cloning a virtual machine in vmware...

CLONING A VIRTUAL MACHINEIN "VMWARE PLAYER"

HIGH-LEVEL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:In "VMware Player", you can copy a virtual machine directly, using "Windows Explorer" or "My Computer" or the "copy" command at a command prompt.In "VMware Player", you can copy a virtual hard drive directly, using "Windows Explorer" or "My Computer" or the "copy" command at a command prompt.A key advantage of "VMware Player" over "Oracle VM VirtualBox" and "Windows Virtual PC" is the ease with which virtual machines and virtual hard drives can be cloned in "VMware Player".

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

When you follow this procedure to clone a virtual machine, the new virtual machine that you create will have a new, unique "UUID.BIOS" (="computer UUID"). However, the virtual hard drive of the new virtual machine will have the same "hard disk UUID" as the virtual hard drive of the original virtual machine.In a "VMware Player", the *.vmx file of a virtual machine stores the following:the "UUID.BIOS",the "UUID.Location",andthe unique MAC addresses of each virtual network adapter.

STEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLE:*

In "VMware Player", when the host is "Windows 7" or "Windows vista, the default location for a virtual machine and it's virtual hard drive file is located atC:\Users\<your profile name>\My Documents\Virtual Machines\

In "VMware Player", when the host is "Windows XP", the default location for a virtual machine and it's virtual hard drive file is located at

C:\Documents and Settings\<your profile name>\My Documents\Virtual Machines\

In "VMware Player", a folder that by default has the same name as the name of the virtual machine is created, when you create a virtual machine:

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*To copy an entire virtual machine in "VMware Player", you can use the right mouse button to drag it to a new location.

*When your mouse cursor reaches the desired location, release the mouse button and a popup context menu will be displayed:

Click on "Copy here":

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Windows will give the new virtual machine folder a name in the format of<name of original virtual machine folder> - Copy

Use the right mouse button to click on the newly-created virtual machine folder:

*A pop-up context menu will be displayed:

Click on "Rename" in the pop-up context menu:

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Type in an appropriate name for the new virtual machine:

*In our example, we typedWindows 7 Enterprise Trial--vm901 clone01

Then press the Enter key to lock in the name.

*Start the "VMware Player" program:

*Click on "Open a Virtual Machine":

*An "Open Virtual Machine" box will be displayed:

*Navigate to the location of the newly-created virtual machine folder:

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*Double-click on the folder of the newly-created virtual machine:

*Inside the virtual machine folder, you will find a *.vmx file.

*Click on this .vmx file:

*Click on the "Open" button:

*Your newly-created virtual machine is now at the top of the list of virtual machines in the left pane of the main "VMware Player" window:

*Click on "Edit virtual machine settings":

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*A "Virtual Machine Settings" box will be displayed:Adjust the amount of RAM that is to be allocated to the new virtual machine, if you need to do so.Then click on the "OK" button.

*Click on the "Options" tab:

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Modify the displayed name of the new virtual machine.In most situations, it is best to make the displayed name the same as the name of the folder that contains the virtual machine.In our example, we change the displayed name slightly fromWindows 7 x64 Enterprise Trial--vm901toWindows 7 x64 Enterprise Trial--vm901 clone01

*Click on the "OK" button:

*The "Virtual Machine Settings" box will disappear.You should now be back at the main Window of "VMware Player":

*Click on "Play virtual machine".

*The new virtual machine will start up.

*A "The virtual machine has been moved or copied" box will be displayed:Select the "I copied it" in option in order to tell "VMware Player" to perform the following actions:

Action 1:Provide the new virtual machine with a unique, new "UUID BIOS" which is also known as a "motherboard UUID" or a "system UUID".

Action 2:Provide the new virtual machine with a unique, new "UUID Location" which is also known as a "Location UUID" which is a UUID that "VMware Player" uses to keep track of the location on the host's hard drive for the folder of the virtual machine.

Action 3:

Provide the virtual network adapter of the new virtual machine with a new, unique MAC address.

*Click on "OK" in the "This virtual machine may have been moved or copied" box.

The virtual machine will continue with the Windows boot up process:

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APPENDIX 1

YOU CANNOT CHANGE HARDDRIVE UUIDs FOR HE CLONED .VMDK "VIRTUAL HARD DRIVE OF A CLONED VIRTUAL MACHINE IN"VMWARE PLAYER"

The virtual hard drive of cloned virtual machine has to have the same "hard drive UUID" (="disk signature") as the original virtual machine.

THE "hard drive UUID" of the .vmdk virtual hard drive of the new, cloned virtual machine has to stay exactly the same as the "hard drive UUID" of the original virtual machine:

In this example we changed the "harddrive UUID" of the virtual hard drive of a newly-created, cloned virtual machine:We used the "diskpart" command followed by the uniqueid disk ID=<new UUID for hard drive> to change the "harddrive UUID" fromF36380A1toF36380A2

Seehttp://www.howtohaven.com/system/change-disk-signature.shtml

The virtual hard drive of cloned virtual machine has to have the same "hard drive UUID" (="disk signature") as the original virtual machine.

THE "hard drive UUID" of the .vmdk virtual hard drive of the new, cloned virtual

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Our exact steps were:Click on Windows "Start" button.Type cmdinto the "Search" box.

Use right mouse button to click on "CMD" in the left-most side of the "Start menu".

Click on "Run as administrator" in the popup context menu.

Type in diskpart

and hit the Enter key.

Type in select disk 0and hit the Enter key.

Type inuniqueid diskand hit the Enter key.

Type in uniqueid disk id=F36380A82

Type in exitand hit the Enter key.

We then restarted the virtual machine:

*This virtual machine was then unable to boot:

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APPENDIX 2

YOU CAN VIEW THE "UUID.BIOS","UUID.Location",AND MAC ADDRESSFOR ANY VIRTUAL MACHINEIN "VMWARE PLAYER"

Each virtual machine in "VMware Player" has a .vmx file.If you open this .vmx file with Windows "Notepad", or "Wordpad". you can view these three values.

*Use your right mouse button to perform a click on the *.vmx file:

*A popup context menu will be displayed.*Click on "Notepad".

*Scroll down:

*ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:89:9e:1d"tools.syncTime = "FALSE"uuid.location = "56 4d 51 6c fe 5d 4d fe-12 28 31 f5 74 89 9e 1d"uuid.bios = "56 4d 51 6c fe 5d 4d fe-12 28 31 f5 74 89 9e 1d"