microsoft / microsoft/WSL

Easy Snapshots From CLI

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#8,185 5 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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feature
Dominant language
C++
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
3d 17h
Merged PRs (30d)
116

Description

Right now, to back up my Debian instance, I have set up a few Scheduled Task that exports the image every week and another that clean up the folders for .tar files 6 months and older.

This is a workaround solution really, as the image can be quite heavy, and fill up my storage quickly (hence my Schedule Task watcher). Adding options to take snapshots (i.e. the difference between states) would allow me (and others) to very easily/quickly revert changes as the current solution is a bit of an overkill.

I am not using any specific distro just the standard Debian and my goal here is simply to regularly back up my config, work, tools, etc.

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The issue names no files, tests, or CLI entry points. Start by locating the existing WSL image export and lifecycle commands, then determine how snapshot creation, storage cleanup, and reverting would fit together. Done means a documented CLI workflow can create lightweight snapshots and restore a Debian instance to an earlier state.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
debian
Domain
cli, operating-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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