ZFS-SNAPSHOT(8)

💖 zfs-snapshot — bestie edition 💖

okay so you opened the manual page for zfs-snapshot(8), which lives in the System Manager's Manual section, and honestly? you're about to have the best time. sit down, hydrate, we're making snapshots ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

zfs-snapshot — create snapshots of ZFS datasets 🫶

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

zfs snapshot [-r] [-o property=value]… dataset@snapname…

like. that's it. that's the whole vibe. look at her 💅

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So what this does is: it makes a snapshot of a dataset, OR multiple snapshots of different datasets. multiple. at once. she's efficient, she's organized, she's that girl 👑

Now the important part, and I need you to really hear me on this one: snapshots are created atomically. which means a snapshot is a consistent image of a dataset at one specific point in time — it captures every modification to the dataset made by system calls that successfully completed before that point in time. no half-finished nonsense, no "oops I caught it mid-write", none of that. clean. pristine. iconic.

and if you use the -r option to make recursive snapshots? they are all created at the same time. every single one of them. no cap. 🦋

oh and also — zfs snap can be used as an alias for zfs snapshot. so if you're feeling lazy (respect), you can just type snap. lowercase bestie behavior, we love it 💜

if you want the deep lore, go read the "Snapshots" section of zfsconcepts(7). it's giving required reading 📚

• -o property=value — sets the specified property; peep zfs create for the deets on how that works ✨
• -r — recursively creates snapshots of all descendent datasets 🌈

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🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

🍓 Example 1: Creating a ZFS Snapshot

This command creates a snapshot named yesterday. That snapshot gets mounted on demand in the .zfs/snapshot directory at the root of the pool/home/bob file system. cute, right?

# zfs snapshot pool/home/bob@yesterday

🍓 Example 2: Creating and Destroying Multiple Snapshots

This command creates snapshots named yesterday of pool/home and all of its descendent file systems. each snapshot is mounted on demand in the .zfs/snapshot directory at the root of its own file system. then the second command destroys the brand-new snapshots. we love a full circle moment 💫

# zfs snapshot -r pool/home@yesterday
# zfs destroy -r pool/home@yesterday

🍓 Example 3: Promoting a ZFS Clone

these commands show you how to test out changes to a file system and then replace the original file system with the changed one — using clones, clone promotion, and renaming. it's a whole glow-up arc, honestly 🦋

# zfs create pool/project/production
  populate /pool/project/production with data
# zfs snapshot pool/project/production@today
# zfs clone pool/project/production@today pool/project/beta
  make changes to /pool/project/beta and test them
# zfs promote pool/project/beta
# zfs rename pool/project/production pool/project/legacy
# zfs rename pool/project/beta pool/project/production
  once the legacy version is no longer needed, it can be destroyed
# zfs destroy pool/project/legacy

🍓 Example 4: Performing a Rolling Snapshot

this example shows how to keep a history of snapshots with a consistent naming scheme. to keep a week's worth of snapshots, the user destroys the oldest snapshot, renames the remaining snapshots, and then creates a new one. like a little conveyor belt of memories 🎀

# zfs destroy -r pool/users@7daysago
# zfs rename -r pool/users@6daysago @7daysago
# zfs rename -r pool/users@5daysago @6daysago
# zfs rename -r pool/users@4daysago @5daysago
# zfs rename -r pool/users@3daysago @4daysago
# zfs rename -r pool/users@2daysago @3daysago
# zfs rename -r pool/users@yesterday @2daysago
# zfs rename -r pool/users@today @yesterday
# zfs snapshot -r pool/users@today

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

the whole friend group, fr fr:

• zfs-bookmark(8)
• zfs-clone(8)
• zfs-destroy(8)
• zfs-diff(8)
• zfs-hold(8)
• zfs-rename(8)
• zfs-rollback(8)
• zfs-send(8)

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okay that's the page!! this one came from OpenZFS, dated July 11, 2022, and yes that date is giving vintage but she ate and left no crumbs 💅✨ go make some snapshots bestie, you got this 🫶💖