedule Snapshots

Snapshot Master's scheduler creates snapshots on a defined cadence and deletes them after a configurable retention window. The result: every VM in scope has a known short-term rollback point without any manual ongoing operator work.

Where to find it

Click the Schedules tab in the left navigation. The page lists every active schedule with VM scope, cadence, and retention.

Create a schedule

1. Click Add Schedule.
2. Name — operator-facing identifier. Choose something the next admin will understand.
3. Scope — pick the VMs the schedule applies to. Options:
   • One specific VM.
   • All VMs in a folder / resource pool / SCVMM host / Azure resource group.
   • All VMs matching a name pattern (prod-*, db-*, etc.).
   • All VMs across a specific connection (everything in vCenter X, everything in Azure subscription Y, etc.).
4. Cadence — when snapshots are taken. Options:
   • Daily at a specific time.
   • Weekly on specific days.
   • Monthly on a specific date.
   • Custom cron-style expression.
5. Snapshot name template — what each snapshot is named. Tokens like {vm}, {date}, {schedule} are substituted.
6. Retention — how long snapshots persist before automatic delete. Options:
   • Keep last N snapshots per VM.
   • Delete after N days.
   • Combination (keep at least N, delete anything older than X days).
7. Pre-snapshot options — same controls as manual snapshots: include memory, quiesce filesystem.
8. Notifications — tick to send email on success, failure, or both. See reporting for the configuration.
9. Click Save.

The schedule activates immediately. The next scheduled run executes at the configured time.

Common schedule patterns

Nightly safety-net snapshots

• Scope: all production VMs.
• Cadence: daily at 02:00.
• Retention: keep last 7 snapshots per VM.
• Use case: quick rollback if a daytime change breaks something.

Pre-patch-Tuesday snapshots

• Scope: all servers tagged patchable.
• Cadence: monthly, second Monday at 18:00.
• Retention: keep last 2 snapshots per VM.
• Use case: rollback option for monthly patching window.

Per-app weekly retention

• Scope: VM name matches app-*.
• Cadence: weekly, Sunday 22:00.
• Retention: delete after 30 days.
• Use case: longer-running rollback for app-server estates.

Edit or delete a schedule

The Schedules page lists active schedules. Right-click any row → Edit or Delete. Editing applies on the next scheduled run; deleting stops further runs (existing snapshots are NOT removed — the retention settings on existing snapshots become moot once the schedule is deleted, so you may need to clean them up manually).

Schedule conflicts

If two schedules target overlapping VM sets, both run — the result is multiple snapshots created at the scheduled times. Use distinct snapshot name templates so they are distinguishable in the snapshot list.

What gets logged

Every scheduled run is logged with:

• Schedule name
• VMs that were in scope at run-time
• Snapshots created (per VM)
• Snapshots deleted by the retention rule
• Any failures with reason

The log feeds into the reporting and notifications features.

See also

• Create and revert snapshots — manual one-off operations.
• Reporting and notifications — what you see by email and in reports.
• Consolidation — for cleaning up snapshot chains the scheduler creates.

Need help? support@smikar.com.