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IrishMike
Contributor
Contributor

How do we "copy" an entire virtual machine?

Ok, I'm having a great time with VMF but I've run into a quirk.

I've tried to save myself some steps and I've created a "master" machine that I want to work with, what's the "correct" (as in "Best Practice" or "by the book") method for using this as a psudo golden master to copy over to allow me to work from a known state.

It doesn't seem to work the way I would have thought it should.

Of course, the reality is that I've missed the screamingly obvious and didn't find it in the documentation when I read it. If this is the case, a pointer to the correct info would be helpful.

Thanks 'yall.

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18 Replies
Pat_Lee
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Ok, I'm having a great time with VMF but I've run

into a quirk.

I've tried to save myself some steps and I've created

a "master" machine that I want to work with, what's

the "correct" (as in "Best Practice" or "by the

book") method for using this as a psudo golden master

to copy over to allow me to work from a known state.

Select the virtual machine package in the Finder, the default location is the Virtual Machines folder inside the Documents folder, and copy it to wherever you like and name it whatever you want.

They next time you open the copy, VMware Fusion will ask if it is a copy or the original since the VM has been moved. If you want to create a new virtual machine, say it is a copy and the virtual machine will get a new MAC address so that it is a new virtual machine.

Pat

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Linh_My
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

The caution with this is that the MAC address is one thing that Windows looks at when deciding if you need to reactivate or not.

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IrishMike
Contributor
Contributor

I've tried this a bunch of different ways and there seems to be nothing that will take "RHEL4-ES-Master" and rename the whole package to "RHEL-Crasher", even if moved, it comes up with the name of the original, not the new one.

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Pat_Lee
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Mike, the display name at the top of the VM is different that the file name. That can be changed by opening the VM package, opening the VMX settings file in a text editor, and changing the display name property.

This is something that will be improved in future releases of VMware Fusion.

Pat

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IrishMike
Contributor
Contributor

It came "this" close to being perfect.

I also had to change the name of the disk file in the vmdk file to reflect the new name.

So, the steps were:

1) Copy the master to a new name.

2) Change the "directory" name from "master.vmware" to "clone.vmware"

3) Inside, change all the files named "master." to "clone."

4) Edit the .vmx file changing all occurrences of "master" to "clone"

THEN

5) Edit the vmdk file and change the mane of the file from "master-flat.vmdk" to "clone-flat.vmdk"

Then we're off and running.

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vinayv
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Yes. This is true. All you had to was change the "Display Name". The other references just point to other internal files (of the bundle) and would have been fine. Of course if you do a replace all, then what you described is exactly what is expected.

I am glad you got it figured out.

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IrishMike
Contributor
Contributor

I was wrong. You're right. The only thing to change is the "Display Name" entry.

If the others are changed, it can't find the disk files.

I'll finish this thread with the request that we can copy an existing VM and change it's identity completely.

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posssu
Contributor
Contributor

I agree with you. I got the name changed according to the instructions on this thread, but it would be so much simplier, if we could just rename the file, move it whereever we want and it Fusion would just take the filename and show it everywhere.

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asgerhallas
Contributor
Contributor

One important thing to mention is, that copying and opening the virtual machines must be done from Finder - NOT from the shell or tools like muCommander... it will result in some strange behavior...

/Asger

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webfrasse
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I honestly don't understand what the problem is in this thread. To copy/clone a VM just copy the vm package to anywhere even make a copy in the same folder. When you start up the copy it will have the same name but that's just a display property that you can edit in the vmx file inside the package. For some reason you can't edit it from the VM's settings dialog. Do NOT rename any files inside the package.

When you boot the VM you will of course have to change the host name (that's beyond the scope of VMware, It's like asking for a hostname change to occure when you move your laptop from home to work) and make sure that the MAC address is handled correct. Windows and Linux behaves differently.

To copy a VM works exactly the same way with VMware Server on any platform or Workstation for that matter. Workstation has an edge here though since it has a built in cloning tool. Please VMware...give us this cloning tool in Fusion. Parallells already has it....

/Mikael

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minDGarden
Contributor
Contributor

This thread is quite old and somwhat answers a question I have, but would be grateful if my someone could clarify the following:

If I make a 'master' copy of an OEM XP virtual machine which I run soley from Fusion (NOT via bootcamp) and later put this 'master' copy back on the same Mac in the same place where it was originaly copied from, will I be asked to reactive XP, and will I still be able to use Microsoft auto update?

