snapshot and clone ?

[TomP1]

I have a vm that I took a snapshot off. Some work has been done on the vm since then that I don't want to loose, but I also have a need now to make a copy of the way the vm was at the time of the snapshot. In otherwords I want a copy of clone of the vm at the time of the snapshot. Is this possible? what are the steps?

[hicksj]

Sure... clone the system as it is now. Then revert the original VM.

Now you have 2 copies, one old, one new.

[admin · Accepted solution]

What you need to do is use vmkfstools to clone the base VMDK, this will create an exact copy of the VM's disk from the moment immediately before[/b] you took the snapshot.

Use the following commands when logged in to the Service Console as root. If you're not sure how to SSH into your ESX Service Console have a read of the following whitepaper.

http://www.xtravirt.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=75&func=fileinfo&id=10

When you're at the prompt as root (using su -), first make a new directory for the clone disk.

mkdir /vmfs/volumes/yourvolume/yourclonevm[/code]

Then clone the disk.

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/yourvolume/yourvm/yourvm.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/yourvolume/yourclonevm/yourclonevm.vmdk[/code]

Then create a new VM using the VI client with equal specification to the Vm you are cloning, and when it comes to adding a disk select "use an existing disk file" and then browse to your cloned VMDK file. You can then power on this new VM and it will be a clone of your other VM before the changes took place.

[hicksj]

Alex's process is a good one also - his doesn't require you to shutdown the source VM.

However, it is a more complex process requiring host console access. Console access is not always a viable option when the folks that need to perform the tasks are software developers who have limited rights within VI3.