APFS_SYSTEMSNAPSHOT(8) System Manager's Manual APFS_SYSTEMSNAPSHOT(8)

apfs_systemsnapshot — create and tag APFS system snapshots

apfs_systemsnapshot -r snapshot_name -v mount_point

apfs_systemsnapshot -s snapshot_name -v mount_point

apfs_systemsnapshot -h

The apfs_systemsnapshot utility can create or tag a new snapshot of a Signed System Volume.

apfs_systemsnapshot requires disabling the authenticated-root System Integrity Protection configuration from recoveryOS. Once disabled, non-sealed snapshots can be created and tagged as the snapshot to be rooted from.

apfs_systemsnapshot should not be used when working on kernel extension development, bless(8) should be used instead.

The mount_point parameter should be the mount point of a Signed System Volume.

The options are as follows:

snapshot_name
Tag snapshot_name as the root snapshot to boot from upon next boot.
snapshot_name
Create a new system snapshot named snapshot_name.
Print a usage message.

apfs_systemsnapshot exits with 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

bless(8), csrutil(8), diskutil(8)

The apfs_systemsnapshot utility was introduced in macOS 11.

July 29, 2020 Mac OS X 12