Virtual TPM devices require vSphere to be configured with a Key Provider. You are then prompted to select the destination folder, which in our case corresponds to the target (cloned) VM’s datastore and folder.Configuring vSphere to support Windows 11 To copy the VMDK(s), simply navigate to the source VM’s datastore and folder, right-click on the VMDK(s) and select Copy. If for any reason you can’t or won’t use shell, you can still carry this step 4 using the datastore browser instead. Windows-Clone/Ĭp 'Windows 7_1-flat.vmdk'. I’m skipping copying the second and third VMDK on account of them being dummy disks created for this post just for illustrative purposes. We need to copy the VMDK files – both the descriptor and flat file – noted down in Step 2. Copy the source VMDK files to the folder of the VM previously created, Windows-Clone in my case.
#DUPLICATE WINDOWS VMWARE WINDOWS 7#
In this case, I’m cloning the Windows 7 VM. Navigate to the folder of the VM you want to be cloned. Note: The datastore, folder, and VMDK names will differ from those cited here for obvious reasons.Ī. Although technically not cloning, we will still be running an almost exact replica once we’re done. The idea here is to copy the VMDKs from the source VM to the one we just created. Using an SSH client such as putty, log in ESXi as root and carry out the following. The same details can also be obtained from the Hardware Configuration pane while the VM is selected. Finally, take note of all the VMDK filenames. The bit immediately following the datastore name, is the VM folder name it could be the case that the VM has multiple disks residing on different datastores and folders as per the example listed below. The bit enclosed by the square brackets corresponds to the datastore where the VM files reside. Using the host client, pull the settings for the VM and expand Hard Disk taking note of the Disk File value as you do. Regardless, you can get the details using a vSphere client or PowerCLI. Obtaining this information should be easy, since a standalone ESXi, more often than not, comes with a single local datastore. Step 2 – Determine the datastore, folder and VMDK names Last but not least, PowerCLI is one more tool at your disposal as explained in Manage ESXi services using PowerCLI. Alternatively, you can start the TSM-SSH service using the embedded host client for recent releases of ESXi such as 6.5 or via the legacy vSphere client for older versions. For further details, do have a look at Learn how and when to use vSphere Snapshots on this blog. Alternatively, try using vmksftools as per this KB. Note: If the VM being cloned includes snapshots, you must delete them first before using the cloning procedure here covered. Finally, attach the copied VMDKs to the target VM and verify that the clone boots up and works properly. Next, copy the source VMDK files (disks) to the target VM’s folder.
The gist of it is that given a source VM, you first create a target VM with identical hardware and resources as assigned to the one you’re cloning, the source.
#DUPLICATE WINDOWS VMWARE HOW TO#
In today’s post, I will cover how to clone VMs on ESXi without vCenter Server using a vSphere client and shell commands. Virtual machine cloning is a feature exclusive to vCenter Server but you can still workaround this restriction if you’re running unmanaged ESXi.
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