Is there a way turn off the automatic snapshot feature in vmware server? (Or is that a bad idea for some reason?) We have the files on the machine backed up separately, so I don't see the need for snapshots, and it seriously slows down the host system when it runs.
Disable automatic snapshots on vmware server
snapshotvmware-server
Best Answer
[Update: The following answer works, but I found a better solution which I posted also.]
Although I did not find a way to shut off the automatic snapshot feature (which seems to be called autoprotect) completely, I did find a way to extend the interval between the snapshots to 10 years (or any other time) which essentially the same thing. The .vmx file for the machine contains a line:
which means there are three timers that control the frequency (and other things) of the automatic snapshots. Below that line you will see lines starting with "rollingTier0", rollingTier1, and rollingTier2, which are the configuration for the timers. The rollingTier[n].interval line contains a number of seconds to wait between snapshots. The default for rollingTier0.interval is 3600, so a snapshot happens every hour. I put in a value of 315567360 for this one:
so it runs every 10 years, and made the others slightly longer.
If you edit the vmx file directly, be sure to power off the virtual machine first, per this page. My sys admin actually made the change using the web-based client for vmware server that lets you configure the virtual machines.