Difference between snapshot taken using etcdctl snapshot save and copying the member/snap/db file from an etcd data directory.

[haoweig]

I am trying to configure a setup to allow my system to recover after losing quorum permanently. https://etcd.io/docs/v3.5/op-guide/recovery/ provides a detailed step-by-step guide on how to do it but I'm wondering what is the difference between the 2 methods used to get a snapshot of etcd? Will 1 be more updated than the other or are they actually the same thing?

[lavacat]

If you are using live instance, then you should use etcdctl snapshot save, because implementation will lock db while doing copy.
Also snapshot save adds hash that will be verified on restore.

[haoweig]

If I were to use etcdctl snapshot save, would the snapshot produced be different if i do it on different nodes on the same cluster?