Vmware

VMWare Server

Default VM host

VMWare Center

To connect diferent VMWare Servers, and to clone etc.

You require to pay a licence.

VMWare vSphere

Client to connect to a VMWare Server or Center

VMWare Converter

To clone, move, VMs And to create a VM from a Physical machine:

• 1) Download and install VMWare Server on your test system. Unless you prefer default options will work for most environments. You can download this product from www.vmware.com
• 2)Install VMWare vCenter Converter On the server you wish to convert install vCenter Converter selecting default options.
• 3) Run VMWare Converter
  • 1) Map a network drive to the VMWare Server
  • 2) Open vCenter Converter
  • 3) Select Convert a Powered on Machine and select local machine
  • 4) On the next screen you can change hardware options for the VM, if you need to change number of processers or memory.
  • 5) Set the network connections to not power on with the server so that you don't step on the production system
  • 6) Run the converter

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/483-how-to-create-a-vmware-clone-of-a-physical-server

Cloning a VM without vCenter in ESXi 5.1 free edition

http://nchrissos.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/cloning-a-vm-without-vcenter-in-esxi-5-1-free-edition/

First connect to the VSphere using the vSphere client and power off the source VM. vSphere client User Interface

vSphere client User Interface

Select the Configuration tab and Storage settings on the left menu. The Datastores list will come up on the right pane. vSphere Datastores

vSphere Datastores

Right click on the datastore of the source VM and select Browse. Datastore

Datastore

Right click on the root folder on the left tree and create a new folder. e.g Application Copying the files

Copying the files

Select the source folder of the VM to be cloned (2008R2 Machine in this example) and select the configuration file (.vmx) and the virtual disk file (.vmdk). Right click and copy them to clipboard. Now select the destination folder and paste the two files. Finally, right click the copied .vmx file and select Add to Inventory. Add to Inventory wizard

Add to Inventory wizard

Enter the name of the cloned VM and finish the wizard. Now the VM has been created to the vSphere hypervisor.

In case of using a VM as a template you should make sure that the template is unique everytime. So you must use sysprep utility to generalize the VM. In case of windows 2008R2 sysprep is included in the windows installation, under the folder c:\windows\System32\sysprep. This utility exists for other Windows versions as well. Sysprep utility

Sysprep utility

Run sysprep and select Enter System Out-of-Box Experience, check the Generalize box and select Shutdown. Make a generic VM template

Make a generic VM template

Now everytime you power on the template VM, a mini setup will come up to configure your new VM.