How to Clone a VM

[Brandon7a]

We have a VM that took months to build and configure. We have 8 more servers with the same configs to build. Is it possible to clone the first server and then just rename it? If so how can that be done? Also, if the server is cloned, is it possible to shrink the size of the storage b/c the rest of the servers will not need as much space as the first server that was created.

We are using vCenter 5.0 with ESXi 4.1.

Thank You

[kooltechies]

If you want to reduce the size after cloning of the server then you can use V2V using the VMware Converter. Normal cloning can be done using the vCenter server , once the cloning is done make sure to customize the VM and generate a new SID using sysprep for windows host.

[weinstein5]

If you right click on the VM name in the inventory one of the options on the menu will be Clone -  as I recall you will also be able to resize the virtual disk - this also assumes all hosts are managed by tthe isame vCenter - if this does not work you can also use vmware converter -

[Brandon7a]

The customize option is greyed out when I go to clone. It says "Windows Customization resources were not found on the server". Would I need to download the sysprep files on the VM or on the ESX host?

[kooltechies]

You need to get this on vCenter server, look at this KB for more information.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1005593/

[Brandon7a]

Thank you for that article. After the server is cloned, is there a way to change the licesnes key for Server 2008 or would it use the key from the original server?

[kooltechies]

You should be able to change the license key from the customization wizard in vCenter. It will be a lot easier if you are using a volume license then no need to change.

[Brandon7a]

My vCenter server is Windows 2008 R2 so no sysprep files are needed to be downloaded from Microsoft. From what I read I'm suppose to browse out to

C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\Sysprep

When I browse out to the Sysprep directory all I see are folders for 1.1, 2K, SVR2003, XP. Should there be one for Server 2008 because that is the Operating System for the server I want to clone?