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Cloning a Virtual Machine
Cloning a Virtual Machine
A clone is a copy of a virtual machine. You can do anything with a clone that you could with the original virtual machine.
Installing a guest operating system and applications can be time consuming. By cloning a virtual machine, you can easily deploy many copies of a fully configured virtual machine, without the need to install the same operating system and applications in each copy.
Clones may be linked or full:
A full clone is an independent copy of a virtual machine that shares nothing with the parent virtual machine after the cloning operation. Ongoing operation of a full clone is entirely separate from the parent virtual machine.
A linked clone is a copy of a virtual machine that shares virtual disks with the parent virtual machine in an ongoing manner. This conserves disk space, and allows multiple virtual machines to use the same software installation.
The Clone Virtual Machine Wizard automatically copies everything required for a duplicate virtual machine. You don't have to locate the original virtual machine files, identify the files needed, and copy them manually. The Clone Virtual Machine Wizard automatically creates a new MAC address and other unique identifiers for the duplicate virtual machine.