→ Applies to: VMware ESXi 6.5 and above

Step 1. Connect to VMware ESXi via SSH as root (replace <your_ip_address_or_hostname> with the correct information)

ssh root@<your_ip_address_or_hostname>

Step 2. Check the snapshots associated with each VM

vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms \
| awk 'NR>1 && $1 ~ /^[0-9]+$/ { vmid=$1; $1=""; sub(/^ /,""); print vmid "\t" $0 }' \
| while IFS=$'\t' read -r VMID VMNAME; do
  echo "VM: $VMNAME (ID $VMID)"
  vim-cmd vmsvc/snapshot.get "$VMID" 2>/dev/null
  echo
done

EXAMPLE OUTPUT

VM: VM1
[VM1]
VM1/VM1.vmx
vm1
vmx-19
(ID 10)
Get Snapshot:

VM: VM2
[VM2]
VM2/VM2.vmx
vm2
vmx-19
(ID 11)
Get Snapshot:
   Snapshot Name        : snapshot1
   Snapshot Id          : 1
   Snapshot Description : snapshot di test
   Snapshot Created On  : 2025-08-20T12:34:56.000Z
   Snapshot State       : poweredOn

VM: VM3
[VM3]
VM3/VM3.vmx
vm3
vmx-10
(ID 12)
Get Snapshot:

If no details appear under "Get Snapshot:" for a VM, it means the VM doesn't have any snapshots.

Step 3. Login to VMware ESXi GUI (replace <your_ip_address_or_hostname> with the correct ip/hostname)

https://<your_ip_address_or_hostname>

Step 4. Click on Virtual Machines

Step 5. Select the VM whose snapshots need to be deleted, then click on Actions

Step 6. Click on Snapshots, then Manage snapshots

Step 7. Select the snapshot to be deleted, then click on Delete snapshot