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mrFranck
Contributor
Contributor

What is difference between moving and copying a VM to a new host?

Hi,

After copying VM files to another computer, when a open this VM in new host, the program (Workstation v7.1) asked wether I am copying or moving the VM. It also suggest, that if I don´t know the answer, I should choose "copy" choise.

Can someone explain, what is the difference between choises and when I should choose one over another?

cheers,

Ville

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lnairn
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi,

The "moved" option mantain the UUID, and the "copied" genereate a new UUID.

Check this KB, http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1541

a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

In addition to the UUID change lnairn mentioned, another even more important parameter is modified when you select "I copied it", the MAC address. This may be an issue if you have software installed which is tied/licence to the MAC address or if you are using DHCP reservations which also are tied to MAC addresses. If you just move files from on location to another one, I recommend "I moved it".

The "I copied it" option is helpful for real copies of a VM where you want to avoid duplicate MAC addresses in a network.

André

sahil3
Contributor
Contributor

i want to make a backup of a virtual machine. So i want to copy paste the virtual machine folder in the same drive but in a different folder. So, should i select I moved it or I copied it in vmware workstation 16 player?

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mkubecek
Hot Shot
Hot Shot


@a_p_ wrote:

In addition to the UUID change lnairn mentioned, another even more important parameter is modified when you select "I copied it", the MAC address.

That's because the MAC address is generated from UUID by default. One can also assign a fixed address independent of UUID but what is not very well documented is that it is not enough to change ethernetX.addressType from "generated" to "static" but the MAC address (ethernetX.address) must have prefix 00:50:56 rather than 00:0c:29 used for generated addresses.

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sahil3
Contributor
Contributor

so, in vmware workstation 16 player, should I choose that I moved it or that I copied it? I'm a bit confused on this because the vm folder will be in the same computer, but if I select I copied it, it will change UUID and MAC address, so I'm worried that that will cause problems in the VM. 

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mkubecek
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

As the terms copied and moved suggest, it depends what your intent is: "moved" is meant for scenarios where you move the VM to a different machine and do not plan to use the original VM any more; "copied" when you copy the VM to a new host but want to keep using also the original VM. Of course, if the duplicate MAC is not an issue (e.g. when the new host is in a different network) and there are no other potential issues with duplicate UUID, you can also choose "moved" even if you want to use both the original VM and the new one.

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sahil3
Contributor
Contributor

I want to keep a backup of the original VM. I dont particularly plan on using the copied VM, I just want it as a backup, ready to use incase theres a problem with the original copy. So i want to copy paste the original VM in the same computer but in a different location. So should i select I moved it or I copied it?

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

For your purpose, the best is to select "move".

--
Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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RDPetruska
Leadership
Leadership

The simplest thing for a backup is to merely zip up the entire VM's folder.  I do that all the time (and add a date to the name so I know when it was created, and can keep multiple backups).  NO reason to keep the disk space with the fully extracted files around all the time.

If you ever have a problem with that VM, just delete the folder, unzip the backup and you're good to go!

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el1971
Expert
Expert

Hi,

If you want a one to one backup. Close VMware Workstation and make a copy of the folder where the Virtual Machine resides. You'll then keep your UUID and MAC-Address the same.

 

Kind regards,

Edi

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