If in the event I were to erase my hard drive, reinstall OSX VMware Fusion and copy the 'master' virtual machine to it's 'orginal' place (user account etc), will I need to reactivate XP? Will I be able to use Microsoft auto update?

Lastly, if using TimeMachine to restore a virtual machine to a previous state, again will I need to reactive XP? Will I be able to use Microsoft auto update?

Thanks

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

This thread is quite old and somwhat answers a question I have, but would be grateful if my someone could clarify the following:

If I make a 'master' copy of an OEM XP virtual machine which I run soley from Fusion (NOT via bootcamp) and later put this 'master' copy back on the same Mac in the same place where it was originaly copied from, will I be asked to reactive XP, and will I still be able to use Microsoft auto update?

No, you should be able to restore it and run it without activation issues. This of course assume it was already activated prior to making the backup.

If in the event I were to erase my hard drive, reinstall OSX VMware Fusion and copy the 'master' virtual machine to it's 'orginal' place (user account etc), will I need to reactivate XP? Will I be able to use Microsoft auto update?

No, you should be able to restore it and run it without activation issues. This of course assume it was already activated prior to making the backup.

Lastly, if using TimeMachine to restore a virtual machine to a previous state, again will I need to reactive XP? Will I be able to use Microsoft auto update?

VMware Fusion is automatically excluded from Time Machine so unless you modify it and have to do it every time as Fusion will continually set the exclusion then answer is by default you can not use Time Machine to restore Virtual Machine's although if you do and the Virtual Machine was already activated prior to backup then you should not have to activate it again. Yes you should be able to use Microsoft auto update.

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minDGarden
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your reply.

Just need to clarify what the "No" is in relation to in the first two reponses. Are you saying that auto update will not work?

Cheers

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WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

Just need to clarify what the "No" is in relation to in the first two reponses. Are you saying that auto update will not work?

The "No" is only in reference to the activation issue. Windows Update should work without issue under the scenarios you've presented. Sorry I didn't make that clearer to begin with. Smiley Happy

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namuh1
Contributor
Contributor

I hope no one minds my reviving an old thread, but I don't find a small piece of fairly critical information for completing the cloning process. Changing the Display name in the .vmx file does change the Name shown in the title bar but it does NOT change the Name displayed in the 'Library List Dialog'. I also note that I find there are at least 2 ways to simply copy the machine where one of the ways does change the name displayed in the Library list and the other does not.

Way #1: One can create a new Folder and name it with whatever name you like, but it would be wise to make it the name you want to assign to the new copy. Then copy all of the files from the original machine into this folder. Then to open the machine you have to go into the folder and click open the .vmx file and it will appear in the Library list BUT under its OLD NAME. Editing the Display name will NOT affect this.

Way #2: Vmware apparently uses a hidden extension to make the Folder that contains the Virtual Machine files behave like a package of sorts. The extension is .vmwarev. If you simply add this extension to the Folder name you created in Way #1 the Folder icon will disappear and the icon for a VM will replace it. Only by opening a Terminal window and looking at the listing can you determine that it is still really a folder (Directory in Linux terms). HOWEVER, if you now open the Virtual Machine the listing in the Library list WILL be the correct name (with or without the .vmwarevm extension depending on whether you have chosen to Hide Extensions in the Info dialog.

I have not tried to Globally Replace all the names in the .vmx file and conform the File names manually as that is a bit of work, but i would appreciate a VMware rep weighing in on the ramifications, if any, of these techniques I have listed and what might be right or wrong with them. I'd also like to know if there is a simple way to change the Library Listing name without making the Folder into a package since I'd like to keep the machines in conventional Folder trees (you can't, or at least I don't know how to, navigate to the .vmx files in the Finder when the Parent folder is in 'Package' form with the .vmwarevm extension.

Please enlighten further and thanks in advance

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

To change the name of the Library listing, just rename the .vmwarevm bundle (for most cases this should work, but the Library can also list .vmx files - in that case, which sounds like what you want, you would want to change the name of the .vmx config file instead). You can get inside a bundle from the Finder by ctrl-clicking it and selecting "Show Package Contents" - see .

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gymshoe
Contributor
Contributor

How do you open the vmx settings file in a text editor?

Thnx

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MandarMS
Expert
Expert

To open the .vmx file in Text Edit you need to right click on the .vmx file and select the “open with” in Application Window Select the “Text Edit” Application and open

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