1 | <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
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2 | <!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
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3 | <topic xml:lang="en-us" id="clone">
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4 | <title>Cloning Virtual Machines</title>
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5 |
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6 | <body>
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7 | <p>
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8 | You can create a full copy or a linked copy of an existing VM.
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9 | This copy is called a <i>clone</i>. You might use a
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10 | cloned VM to experiment with a VM configuration, to test different
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11 | guest OS levels, or to back up a VM.
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12 | </p>
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13 | <p>
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14 | The <b outputclass="bold">Clone Virtual Machine</b> wizard
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15 | guides you through the cloning process.
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16 | </p>
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17 | <p>
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18 | You can start the Clone Virtual Machine wizard in one of the
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19 | following ways:
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20 | </p>
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21 | <ul>
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22 | <li>
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23 | <p>
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24 | Click the VM name in the machine list and then select
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25 | <b outputclass="bold">Clone</b> from the
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26 | <b outputclass="bold">Machine</b> menu.
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27 | </p>
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28 | </li>
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29 | <li>
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30 | <p>
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31 | Click <b outputclass="bold">Clone</b> in the
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32 | <b outputclass="bold">Snapshots</b> window for the
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33 | selected VM.
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34 | </p>
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35 | </li>
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36 | </ul>
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37 | <note>
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38 | <p>
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39 | The <b outputclass="bold">Clone</b> menu item is disabled
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40 | while a virtual machine is running.
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41 | </p>
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42 | </note>
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43 | <p>
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44 | The <b outputclass="bold">New Machine Name and Path</b>
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45 | page is displayed.
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46 | </p>
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47 | <fig id="fig-clone-wizard-name-path">
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48 | <title>Clone Virtual Machine Wizard: New Machine Name and Path</title>
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49 | <image href="images/clone-vm-1.png" placement="break"/>
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50 | </fig>
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51 | <p>
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52 | The following clone options are available:
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53 | </p>
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54 | <ul>
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55 | <li>
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56 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Name:</b> A name for the cloned
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57 | machine.
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58 | </p>
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59 | </li>
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60 | <li>
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61 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Path:</b> Choose a location for
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62 | the cloned virtual machine, otherwise Oracle VM VirtualBox uses the
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63 | default machines folder.
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64 | </p>
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65 | </li>
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66 | <li>
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67 | <p><b outputclass="bold">MAC Address Policy:</b> Specifies
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68 | whether to retain network card MAC addresses when cloning the
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69 | VM.
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70 | </p>
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71 | <p>
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72 | For example, the <b outputclass="bold">Generate New MAC
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73 | Addresses For All Network Adapters</b> value assigns a
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74 | new MAC address to each network card during cloning. This is
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75 | the default setting. This is the best option when both the
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76 | source VM and the cloned VM must operate on the same network.
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77 | Other values enable you to retain the existing MAC addresses
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78 | in the cloned VM.
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79 | </p>
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80 | </li>
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81 | <li>
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82 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Keep Disk Names:</b> Retains the
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83 | disk image names when cloning the VM.
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84 | </p>
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85 | </li>
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86 | <li>
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87 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Keep Hardware UUIDs:</b> Retains
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88 | the hardware universally unique identifiers (UUIDs) when
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89 | cloning the VM.
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90 | </p>
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91 | </li>
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92 | </ul>
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93 | <p>
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94 | Click <b outputclass="bold">Next</b>. The
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95 | <b outputclass="bold">Clone Type</b> page is displayed.
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96 | </p>
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97 | <fig id="fig-clone-wizard-clone-type">
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98 | <title>Clone Virtual Machine Wizard: Clone Type</title>
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99 | <image href="images/clone-vm-2.png" placement="break"/>
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100 | </fig>
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101 | <p>
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102 | The <b outputclass="bold">Clone Type</b> option specifies
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103 | whether to create a clone that is linked to the source VM or to
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104 | create a fully independent clone:
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105 | </p>
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106 | <ul>
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107 | <li>
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108 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Full Clone:</b> Copies all
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109 | dependent disk images to the new VM folder. A full clone can
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110 | operate fully without the source VM.
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111 | </p>
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112 | </li>
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113 | <li>
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114 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Linked Clone:</b> Creates new
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115 | differencing disk images based on the source VM disk images.
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116 | If you select the current state of the source VM as the clone
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117 | point, Oracle VM VirtualBox creates a new snapshot.
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118 | </p>
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119 | </li>
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120 | </ul>
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121 | <p>
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122 | (Optional) Click <b outputclass="bold">Next</b>. The
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123 | <b outputclass="bold">Snapshots</b> page is displayed.
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124 | </p>
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125 | <note>
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126 | <p>
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127 | The Snapshots page is only displayed for machines that have
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128 | snapshots and the selected clone type is
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129 | <b outputclass="bold">Full Clone</b>.
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130 | </p>
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131 | </note>
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132 | <fig id="fig-clone-wizard-snapshots">
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133 | <title>Clone Virtual Machine Wizard: Snapshots</title>
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134 | <image href="images/clone-vm-3.png" placement="break"/>
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135 | </fig>
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136 | <p>
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137 | You use this page to select which parts of the snapshot tree to
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138 | include in the clone. The available options are as follows:
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139 | </p>
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140 | <ul>
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141 | <li>
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142 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Current Machine State:</b> Clones
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143 | the current state of the VM. Snapshots are not included.
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144 | </p>
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145 | </li>
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146 | <li>
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147 | <p><b outputclass="bold">Everything:</b> Clones the
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148 | current machine state and all its snapshots.
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149 | </p>
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150 | </li>
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151 | </ul>
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152 | <p>
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153 | Click <b outputclass="bold">Finish</b> to start the clone
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154 | operation.
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155 | </p>
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156 | <p>
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157 | The duration of the clone operation depends on the size and number
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158 | of attached disk images. In addition, the clone operation saves
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159 | all the differencing disk images of a snapshot.
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160 | </p>
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161 | <p>
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162 | You can also use the <userinput>VBoxManage clonevm</userinput> command
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163 | to clone a VM. See <xref href="man_VBoxManage-clonevm.dita#vboxmanage-clonevm"/>.
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164 | </p>
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165 | </body>
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166 |
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167 | </topic>
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