Managing command-line snapshots
One of the huge advantages of using virtual machines is the ability to use snapshots to take a point-in-time image of a guest. This allows you to take risks, since as long as you have a snapshot to return to, you know that you can easily go back to a known good state.
Snapshotting is one of the prime candidates for scripting. You should take a snapshot every time you carry out an operation on a virtual machine. Installed a new package? Take a snapshot. Changed some settings? Take a snapshot.
Tip
Although I encourage you to use snapshots freely, you should also have a strategy for removing them. ESXi essentially keeps a set of difference files when it takes snapshots, and these can very quickly eat disk space if left ...
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