Nutanix VM Snapshot Management with CLI and Bash

Introduction

Snapshots are a key feature in any backup or testing workflow. Managing them at scale, however, requires automation. With Bash and acli, you can script snapshot creation, enforce retention policies, and delete old snapshots, ideal for daily backup routines or testing environments.

My Personal Repository on GitHub

Nutanix Repository on GitHub

Diagram: Snapshot Management Flow

Goals

• Create daily snapshots
• Enforce retention (e.g., last 3 snapshots)
• Clean up old snapshots automatically

Bash Script: nutanix_snapshot_rotate.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

vms=("web01" "db01" "api01")
retention=3
timestamp=$(date +%Y%m%d)
log="/var/log/nutanix_snapshots.log"

echo "[$(date)] Starting snapshot rotation" >> "$log"

for vm in "${vms[@]}"; do
  snap_name="${vm}_snap_${timestamp}"

  echo "Creating snapshot $snap_name for $vm" >> "$log"
  acli vm.snapshot_create "$vm" snapshot_name="$snap_name"

  # List snapshots and delete older than retention
  snaps=$(acli vm.snapshot_list "$vm" | awk 'NR>2 {print $1}' | sort)
  count=$(echo "$snaps" | wc -l)

  if (( count > retention )); then
    remove=$(echo "$snaps" | head -n -"$retention")
    for old_snap in $remove; do
      echo "Deleting old snapshot $old_snap for $vm" >> "$log"
      acli vm.snapshot_delete "$vm" snapshot_name="$old_snap"
    done
  fi
done

Schedule It with Cron

0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/nutanix_snapshot_rotate.sh

Runs nightly at 2:00 AM to snapshot and rotate selected VMs.

Best Practices

• Avoid snapshot buildup on high-change VMs
• Monitor disk usage tied to snapshots
• Combine with backup offload if needed (e.g., Nutanix Mine)

Summary

With just a few Bash commands, Nutanix snapshots can be automated and controlled. This avoids storage sprawl and aligns with your recovery point goals. Combine with monitoring to alert on failed creations or excess retention.

External Documentation:

• Nutanix acli Snapshot Commands