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Reinstall VMware Tools.
Cloning Virtual Machines with Fusion Pro
Installing a guest operating system and applications can be time consuming. With Fusion Pro, you
can make many copies of a virtual machine from a single installation and configuration process.
Clones are useful when you must deploy many identical virtual machines to a group. For
example, an MIS department can clone a virtual machine that has a suite of preconfigured office
applications for each employee. You can also configure a virtual machine that has a complete
development environment and clone it repeatedly as a baseline configuration for software
testing.
The existing virtual machine is called the parent virtual machine. Two types of clones are
available for creation: linked clones and full clones. Linked clones are created more quickly than
full clones, but are dependent on the parent virtual machine. Full clones take longer to create, but
are completely independent of the parent virtual machine.
Changes made to a clone do not affect the parent virtual machine, and changes made to the
parent virtual machine do not appear in a clone. The MAC address for a clone is different from
the parent virtual machine.
Using Linked Clones
A linked clone is a copy of a virtual machine that shares virtual disks with the parent virtual
machine in an ongoing manner. You can create linked clones only by using Fusion Pro.
Because a linked clone is created from a snapshot of the parent, disk space is conserved and
multiple virtual machines can use the same software installation. All files available on the parent
at the moment you take the snapshot continue to remain available to the linked clone.
Ongoing changes to the virtual disk of the parent do not affect the linked clone, and changes to
the disk of the linked clone do not affect the parent. A linked clone must have access to the
parent. Without access to the parent, you cannot use a linked clone.
Because linked clones are created quickly, you can create a unique virtual machine for each task.
You can also share a virtual machine with other users by storing the virtual machine on your local
network where other users can quickly make a linked clone. For example, a support team can
reproduce a bug in a virtual machine, and an engineer can quickly make a linked clone of that
virtual machine to work on the bug.
Using VMware Fusion
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