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Snapshot Profiles (Snapshot Scheduling)#

A snapshot profile defines a schedule for taking snapshots and automatically expiring them based on retention settings.

Default Snapshot Profiles#

Multiple, default snapshot profiles are created by the VergeOS installation. These profiles can be modified, and you can create additional profiles to provide custom scheduling.

Snapshot Profiles Included with Installation

The following are default snapshot profiles automatically created at system installation.

SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley)#

  • Yearly snapshots retained for 7 years
  • Monthly snapshots retained for 1 year
  • Weekly snapshots retained for 31 days
  • Daily snapshots retained for 7 days

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act)#

  • Yearly snapshots retained indefinitely (no expiration)
  • Monthly snapshots retained for 1 year
  • Weekly snapshots retained for 31 days
  • Daily snapshots retained for 7 days

NAS Volume Syncs#

  • Daily (at 6pm) snapshots retained for 3 days

System Snapshots (Default Profile for entire-system snapshots)#

  • Hourly snapshots retained for 3 hours
  • Daily at midnight snapshots retained for 3 days
  • Daily at noon snapshots retained for 1 day
  • Profile assigned at installation to take full snapshots of the entire system according to this schedule.
  • More detail about system snapshots can be found at: System Snapshots

Volume Antivirus Scan#

  • Default profile for volume antivirus scan scheduling

Creating a Custom Snapshot Schedule (New Snapshot Profile)#

  1. Navigate to System > Snapshot Profiles
  2. Click New on the left menu.
  3. Enter a descriptive Name for the new profile. (e.g. Webservers, premium tenants, weekly-quiesce, etc.)
  4. Optionally, you can enter additional Description information.
  5. Click Submit to save the profile.
  6. The new snapshot profile is created.
    Add profile periods to implement a schedule within the profile.

After creating a new snapshot profile, its dashboard opens automatically, where you can create new periods. To return to this page later, navigate to: System > Snapshot Profiles > double-click the profile.

Profile Periods#

A profile period defines both the frequency and retention for snapshots. Adding multiple periods allows incorporating various frequencies and retentions within the same profile.

To Add a Period:

  • Click Add Period on the left menu.

Profile Period Configuration#

  • Snapshot Profile: Pre-selected when accessed from the snapshot profile dashboard.

  • Name: (required). Enter a descriptive name to identify the period (ex: weekly, 6pm, Mondays, etc).

  • Frequency: defines how often snapshots are taken.

    • Options: Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly, Custom
    • Additional scheduling fields (Month, Day of Month, Day of Week, Hour, Minute) vary based on the frequency selected.
    • Custom allows specifying a one‑time execution at an exact date and time.

  • Retention: Specifies how long to keep snapshots before automatic expiration.

    • Enter a (value) and select Units: Days (default), Hours, Years, Forever (retained indefinitely)

Long‑term or indefinite retention can significantly increase storage usage. Consider your data‑change rate and available storage when configuring retention.

  • Minimum Snapshots: (default:1) Ensures a minimum number of snapshots are always available.
    • Snapshots may be kept past expiration, if necessary to maintain the defined minimum.
    • This helps to ensure there are available recovery points after prolonged outages by preventing automatic purging of an expired snapshot when there is no replacement snapshot.

Snapshots kept past expiration to satisfy the minimum will be marked as "Held" and display "x days over" in the 'Time to Expiration' column. They are deleted only when a new scheduled snapshot replaces them or if manually removed.

System Snapshot Settings (applies only to system snapshots)#

  • Private: when selected, snapshots from this period are hidden from tenants
  • Immutable: when selected, deletion of snapshots is blocked for all users until expiration or the immutable flag is removed with a mandatory waiting period.

Immutable snapshots cannot be deleted until unlocked and mandatory waiting period expires. Ensure retention settings align with available storage. For more guidance, see the Immutable Snapshots Guide.

  • Snapshot Type:
    • Full: captures the entire system; required for full-system recovery
    • Partial - Exclude Tags: captures all VMs, tenants, VMware services, and volumes except those with the specified tags
    • Partial - Include Tags: captures only VMs, tenants, VMware services, and volumes with the specified tags
      • Exclude/Include Tags (Partial snapshots only): Click the ellipse button [] to select one or more tags.
      • Quiesce Tags (optional; Partial snapshots only): Click the ellipse button [] to select one or more tags. VMs with the specified tags will temporarily freeze disk activity during capture to provide an application-consistent snapshot. Requires VM Guest Agent support.

