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Snapshot Restoration – TrueNAS SCALE

Snapshots are point-in-time copies of datasets. You can:

  • Browse them (Shadow Copies)
  • Clone to a separate dataset for granular restore
  • Rollback an entire dataset after ransomware or data loss

1 – List available snapshots

  1. Datasets ▸ locate the dataset
  2. Click the ⋮ (three-dots) ▸ View Snapshots
  3. All snapshot names + timestamps appear.

2 – Restore individual files (Windows Shadow Copy)

  1. Open File Explorer → \\10.30.0.11\lab
  2. Right-click folder ▸ Restore previous versions
  3. Select a snapshot → Open (browse) or Restore (overwrite)

Requires vfs_shadow_copy2 enabled in SMB service.

3 – Clone a snapshot (GUI)

  1. Datasets ▸ View Snapshots
  2. ⋮ next to snapshot ▸ Clone to New Dataset
  3. Name it e.g. restore-lab-YYYY-MM-DD ▸ Submit

Restore dialog

The clone appears as a separate dataset; share it temporarily to extract files.

4 – Rollback an entire dataset

Danger: all changes after the snapshot are deleted.

  1. View Snapshots ▸ ⋮ on snapshot
  2. Rollback ▸ Confirm dialog

5 – CLI examples

# Roll back dataset to a specific snap
zfs rollback core-pool/lab@auto-2025-07-08_00-00

# Clone a snapshot
zfs clone core-pool/lab@auto-2025-07-08_00-00 \
          core-pool/restore-lab-2025-07-08

Best practices

Tip Why
Take snapshots before risky changes Quick safety net
Use recursive snapshots Captures child datasets
Combine with Cloud-Sync or Replication Off-site protection

-Periodic Snapshots -Cloud-Sync Tasks