How to Recover Automatic ZFS Snapshots (GNOME File Manager)

You can browse and recover snapshots from the GNOME desktop file manager, which is accessed as follows:

• Click the Desktop icon under the Places tab

• Click the clock icon with the slider from the Desktop - File Browser

1. Browse your snapshots by opening any folder in the GNOME file manager.

   If the Restore icon (clock with slider ) is enabled, snapshots of this directory are available.

2. Click on the clock icon to access snapshot navigation features.

   Directly below the location: URL section is a one line description of the following information:

   • The timeline or date and time that the snapshot was taken

   • The location in the backup timeline of the current snapshot

   • The number of snapshots available for this directory and the space consumed by ZFS snapshots

3. Drag the slider into the past to retrieve previous versions of your files.

   You can open all your files in read-only mode. Or, you can browse in list view mode (as oppose to icon view) so that a restore information column automatically appears. This column gives you contextual information about either of the following:

   • The file version number, if you browse in the current or latest version of a directory

   • The difference, if any, between the file snapshot and the latest version of the file

4. Recover files from an automatic snapshot from either of the following methods:

   • Drag and drop a snapshot into another file manager window

   • Right click the mouse and select the restore to Desktop icon. Then, copy and paste the selected snapshot to the present time.