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Table Of Contents
Because a full clone does not share virtual disks with the parent virtual machine, full clones
generally perform better than linked clones. Full clones take longer to create than linked clones.
Creating a full clone can take several minutes if the files involved are large.
Because a full clone duplicates only the state of the virtual machine at the instant of the cloning
operation, it does not have access to snapshots of the parent virtual machine.
You can delete a full clone without affecting the parent virtual machine.
Clone a Virtual Machine
You can clone virtual machines only if you have Fusion Pro. You do not need to find and manually
copy the parent virtual machine files.
Note
n You can access cloning options from the right-click menu, Virtual Machine menu and snapshot
manager.
n You cannot create linked clones from encrypted virtual machines.
n You cannot create linked or full clones from Boot Camp virtual machines.
n You can create full clones from encrypted virtual machines.
n You can create a cloned virtual machine from the powered off snapshot of the parent virtual
machine.
Prerequisites
n Familiarize yourself with the types of clones. See Using Linked Clones and Using Full Clones.
n If making a linked or full clone from the current state of a virtual machine, power down the
virtual machine.
Procedure
1 (Optional) To create a clone from the current state of a virtual machine:
a Select a virtual machine from the Virtual Machine Library.
b Click Virtual Machine and select either Create Full Clone or Create Linked Clone,
depending on the type of clone you want to create.
Fusion takes a snapshot of the selected virtual machine when creating a linked clone.
2 (Optional) To create a clone from a snapshot of a virtual machine:
a Select a virtual machine from the Virtual Machine Library.
b Click Snapshots.
c Select a snapshot and right-click. Select either Create Full Clone or Create Linked Clone,
depending on the type of clone you want to create.
Using VMware Fusion
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