Arvin Schnell, 16 June 2026
In snapper version 0.13.1, I introduced all-time unique snapshot numbers. This feature ensures that once a snapshot number has been used, it is never reused for a new snapshot, even if the original snapshot is deleted. This was done to make tracking snapshots easier and to prevent issues in scripts and backup tools like snbk.
However, some users prefer the traditional behavior where snapper reuses the lowest next available snapshot number.
To accommodate this preference, there is now an option to disable
all-time unique snapshot numbers. You can return to the traditional
behavior by setting UNIQUE_NUMBERS to “no” in your snapper
configuration file:
snapper set-config UNIQUE_NUMBERS=no
The default value is “yes”. If you set it to “no”, snapper will fall back to its previous behavior of reusing deleted snapshot numbers.
All-time unique snapshot numbers are available in snapper since version 0.13.1. The UNIQUE_NUMBERS parameter will be available in snapper version 0.13.2.