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+--- Thread: What steps are necessary to clone a VM in Hyper-V? (/showthread.php?tid=28)
What steps are necessary to clone a VM in Hyper-V? - savas - 01-29-2022
Cloning a VM in Hyper-V is pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. First off, you’ll want to fire up your Hyper-V Manager. From there, locate the virtual machine you want to clone. It’s a good idea to make sure that the VM is off. If it’s running, just right-click on it and choose “Shut Down” to avoid any issues.
Once the VM is powered down, you’ll need to create a copy of its virtual hard drive (VHD). To do this, navigate to the location where the VHD is stored. You’ll typically find it under your Hyper-V folder on your storage drive. Right-click on the VHD file and select "Copy."
After you've copied the VHD, it’s time to create a new VM where this copied disk can live. Head back to Hyper-V Manager, and go to the “Action” menu and choose “New” followed by “Virtual Machine.” You’ll be taken through a wizard that will prompt you to give your new VM a name, and it’s a good idea to pick something that distinguishes it from the original.
Once you've got to the part where it asks for the virtual hard disk, opt to “Use an existing virtual hard disk.” This is where you’ll browse to the location of the VHD you just copied. Make sure you select that one. The config settings, like RAM and CPU, can be tweaked based on what you need for this clone.
After creating the VM, it’d be wise to verify the network settings. Sometimes, you may need to adjust these to prevent any conflicts, especially if you’re cloning a VM that was already connected to a network. Once all that is set, you can power on your new VM.
Take a moment for it to boot up and check that everything is running smoothly. If you've set it up correctly, it should function just like the original VM. And remember, depending on the purpose of the clone, you might want to change the hostname or any unique identifiers to avoid confusion on your network.
That's essentially it! You’ve successfully cloned a VM in Hyper-V, and it’s ready for whatever project or testing you have in mind.
I hope my post was useful. Are you new to Hyper-V and do you have a good Hyper-V backup solution? See my other post