Machine Snapshot Settings (Applies to VM and volume snapshots; not used for system snapshots)#

  • Quiesce Snapshots: If enabled, disk activity will temporarily freeze while the snapshot is being taken.

    • Provides application-consistent backups for VMs
    • VMs require VM guest agent support

  • Max Tier for Storing Snapshot: (default= Tier 1). Controls the highest storage tier allowed for snapshot data.

    • Snapshot data normally uses the same tier as the source.
    • If the source tier exceeds the max tier, the snapshot is stored at the max tier instead.
    • Tier 1 means no restrictions because it is the most expensive tier
    • See Storage Tiers for details.

Modify an Existing Snapshot Profile#

  1. Navigate to System > Snapshot Profiles.
  2. Double-click the profile to open it.
  3. Scroll to the Periods section. Add, modify or remove periods to alter the existing schedule as desired. (Reference above instructions for configuring periods.)
    • Add a period: click the +Add Period link.
    • modify an existing period: click the pencil icon .
    • remove an existing period: click the trash can icon

Profile Dashboard#

Double-clicking a snapshot profile from the System > Snapshot Profiles list opens its dashboard. The dashboard displays summary tiles across the top showing counts of resources associated with the profile.

Dashboard Tile Reference#

Tile Description
Machines Total count of VMs and VM Snapshots combined. This includes both currently subscribed VMs and snapshot records from VMs that were previously snapped by this profile.
VMS Count of VMs currently subscribed (assigned) to this snapshot profile.
VM Snapshots Count of VM-level snapshots retained by this profile, including snapshots from VMs that are no longer subscribed to the profile.
System Snapshots Count of system snapshots taken by this profile.
Volumes Count of NAS volumes currently assigned to this profile.
Volumes Antivirus Count of volume antivirus scan snapshots associated with this profile.
Volume Syncs Count of volume sync snapshots associated with this profile.

Click any tile to drill down into the corresponding resource list.

Understanding Machines vs. VMS counts

It is normal for Machines to be greater than VMS. The Machines tile is the sum of VMS (currently subscribed VMs) plus VM Snapshots (retained snapshot records). If a VM is removed from the profile but its snapshots remain, VMS will decrease while VM Snapshots and Machines retain the previous count. See Cleaning Up Orphaned VM Snapshots for guidance on resolving this.

Assigning Snapshot Profiles#

Snapshot profiles can be assigned to different snapshot types:

Full System Snapshots#

It is typically recommended that you use the default 'System Snapshots' profile for your full system snapshots. This profile can be modified to customize scheduling and can include partial snapshots in addition to full system snapshots. See System Snapshots for more information

Partial System Snapshots#

Select VMs and/or tenants based on custom tagging. These can be added to your System Snapshots schedule or added to a separate snapshot profile.

Individual NAS Volumes#

See NAS Volume Snapshots and Restores - Schedule Volume Snapshots

Individual VMs#

See VM Snapshots and Restores - Assign a Snapshot Profile

Removing a VM from a profile does not delete its existing snapshots

When a VM is unsubscribed from a snapshot profile, any snapshots previously taken by that profile are not automatically deleted. These orphaned snapshots continue to appear in the VM Snapshots and Machines tiles on the profile dashboard, even though the VMS tile shows 0. Combined with the Minimum Snapshots setting (default: 1), these snapshots can persist indefinitely. See Cleaning Up Orphaned VM Snapshots for resolution steps.

Cleaning Up Orphaned VM Snapshots#

When a VM is removed from a snapshot profile, its existing snapshots are retained. Over time these orphaned snapshots can accumulate, especially when the Minimum Snapshots setting (default: 1) prevents automatic expiration.

Symptoms:

  • The VMS tile shows 0 but VM Snapshots and Machines show a count
  • Snapshots display "x days over" in the Time to Expiration column and are not being deleted

To resolve:

  1. From the profile dashboard, click the VM Snapshots tile.
  2. Identify snapshots belonging to VMs no longer assigned to the profile.
  3. Select the snapshots and click Delete from the left menu.