Snapshots and forksCopy Anchor Link

Raft captures filesystem snapshots, rolls back changes, and clones workspaces on the same host.

Target workspace handleCopy Anchor Link

Commands in this guide require a stopped workspace:

raft list
box="lab:rf-a1b2c3d4e5f60718"  # Replace with your actual workspace handle
raft stop "$box"

Stopped-source requirementCopy Anchor Link

Creating snapshotsCopy Anchor Link

Take a point-in-time snapshot of the stopped workspace filesystem:

raft snapshot "$box" pre-upgrade

Snapshot names must use letters, digits, underscores, or hyphens up to 64 characters.

Listing snapshotsCopy Anchor Link

View existing snapshots for a workspace:

raft snapshots "$box"

The command prints snapshot names and creation timestamps from Incus metadata.

Restoring from a snapshotCopy Anchor Link

Roll back a stopped workspace to a previously recorded snapshot:

raft restore "$box" pre-upgrade

Resume the workspace with a renewed lifetime:

raft resume "$box" --ttl 600

Forking a workspaceCopy Anchor Link

Forking creates an independent clone on the same host:

copy=$(raft fork "$box" --ttl 600)
echo "Created fork: $copy"

Characteristics of forked workspacesCopy Anchor Link

• Instance-only copy: Uses Incus --instance-only. Filesystem data, installed packages, and /workspace files are copied; source snapshots are not inherited.
• Immediate start: raft fork launches the new container immediately with the specified TTL while the source remains stopped.
• Fresh network identity: The fork receives a new container name, a fresh MAC address on rfbr0, and an independent IP address.
• Capacity accounting: The fork counts toward the location's four-saved-box limit and uses storage from the shared 60 GiB Btrfs pool.

Destroy the clone when finished to release capacity:

raft destroy "$copy"