Working with Time Slider Snapshots

Time Slider takes frequent snapshots of all the attached ZFS file systems These snapshots are taken every 15 minutes, hourly, daily, and weekly.

You can take snapshots using either Time Slider preferences pane or using the file manager. The following sections describe different procedures that can be performed using these methods.

Managing Snapshots Using Time Slider

When Time Slider is enabled, automatic snapshots are deleted as follows:

• frequent snapshots are deleted after 1 hour

• hourly snapshots are deleted after 1 day

• daily snapshots are deleted after 1 week

• weekly snapshots are deleted after 1 month

• One or more of the oldest snapshots on a file system will be deleted when the file system becomes more than 80% full

You can also delete snapshots manually, if required. For more information, see How to Delete an Existing Snapshot From Time Slider.

You can change the free disk space threshold at which the oldest snapshots will be automatically deleted. For more information, see How to Change the Storage Space Available to Snapshots.

If you do not require snapshots to be taken and stored on every ZFS file system, you can choose which file systems to include or exclude. For more information, see How to Choose a Specific ZFS File System to Snapshot.

For additional protection, every Time Slider snapshot can be automatically copied to an external storage device. For more information, see How to Replicate Snapshots to an External Storage Device.

How to Delete an Existing Snapshot From Time Slider

1. Open the Time Slider preferences pane by choosing System→Administration→Time Slider.
2. Open the Delete Snapshots window by clicking the Delete Snapshots button.
3. In the snapshot list, select any snapshots that you want to delete.

   You can filter the list by file system and by the SMF service that took the snapshot: frequent, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly.

4. Click the Delete button.
5. Click the Close button.

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   Note - Snapshots that were not created by Time Slider are also listed in the Delete Snapshots window, and can be deleted by using the same method.

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How to Change the Storage Space Available to Snapshots

By default, Time Slider creates new snapshots on a ZFS file system until the file system is 80% full. At that point, Time Slider will automatically delete one or more of its oldest automatic snapshots as necessary to return the file system usage to 80% or less.

You can set this threshold from any value between 70% and 90%. This value applies to all ZFS file systems. Use this procedure to change the threshold value.

1. Open the Time Slider preferences pane by choosing System→Administration→Time Slider.
2. Click the Advanced Options expander button.
3. In the Reduce Backups When Storage Space Usage Exceeds text box, type a value between 70 and 90, or use the spin buttons to increase or decrease the existing value.
4. Click OK to close the window.

How to Choose a Specific ZFS File System to Snapshot

By default, Time Slider takes snapshots of all the ZFS file systems. Use this procedure to choose a specific set of file systems for the Time Slider service to snapshot.

1. Open the Time Slider preferences pane by choosing System→Administration→Time Slider.
2. Click the Advanced Options expander button.
3. Click the Custom radio button.
4. In the list of ZFS file systems, select the option next to the file system that you want to snapshot, and deselect the other file system options that you do not want to snapshot.
5. Click OK to close the window.

How to Replicate Snapshots to an External Storage Device

For additional data protection, Time Slider can duplicate every snapshot it takes to an external storage device. Use this procedure to enable this feature.

1. Open the Time Slider preferences pane by choosing System→Administration→Time Slider.
2. Click the Advanced Options expander button.
3. Select the Replicate backups to an External Drive option.
4. Choose a directory on an external device by using the file chooser button.
5. Click OK to close the window.

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   Note - External devices do not need to be formatted with the ZFS filesystem to use this feature.

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Managing Snapshots From a File Manager

Time Slider service takes automatic snapshots of your files every 15 minutes. When your system administrator has enabled Time Slider, you can browse and recover old versions of your files by using File Manager application.

How to View the Available Snapshots in File Manager

Use this procedure to view a list of the snapshots available for a particular folder.

1. Open the File Manager window and navigate to a folder.
2. Open the Time Slider pane, by using one of the following methods:
   • In the File Manager window, choose View→Restore and click the Time Slider toolbar button.
   • Press Ctrl+E to open the Time Slider pane.

   The Time Slider pane shows the available snapshots for a folder in a time-ordered sequence of bars. The earliest snapshot is on the left, and the current state, labelled Now, is on the right as shown in the following figure.

   
   

   For each snapshot in the Time Slider pane:

   • The height of the bar indicates the amount of data in the snapshot. The higher the bar, the larger the number of file system changes since the previous snapshot.

   • The appearance of the bar indicates the type of snapshot.

