
Cloning a Virtual Machine in System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2
Cloning a virtual machine is an alternative way to deploy a new virtual machine (VM) with an exactly same copy of identity and associated configuration files and installed software as the original VM. Cloning a VM can be useful for the purpose of creating backups of existing VMs, testing and creating VMs templates. During the cloning process, no modifications occur to the existing virtual machine and we do not have to stop the original virtual machine. This can significantly reduce downtime while creating virtual machines. So, this feature is also called Live Cloning.
We cannot run the cloned VM simultaneously with the original VM without generalizing the operating system of the cloned VM. By default, network adapters of the cloned VMs are in disconnected state. After cloning, run Sysprep.exe to generalize the VM to eliminate domain name and SID duplication.














Summary:
During cloning process, we do not have to stop the original virtual machine and no modifications occur to the source virtual machine. Therefore, the main purpose of cloning a virtual machine is for testing and creating VM templates rapidly. I hope this article will help.
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