I have 2 hypervisors running. One is an ESXi 4, the other one a Hyper-V 2008 R2.
My question is: What is the cleanest and easiest way to clone a machine under each hypervisor without using any centralized management tool.
Thanks.
Quick and clean ways to clone virtual machines
Re: Quick and clean ways to clone virtual machines
**Windows Systems** consider doing this:
- Create the "gold" machine, get everything like you want it.
- Use [Sysprep](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302577): Run this command from from cmd.exe; `sysprep -reseal`
- Copy and paste the syspreped files for each new VM
- Boot, configure, and enjoy.
This is essentially what I do with ESX4 (I have about 100 Windows VMs across 4 servers and 2 SANs). Except on step 3 I convert the VM to a template, and deploy all new machines from the template.
**Linux Systems** consider this:
- Create the "gold" machine, get everything like you want it.
- Create a script that resets hostname, IP address, etc. (leave it on the system)
- Copy and paste the files for each new VM
- Boot, configure, and enjoy.
This is more of a process than a technology. But if you want something simple, this should be sufficient. Later when you feel that you need to start scaling, look into puppet or other automation tools that may help.
Works For Me(tm).
- Create the "gold" machine, get everything like you want it.
- Use [Sysprep](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302577): Run this command from from cmd.exe; `sysprep -reseal`
- Copy and paste the syspreped files for each new VM
- Boot, configure, and enjoy.
This is essentially what I do with ESX4 (I have about 100 Windows VMs across 4 servers and 2 SANs). Except on step 3 I convert the VM to a template, and deploy all new machines from the template.
**Linux Systems** consider this:
- Create the "gold" machine, get everything like you want it.
- Create a script that resets hostname, IP address, etc. (leave it on the system)
- Copy and paste the files for each new VM
- Boot, configure, and enjoy.
This is more of a process than a technology. But if you want something simple, this should be sufficient. Later when you feel that you need to start scaling, look into puppet or other automation tools that may help.
Works For Me(tm).