How to Clone VMs in ESXi

 

1. Create a new VM (clone2) without a disk equipped.

2. Use the VM tool to clone the disk fromthe existing VM to the new VM. Usually, you can find all the VMs in the /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/.

vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/4c3b50b8-d57dc2fc-d2b7-00241d1852fa/Test_wjh/Test_wjh.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/4c3b50b8-d57dc2fc-d2b7-00241d1852fa/clone2/disk1.vmdk 

 

3. On the client add the cloned disk to theVM clone2

 “edit settings… ->  Harware -> add “hard disk” -> “usingexisting virtual disk” -> find the “disk1.vmdk” and choose it.

 

4. Power on the VM.

 

[Warning]:

• You must shutdown the VM which you want to clone.
• The cloned VM is identical to the original one, including the physical address(MAC) of the network card, the network configuration and so on. So, please change such config after clone.