VMware Cloud Community
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

how to create clone for VM

From what i have read i cannot create clone for VM if i not using virtual center..coz right now i manage my host directly using VI client..can anyone tell me any other solution for me to create clone without using virtual center..

Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

The RNZ-XP-02 VM is not showing this line - scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic" so it will be using the buslogic controller. If you edit the settings for 03, you can select the properties for SCSI controller 0 and then select change type to change it to Buslogic.

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
17 Replies
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

You're correct about needing VC to do cloning, but without it I do the following. This assumes that I have already created a VM that I want to clone.

1) Create a new VM with the specs you want and a small HD.

2) Edit the VM and remove the HD.

3) Copy the VMDK over from the source to new folder with vmkfstools -i /source_path/source.vmdk /dest_path/destination.vmdk

4) Edit the VM, add a HD and use an existing VMDK file.

5) Power on the VM and run sysprep, etc.

Reply
0 Kudos
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

i did not understand about step 3 and onward..the source_path is actually my NFS folder right?and i think dest_path is for me to place the clone VM in new NFS folder...and do i need to give destination.vmdk a new name?

and can u explain more about step 5.....

Reply
0 Kudos
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

You'll be running the vmkftools from ESX rather than making a copy of VMDK on the NFS server itself. When you created the NFS datastore, you would have given it a name let's say it's NFS_DS. The path that ESX will have for this is /vmfs/volumes/NFS_DS (it will be case sensitive). When you create a VM, it gets created in a folder with the same name as the VM - so for our example, the VM I want to clone has been called TEMPLATE and the copy will be called SERVER1. My command would then be

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/NFS_DS/TEMPLATE/TEMPLATE.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/NFS_DS/SERVER1/SERVER1.vmdk.

After the command completes, I would edit the VM, add a new hard drive using the existing SERVER1.vmdk.

For step 5 I'm assuming this is a windows machine. In that case you'll want to run sysprep to change the computer's network name and SID (security identifier). If you don't change the SID you'll have problems joining a domain.

Reply
0 Kudos
troberts
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
Jump to solution

Please see "Cloning, Moving, or Copying a Virtual Machine without Using VirtualCenter" -> http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1000936

Reply
0 Kudos
wila
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

Sure you can, but you have to run some commands by hand from the console, like the vmkfstools command.

Alternatively you can write a script (search the forums) or use one of mine:

New Script for moving vm to another storage

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/89885

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
Reply
0 Kudos
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

i still have the problem to make clone fro my VM..my command is

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/NFS-VMFS05/RNZ-XP-02/RNZ-XP-02.vmdk/vmfs/volumes/NFS-VMFS05/RNZ-XP-03/RNZ-XP-03.vmdk

after i enter this command it show " Missing required argument :vmfsPath"

Reply
0 Kudos
gorto
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Space character needed after the first .vmdk paramter, as in:

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/NFS-VMFS05/RNZ-XP-02/RNZ-XP-02.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/NFS-VMFS05/RNZ-XP-03/RNZ-XP-03.vmdk

jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

actually i have done cloning my VM..but after i want to start my windows XP VM, it appear blue screen..and it keep booting and show blue screen all over again and again.. i think this problem happen because the VM cannot detect the scsi device same as i done for its original VM...because when i open the boot menu, there was no unknown scsi device to select same as i done for the original VM..

Reply
0 Kudos
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

!file:///C:/DOCUME1/JIMMY_1/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg! i can see the stop error on the

blue screen... it shows 0x0000007B (0xF7A14528, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000,

0x00000000)..and i'm also select same scsi controller as the original

VM..

Reply
0 Kudos
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

i can see the stop error on the

blue screen... it shows 0x0000007B (0xF7A14528, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000,

0x00000000)..and i'm also select same scsi controller as the original

VM..

Reply
0 Kudos
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

i can see the stop error on the

blue screen... it shows 0x0000007B (0xF7A14528, 0xc0000034, 0x00000000,

0x00000000)..and i'm also select same scsi controller as the original

VM..

Reply
0 Kudos
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

Can you post the VMX for both the original and clone and the vmware.log file for the cloned VM.

Reply
0 Kudos
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

this the vmx file and log file for both of my VM...the original one is RNZ-XP-02 and the clone is RNZ-XP-03....

Reply
0 Kudos
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

The RNZ-XP-02 VM is not showing this line - scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic" so it will be using the buslogic controller. If you edit the settings for 03, you can select the properties for SCSI controller 0 and then select change type to change it to Buslogic.

Reply
0 Kudos
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

i have done what u have told me..but my vm not booting successfully..it pending until 95%...for my clone vm, i connect .flp file using floopy drive...

Reply
0 Kudos
wila
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

The icon of the VM indicates that there's a question you still need to answer.

If you don't answer the question, it will not continue to boot.

Why are you trying to install the lsilogic driver again via the virtual floppy? Didn't the original VM that you are cloning boot successfully?

Now that you've tried the method by hand, maybe you can try to script i pointed you to before?

./vm-relocate.sh RNZ-XP-02 /vmfs/volumes/NFS-VMFS05/RNZ-XP-03

would have done it for you... (you WILL need to add your original back into the inventory by browsing the datastore and re-registering the original RNZ-XP-02.vmx, guess i should add a "clone" command line option to the script Smiley Happy )

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
jimmyeatworld
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Thanks to Dave , Wil and Gorto.. i can create clone for my vm now..

Reply
0 Kudos