Clone a Virtual Machine to a Template

Clone a virtual machine to a template. The source virtual machine remains available for use after it has been cloned into a template.

• Make sure the virtual machine is running, paused, shut down, or crashed.
• Detach all shared disks and RDM disks on the virtual machine.

1. In the navigation pane, choose Inventory > VM and Host.

2. Select the target VM and click Actions > Clone > Clone to Template.

3. In the Clone Virtual Machine to Template dialog, set the following parameters:

   • Name: Enter the template name.

     The name must be unique and cannot duplicate the names of existing virtual machines or templates.

   • Data Storage: Location where the template will be stored. By default, this is consistent with the source virtual machine's data storage.

   • Tag: Attach tags to identify different templates. For more information, see Tag Management

   If the VM has GPU, USB, or PCIe devices attached (except for PCIe devices automatically attached by SR-IOV NICs), the cloned template will not include these devices. To keep these devices, you can convert the VM to a template.

4. Review the configuration and click OK.

After cloning a virtual machine as a template, you can use this template to quickly deploy virtual machines with the same attributes.

You can modify the template without affecting the normal use of the source virtual machine.