I've had trouble exporting VMs, renaming them and importing them back into my inventory. What is the best way to do this inside vSphere Client? I am using vSphere Hypervisor version 4.1. Thanks.
2 Answers
I am assuming you are using the free hypervisor from VMware.
Cloning of a VM or creating an identical copy the VM is a feature of vCenter server. Out of the box the free hypervisor version does not support cloning. If you need that feature I would suggest you buy the vCenter server license.
That said, the closest and easiest you can get with the free VMware hypervisor is as already mentioned by you:
- Export the VM as an OVF and re-import it with a changed name.
The other option is not so straight forward:
Create a new VM of with same virtual hardware, virtual disk size and any other configurations that you may have.
Enable the Technical Support Mode, Read this KB article for more details: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1017910
SSH to the ESXi server & browse to the datastore where the new VM is stored.
Delete the VMDK file using the rm command
Use vmksfstools to create a clone of the original VM's virtual disk. Read this KB article for more details: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1028042
- Go back to the inventory in vSphere client and power on the new VM.
- Logon to the new VM and manually perform any guest customization (change hostname, SID etc.) if required.
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Welcome to Server Fault! VMware is a company which make several virtualization products. Please specify the product instead. (ESXi?) – Bart De Vos May 25 '11 at 15:39
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Yes, I am using ESXi as seen in my tags. – O_O May 25 '11 at 19:42
What you're asking to do is typically achieved via cloning or templating depending on how often you want to do this and to what end goal.
Cloning is useful, but I find that I'm almost always reaching for the Snapshot Manager instead. Perhaps creating a Webserver cluster? I haven't really found a real practical use for cloning, but I'm sure others will chime in.
Templating on the other hand is great: you can, for example, build a baseline Windows 2008 R2 machine install all your service packs, flip it back to a template, and keep it around for all your future virtual machines.
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