This article explains the reason that a non-recovery snapshot might get deleted while creating a recovery snapshot. 

When we execute the command "request system snapshot recovery", non-recovery snapshot might be deleted/cleared.

Example:

labroot@mx-re0> show system snapshot    
Non-recovery snapshots:

Snapshot snap.20230109.003017:
Location: /packages/sets/snap.20230109.003017
Creation date: Jan 9 00:30:17 2023
Junos version: 22.4I20220830_0355_rajravi

Snapshot snap.20230109.012612:
Location: /packages/sets/snap.20230109.012612
Creation date: Jan 9 01:26:12 2023
Junos version: 18.4R2-S5.4

Total non-recovery snapshots: 2 

Recovery Snapshots:
Snapshots available on the OAM volume:
recovery.ufs
Date created: Mon Jan 9 00:36:05 PST 2023
Junos version: 22.4I20220830_0355_rajravi

Total recovery snapshots: 1

 labroot@mx-re0> request system snapshot recovery re0  
re0:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Creating image ...
 Compressing image ...
 Image size is 2677MB
Recovery snapshot created successfully 

labroot@mx-re0> show system snapshot           

No non-recovery snapshots available on the Junos volume. <--- Non-recovery snapshot got deleted after executing the recovery snapshot command 

Recovery Snapshots:
Snapshots available on the OAM volume:
recovery.ufs
Date created: Mon Jan 9 01:31:10 PST 2023
Junos version: 18.4R2-S5.4
Total recovery snapshots: 1

A non-recovery snapshot is stored in Junos OS volume, used for running the device software and hold the configuration and logs. A recovery snapshot stored in OAM (Operations, Administration, and Maintenance) volume holds a full backup that can be used in case something goes wrong with Junos volume. The compact flash drive is the /oam volume and stores recovery snapshot backup information.

The non-recovery snapshot getting deleted upon triggering the recovery snapshot creation works as expected and this depends on the system's storage. This is by design.

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request system recover