This article provides basic instructions for cloning individual VMware vSphere virtual machine disk files using the VMware vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) and the vSphere CLI (vCLI).
Note: The context of the instructions will change, depending on whether the virtual machine has existing snapshots, or not. If the virtual machine has snapshots or delta disks, refer to the appropriate instructions included below. Both scenarios are covered in this article.
To clone a virtual machine disk using the vMA or vCLI:
To clone a snapshotted virtual machine disk using the vMA or vCLI:
If the virtual machine starts and the guest file systems appear intact, remove the old virtual machine disk files.