User`s guide

VMware Stage Manager User’s Guide
52 VMware, Inc.
Cloning Existing Templates
Youcancreatealinkedcloneorafullcloneofatemplatetotakeadvantageofsoftware
alreadyinstalledonthattemplate.
Alinked‐cloneoperationgeneratesa“quick”copybycreatingadeltadiskinsteadof
copyinganentirevirtualharddisk.Thisoperationaddressesvirtualmachine
proliferationby
using“referentialprovisioning,”aprocessthatinvolvesstoringnew
changesbutreferringbacktoachainofdeltadisks.Foreachclone,Stage Manager
freezestheoriginaldeltadiskandcreatesanewone.
Afull‐cloneoperationcopiesallofthedeltadisksandthemasterdisk.Theoriginal
templatecontinues
toexist.Unlikelinkedcloning,fullcloningcreatesanewtemplate
thatisaconsolidatedversionoftheoriginalwithnodependenciesonabasedisk.The
newtemplatebecomesitsownbasedisk.
Typically,youdonotcreatefullclonesexceptundertheseconditions:
 Todismantlethestorageandmovethetemplatetoadifferentserver
 Tomaximizeperformanceforvirtualmachines(forexample,forcertain
production‐levelvirtualmachines)
Afull‐cloneoperationtakesalongertimethanalinked‐cloneoperation.
Linked‐cloneandfull‐cloneoperationsinvolvespecifyingdeploymentandstorage
leases.See“ReviewingtheResourceCleanupTab”onpage 103.
Aftercloningatemplate,you
mustverifytheversionofVMware Toolsonthetemplate.
InformationonVMwareToolsappearsintheVirtualMachineTemplatespage.
 IftheversionisUnknown,deployingthetemplateallowsStage Managertoassess
theversionanddisplayinformationonthepage.See“DeployingTemplates”on
page 37.
 IftheversionappearsasInstalled(RequiresUpdate),youmustinstall
VMware Tools.Stage ManagerisdependentonVMware Toolsforguest
customization.See“InstallingVMware Tools”onpage 39.
To make a linked clone of a template
1Intheleftpane,clickVMTemplates.
2Movethepointeroverthetemplatename,andchooseMakeLinkedClonefrom
themenu.