Snapshots
Automatic restore points before every update — Genesi's "indestructible OS" safety net.
Genesi installs on Btrfs by default (see Filesystem), and turns that into an invisible safety net: a restore point is taken automatically before every system update, so a bad upgrade is never a dead end. This is the "indestructible OS" idea — you don't have to know anything about snapshots for it to protect you.
Snapshots need a Btrfs root, which is the Genesi default. If you installed on another filesystem, protection is off — back up important data before large upgrades instead.
What you get, automatically
- A snapshot before and after every update. Each
pacman/update transaction is bracketed by an automatic restore point — no action needed. - Snapshots in the boot menu. Every restore point also shows up in the GRUB menu under "Genesi Recovery - My system broke", so you can go back even if the system won't boot. See System Recovery.
- Tiny on disk. Snapshots are copy-on-write: they cost almost nothing until files actually change, and Genesi keeps only a small rolling number of the automatic ones (old ones are pruned for you). There are no hourly/periodic snapshots — only update snapshots and the ones you take yourself.
The Genesi Snapshots app
Open Genesi Snapshots from the app menu to manage everything visually:
- Protection status — confirms at a glance that the machine is protected.
- Restore points — the timeline of every snapshot, newest first.
- Snapshot now — take a manual restore point before you change something big.
- Restore — make any snapshot the system you boot into.
- Delete — remove a restore point you no longer need.
Restoring (rolling back)
Click Restore on any restore point to make it your system again. This is safe and reversible:
- Your current state is snapshotted first, so the restore is itself undoable.
- Nothing is deleted — the previous system is kept as a one-click backup.
- Your personal files in
/homeare not touched — a restore rolls back the system (programs, settings, kernel), never your documents.
After a restore, reboot to start using the restored system.
Every update creates a pre snapshot (taken before the update — the older
state) and a post snapshot (after — with the update applied). To move
forward to a working system, restore a post or a manual snapshot,
never a pre — a pre takes you back to before that update.
If the system won't boot
That's exactly what snapshots are for. Head to System Recovery — you can pick a good snapshot straight from the GRUB menu and restore it in one click.