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<blockquote>
What is the best practice in cloning many VMs?
</blockquote>
<br />
If this is Windows, Microsoft has always recommended that you use Sysprep.<br />
<br />
Sysprep can generate a new Machine SID.<br />
<br />
But there are many other options of deploying Windows now, CLONING is just one, which is quite old fashioned.
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Actually this is the same logic why Horizon View or VDI evolved with...<br />
They clone and customize all VMs -&gt; linked clone or full clone or instant clone technologies<br />
<br />
You can use instant clone to clone VMs in seconds.. You can use APIs as well provided by VMware<br />
<br />
That requires a separate software and licensing in VMware to do or use APIs provided by VMware and design one for yourself<br />
<br />
thanks,<br />
Murali
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<blockquote>
 If this is Windows, Microsoft has always recommended that you use Sysprep.
</blockquote>
<br />
You can manually sysprep one Template, if you create other templates from the first template then you will have to sysprep all of them ?
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No, because you run Sysprep, with the Generate new SID option, and then select it to Shutdown.<br />
<br />
and then every template you deploy, will be ready to install. (when you convert VM to Template)
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I guess Vmware has &quot;&nbsp;customization specification manager &quot;&nbsp;Tool to prepare that.
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You can use that option, however recent developments and operating systems, seems to have broken!
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It still in Vmware newer versions such as 6.7<br />
<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2020/04_w14/1448593/cust.JPG" target="_blank" title="a (51 KB)"><img alt="a" class="file-block lazyload" style="max-width: 800px;" data-src="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2020/04_w14/800_1448593/cust.JPG" /></a>
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cust.JPG

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Try it and Test! and Report Back!<br />
<br />
Just because it's there........does not mean it works!
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You can prevent duplicate SID, by using Sysprep before converting the VM to Template. as described here:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.enterprisedaddy.com/2015/09/how-to-prepare-a-vm-with-sysprep-before-converting-it-to-template/" rel="ugc">https://www.enterprisedaddy.com/2015/09/how-to-prepare-a-vm-with-sysprep-before-converting-it-to-template/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
VMware Customization also has the same thing to generate a new SID.<br />
What I do not see is where to enter License Key, Organization Information, User Name and Password... this is Vsphere 6.7 , older versions have that.<br />
<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2020/04_w15/1449324/sid.JPG" target="_blank" title="a (62 KB)"><img alt="a" class="file-block lazyload" style="max-width: 800px;" data-src="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2020/04_w15/800_1449324/sid.JPG" /></a><a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2020/04_w15/1449325/sys.JPG" target="_blank" title="a (53 KB)"><img alt="a" class="file-block lazyload" style="max-width: 800px;" data-src="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2020/04_w15/800_1449325/sys.JPG" /></a>
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sid.JPG

sys.JPG

jskfan

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I will come back to this topic next time I reset the LAB<br />
Thank you
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<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
Clone VMs with Customization.<br />
<br />
When Cloning a VM , &nbsp;if it is windows , I believe we should always Customize it to avoid duplicate IP addresses, SIDs, etc...,<br />
&nbsp;I do not know if cloning Linux VM requires Customization.?<br />
<br />
If I have several VMs to clone and customize, then it should be a lot of manual work to do, by entering specific information for each VM.. <br />
<br />
What is the best practice in cloning many VMs?<br />
<br />
Thank you
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Clone VMs with Customization.

When Cloning a VM ,  if it is windows , I believe we should always Customize it to avoid duplicate IP addresses, SIDs, etc...,
 I do not know if cloning Linux VM requires Customization.?

If I have several VMs to clone and customize, then it should be a lot of manual work to do, by entering specific information for each VM.. 

What is the best practice in cloning many VMs?

Thank you

Clone VMs with Customization.

VMware, a software company founded in 1998,  was one of the first commercially successful companies to offer x86 virtualization. The storage company EMC purchased VMware in 1994. Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016. VMware’s parent company is now Dell Technologies.

VMware has many software products that run on desktops, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows the virtualizing of the x86 architecture.  Its enterprise software hypervisor for servers, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), is a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on the server hardware and does not require an additional underlying operating system.