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Creating Virtual Machines by Cloning an Existing Virtual Machine

A clone is a copy plus customization of a virtual machine. When you create a clone, VirtualCenter provides an option to customize the guest operating system of that virtual machine. You can place the new clone on any host within the same farm as the original virtual machine.

The figure below illustrates the creating a new customized virtual machine by cloning an existing virtual machine. Refer to Abbreviations for a description of abbreviations.

Creating a Clone

The cloning a virtual machine topics are covered in the following sections:

Manually Cloning a Virtual Machine

To manually start the Virtual Machine Cloning wizard:

Start VirtualCenter and log on to the VirtualCenter server.
Start the Clone a Virtual Machine wizard, from the inventory panel:
1. Click the Inventory option in the navigation bar.
  The inventory panel and the information panel display the managed farms, hosts, and virtual machine information. The Inventory toolbar appears.
2. Expand the inventory as needed, and click the source virtual machine.
3. Start the Clone a Virtual Machine wizard.
  From the main or right-click popup menu, select Clone.
Confirm continuing with the Clone wizard. Click Next.
Select a target host for the clone. Click Next.
Select a Virtual Machine Group for the clone. Click Next.
Assign a name to the clone.

Enter a name. Click Next.
Select the datastore location.

Select a location from list. Click Next.
Assign the network interface cards (NIC).

Select from the list, if there is more than one NIC. Click Next.
Specify the resource allocation level.

The resource allocating level tells VirtualCenter what percentage of the host resources to make available to the new virtual machine.
Click the appropriate radio button. Click Next.
Select whether to customize the new virtual machine as you create it.

Click the appropriate radio button. Click Next.
If you select the customization option, refer to Customizing Guest Operating Systems for description of the customization wizard and options.
If you decide not to customize the new virtual machine as part of the cloning process, proceed to the next step.
Complete the Cloning a Virtual Machine wizard. Click Finish.
VirtualCenter displays the Tasks inventory panel for reference and makes a copy of the virtual machine, applies changes as specified, and stores the virtual machine on the designated host location.

Creating a Scheduled Task to Clone a Virtual Machine

To create a scheduled task to clone a virtual machine:

Display the Tasks panel.
Click the Tasks option in the navigation bar. The list of scheduled tasks appears.
Start the New Task wizard. Click New in the toolbar.
Confirm continuing with the New Task wizard. Click Next.
Select the task to create.
Click the pull-down menu and select Deploy Virtual Machine from a Templates. Click Next.
Select the virtual machine to clone. Click Next.
Select a target host for the clone. Click Next.
Select a farm for the clone. Click Next.
Assign a name to the clone.

Enter a name. Click Next.
Select the datastore location.

Select a location from the list. Click Next.
Assign the network interface cards (NIC).

Select from the list, if there is more than one NIC. Click Next.
Specify the resource allocation level.

The resource allocation level tells VirtualCenter what percentage of the host resources to make available to the new virtual machine.
Click the appropriate radio button. Click Next.
Select whether to customize the new virtual machine as you create it.

Click the appropriate radio button. Click Next.
If you select the customization option, refer to Customizing Guest Operating Systems for description of the customization wizard and options.
If you decide not to customize the new virtual machine as part of the cloning process, proceed to the next step.
Set the time and date when you want the virtual machine to be deployed. Click Next.

Click Later, then click the drop-down arrow to select a date from the displayed calendar. A red circle indicates today's date, and a dark circle indicates the scheduled date.
Confirm creating the task.
Optionally, specify an email address for notification when task is performed. Click Finish.
VirtualCenter adds the new task to the scheduled task list and completes it at the designated time. When it is time to perform the task, VirtualCenter first verifies that the user who created the task still has permission to complete the task. If the permission levels are not acceptable, VirtualCenter sends a message to the log and the task is not performed.

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