     • Unfilled: Local snapshot only, no external backup

     • Filled: Local snapshot with external backup

     • Rounded top: Automatic Time Slider snapshot

     • Square top: Manual snapshot

   If several snapshots are displayed, you can filter the timeline by using the drop-down list in the Time Slider pane. The following options are available:

   • All: Displays all the existing snapshots.

   • Today: Displays only snapshots that have been taken today.

   • Yesterday: Displays only snapshots that were taken the previous day.

   • This week: Displays snapshots that have been taken since Sunday of the current week.

   • Last week: Displays snapshots that were taken between Sunday and Saturday of the previous.

   • This month: Displays snapshots that have been taken since the 1st of the current month.

   • Last month: Displays snapshots that were taken between the 1st and 31st of the previous month.

   • This year: Displays snapshots that have been taken since January 1st of the current year.

   • Last year: Displays snapshots that were taken between January 1st and December 31st of the previous year

   To hide the Time Slider pane again, click the Close button on the top right of the pane. Alternately, you can choose View→Restore, click the Time Slider toolbar button, or press Ctrl+E, when the pane is displayed.

How to View the Previous Version of a File or Folder

1. Open the File Manager window and navigate to the folder containing the file.
2. Open the Time Slider pane by using one of the following methods:
   • In the File Manager window, choose View→Restore and click the Time Slider toolbar button.
   • Press Ctrl+E to open the Time Slider pane.
3. In the Time Slider pane, click on the bar representing the snapshot that you want to view.

   The File Manager window contents are updated to show the files that were present in the folder when the snapshot was taken.

4. Double-click any file to show the contents of that file when the snapshot was taken.

How to Compare Versions of a File or Folder

1. Open the File Manager window and navigate to the folder containing the file.
2. Open the Time Slider pane by using one of the following methods:
   • In the File Manager window, choose View→Restore and click the Time Slider toolbar button.
   • Press Ctrl+E to open the Time Slider pane.
3. In the Time Slider pane, click on the bar representing the snapshot that you want to view.

   The File Manager window contents are updated to show the files that were present in the folder when the snapshot was taken.

4. Right-click any file, then select Explore Versions from the menu to open the Version Explorer window.

   If no different versions are available to compare, No Versions is shown on the menu instead of Explore Versions.

   The Time Slider File Version Explorer window is displayed.

5. In the Version Explorer window, select an older versions of the file and then click Compare.

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   Note - You must install the developer/meld package to compare versions of a file. To install this package, use the Package Manager application, or type sudo pkg install developer/meld in a terminal.

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How to Restore a Previous Version of a File

If you want to edit a previous version of a file, you must first restore it to your working environment. Use this procedure to restore the previous version of a file.

1. Open the File Manager window and navigate to the folder containing the file.
2. Open the Time Slider pane by using one of the following methods:
   • In the File Manager window, choose View→Restore and click the Time Slider toolbar button.
   • Press Ctrl+E to open the Time Slider pane.
3. In the Time Slider pane, click the bar representing the snapshot that you want to view.

   The File Manager window contents are updated to show the files that were present in the folder when the snapshot was taken.

4. Copy the version of the file you want to restore by using the following methods:
   • Right-click the file that you want to restore, and choose Restore to Desktop to copy that version of the file to your desktop.
   • Drag the file into another File Manager window to copy the file to another location.

How to Take a Manual Snapshot

Sometimes you might want to take a snapshot of your files manually, rather than waiting for the Time Slider to automatically take a snapshot.

1. Open the File Manager window and navigate to the folder containing the file.
2. Open the Time Slider pane by using one of the following methods:
   • In the File Manager window choose View→Restore and click the Time Slider toolbar button.
   • Press Ctrl+E to open the Time Slider pane.
3. (Optional) Select the snapshot labelled Now, if not selected.
4. Click the Take Snapshot button in the bottom right corner of the Time Slider pane.
5. When prompted, type a name for the snapshot and then click OK to confirm.

   A manual snapshot of the file manager is displayed on the Time Slider panel

How to Delete a Snapshot From a File Manager

If you are certain that you no longer require a particular snapshot, whether it is a manual snapshot or an automatic Time Slider snapshot, you can delete it by using the following procedure.

1. Open the File Manager window and navigate to the folder containing the file.
2. Open the Time Slider pane by using one of the following methods:
   • In the File Manager window choose View→Restore and click the Time Slider toolbar button.
   • Press Ctrl+E to open the Time Slider pane.
3. Select the snapshot that you want to delete.
4. Click the Delete Snapshot button in the bottom right corner of the Time Slider pane.

   Since this step is permanent and cannot be undone, you must be logged in as root and provide the root password to perform this step.