Which action allows an administrator to restore a virtual machine to a previous state?

To restore a virtual machine to a previous state, the action that allows this is to revert to the latest snapshot. When a snapshot is taken, it captures the current state of the virtual machine, including its memory, disk, and device state. Reverting to the latest snapshot brings the virtual machine back to exactly how it was at the moment the snapshot was created.

This action is particularly useful if the virtual machine has experienced issues since the snapshot was taken, such as software failures or configuration changes that need to be undone. Thus, reverting ensures that the virtual machine is restored to a known good state, helping to maintain system stability and integrity.

Taking a snapshot is the first step in this process, but it doesn't restore the VM; rather, it creates a point in time reference. Deleting all snapshots would eliminate the ability to revert to those points, and consolidating snapshots is typically a maintenance task meant to reduce the number of snapshots and improve performance, rather than to restore in-progress operations. Each of these actions serves a different purpose; however, reverting to the latest snapshot is the specific action that achieves the restoration of a previous state.