Copy a Virtual Machine on VMWare Server 2 on Windows Server 2008

From Oramosswiki

I wrote this after reading a similar article for VMWare on Linux...since I run on Windows 2008 Server, I figured I'd write this one.

The article I originally read was:

http://blog.kovyrin.net/2007/04/08/how-to-clone-virtual-machine-with-vmware-server/

Find your VMWare Virtual Machine files - mine are in F:\Virtual Machines as per The image below.

For this example, I'll copy my "Fedora 10 GOLD" VM to a "Fedora 10 Oracle 11g GOLD" VM, so I've created a subdirectory in "F:\Virtual Machines" called "Fedora 10 Oracle 11g GOLD".

Next I manually copy just the VMDK and VMX files from the donor directory to the new target directory using Windows Explorer.

The files are now present as per the image below, but you'll notice the names are still from the donor VM...we'll change that next.

NOTE - Until I get a better picture, the image below actually shows all the files from the donor director have been copied...I just realised today that this isn't necessary - just the VMDK and VMX are required it seems.

Now, rename the VMDK file from the old donor name to the new name.

Also rename the VMX file from the old donor name to the new name.

Now edit the VMX file and change all occurrences of the old donor name to the new VM name, then save and close the file.

Now, log in to the VMWare Server Web Access screen - it should look something like this:

Choose the "Add Virtual Machine to inventory" link on the right hand side. Find the new Virtual Machine in the new directory and add it in.

Start the new VM - it won't start. Instead the VM link on the left hand side has a "shout out" symbol with a "?" in it...it's basically needing you to answer a question before it can continue.

Now, it seems to be a bit hit and miss about how you get to see this question...basically, I had to flick around the links on the home page - move from the Host view to the individual VM views and back again, until eventually you click on to the new VM and it has the question at the top, as per the image below:

Choose "Copied" and click OK.

The new VM then starts, something like this:

You may then wish to rename the hostname using something like this:

https://support.vpsland.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=47