Clone: Cloning a virtual machine is an alternative to deploying a virtual machine Clone is an exact copy of a virtual machine.
The virtual machine being cloned can either be powered on or powered off.
Cloning a virtual machine creates a duplicate of the virtual machine with the same configuration and installed software as the original .You can customize the guest operating system of the clone to change the virtual machine name, network settings, and other properties. Customizing the guest operating system prevents conflicts that can occur if a virtual machine and a clone with identical guest operating system settings are deployed simultaneously.
To clone a virtual machine, you must be connected to vCenter Server. You cannot clone virtual machines if you connect the vSphere Client directly to an ESX/ESXi host. When you clone a virtual machine that is powered on, services and applications are not automatically quiesced when the virtual machine is cloned.
To clone a virtual machine, right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Clone.
Template: A template is a master copy of a virtual machine used to create and provision new virtual machines. The template is an image that typically includes a guest operating system, a set of applications, and a specific virtual machine configuration.
Creating templates makes provisioning of virtual machines much faster and less error prone than provisioning physical servers.Templates coexist with virtual machines in the inventory.
You can create a template by:
-Cloning a virtual machine to a template
-Converting a virtual machine to a template.
Clone to Template: When you clone a virtual machine to a template, that is with the Clone to Template option, the original virtual machine is retained. offers you the choice of format in which to store the virtual machine’s virtual disks:
-Same format as source
-Thin-provisioned format
-Thick format
Convert to Template: When you convert a virtual machine to a template, the original
virtual machine is replaced by the template. It does not offer a choice and leaves the virtual machine’s disk file intact.
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