6.5.1

Select a Virtual Machine to Clone
You select a virtual machine to clone, and you can optionally select to customize the guest operating
system and the virtual machine hardware. You can also select to turn on the virtual machine when you
complete the creation procedure. You can change the properties of the guest operating system, such as
the computer name, and network and license settings. Changing the properties helps prevent conflicts
that can result if virtual machines with identical settings are deployed. You can add a CD device, such as
an ISO file, to install the guest operating system, or reconfigure the virtual machines' hardware, such as
storage or networking, before you deploy the virtual machine.
This page appears only if you opened the New Virtual Machine wizard from an inventory object that is
not a template.
Note If you start the deploy operation from a template, you select the customization and power options
on a later page in the wizard.
Procedure
1 Search for or browse to the virtual machine, and select it.
2 (Optional) Select Customize the operating system to customize the guest operating system of the
virtual machine.
3 (Optional) Select Customize this virtual machine's hardware to configure the virtual machine's
hardware before deployment.
4 (Optional) Select Power On Virtual Machine after creation to power on the virtual machine after
creation is complete.
5 Click Next.
Select the Virtual Machine Name and Folder
When you create a virtual machine, you provide a unique name for it. The unique name distinguishes it
from existing virtual machines in the virtual machine folder or datacenter. The name can contain up to 80
characters. You can select a datacenter or folder location for the virtual machine, depending on your
organizational needs.
Folders provide a way to store virtual machines for different groups in an organization, and you can set
permissions on them. For a flatter hierarchy, you can put all virtual machines and templates in a
datacenter and organize them a different way.
The virtual machine name determines the name of the virtual machine files and folder on the disk. For
example, if you name the virtual machine win8, the virtual machine files are named win8.vmx, win8.vmdk,
win8.nvram, and so on. If you change the virtual machine name, the names of the files on the datastore
do not change.
Procedure
1 Type a name for the virtual machine.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
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