The subject matter of this specification can be implemented in, among other things, a method including receiving a request to create a live snapshot of a state of a virtual machine including a memory and an original disk file. The method further includes copying, by a hypervisor, data from the memory to a storage device to form a memory snapshot. The method further includes pausing the virtual machine and creating a new disk file at a reference point-in-time. The original disk file is a backing file of the new disk file. The method further includes resuming the virtual machine. The virtual machine is to perform disk operations using the new disk file after the reference point-in-time. The method further includes copying the original disk file to a disk snapshot file. The method further includes providing the live snapshot including the disk snapshot file and the memory snapshot.
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