source: vbox/trunk/doc/manual/en_US/man_VBoxManage-clonevm.xml@ 99513

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<refentry id="vboxmanage-clonevm" lang="en">
  <refentryinfo>
    <pubdate>$Date: 2023-04-21 21:59:02 +0000 (Fri, 21 Apr 2023) $</pubdate>
    <title>VBoxManage clonevm</title>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>VBoxManage-clonevm</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>VBoxManage-clonevm</refname>
    <refpurpose>create a clone of an existing virtual machine</refpurpose>
    <refclass>&product-name;</refclass>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis id="synopsis-vboxmanage-clonevm">
<!-- The 'id' is mandatory and must start with 'synopsis-'. -->
      <command>VBoxManage clonevm</command>
      <arg choice="req"><replaceable>vmname|uuid</replaceable></arg>

      <arg>--basefolder=<replaceable>basefolder</replaceable></arg>

      <arg rep="repeat">--groups=<replaceable>group</replaceable>,</arg>

      <group choice='opt'>
        <arg choice='plain'>--mode=machine</arg>
        <arg choice='plain'>--mode=machinechildren</arg>
        <arg choice='plain'>--mode=all</arg>
      </group>

      <arg>--name=<replaceable>name</replaceable></arg>

      <arg rep="repeat">--options=<replaceable>option</replaceable>,</arg>

      <arg>--register</arg>

      <arg>--snapshot=<replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></arg>

      <arg>--uuid=<replaceable>uuid</replaceable></arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevm-description">
    <title>Description</title>
    <para>
      The <command>VBoxManage clonevm</command> command creates a clone
      of an existing virtual machine (VM). The clone can be a full copy
      of the VM or a linked copy of a VM.
    </para>
    <para>
      You must specify the name or the universal unique identifier
      (UUID) of the VM you want to clone.
    </para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevm-common-args">
    <title>Command Operand and Options</title>
    <para>
      The following list describes the operand and the options that you
      can use with the <command>VBoxManage clonevm</command> command:
    </para>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><replaceable>vmname|uuid</replaceable></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Specifies the name or UUID of the VM to clone.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--basefolder=<replaceable>basefolder</replaceable></option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Specifies the name of the folder in which to save the
            configuration for the new VM.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--groups=<replaceable>group</replaceable>,...</option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Assigns the clone to the specified group or groups. If you
            specify more than one group, separate each group name with a
            comma.
          </para><para>
            Note that each group is identified by a group ID that starts
            with a slash character (<computeroutput>/</computeroutput>)
            so that groups can be nested. By default, a clone is always
            assigned membership to the
            <computeroutput>/</computeroutput> group.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--mode=machine|machineandchildren|all</option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Specifies which of the following cloning modes to use:
          </para><itemizedlist>
            <listitem><para>
                <computeroutput>machine</computeroutput> mode clones the
                current state of the existing VM without any snapshots.
                This is the default mode.
              </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                <computeroutput>machineandchildren</computeroutput> mode
                clones the snapshot specified by by the
                <option>--snapshot</option> option and all child
                snapshots.
              </para></listitem>
            <listitem><para>
                <computeroutput>all</computeroutput> mode clones all
                snapshots and the current state of the existing VM.
              </para></listitem>
          </itemizedlist></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--name=<replaceable>name</replaceable></option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Specifies a new name for the new VM. The default value is
            <computeroutput><replaceable>original-name</replaceable>
            Clone</computeroutput> where
            <replaceable>original-name</replaceable> is the original
            name of the VM.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--options=<replaceable>option</replaceable>,...</option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Specifies how to create the new clone.</para>
          <para>The <option>--options</option> argument can be used multiple
            times to enable multiple options, or the options can be given as a
            comma separated list.  The options are case insensitive.</para>
          <para>The following options (case-insensitive) are recognized:</para>
          <variablelist>
            <varlistentry>
              <term><option>Link</option></term>
              <listitem><para>
                  Creates a linked clone from a snapshot only.
                </para></listitem>
            </varlistentry>
            <varlistentry>
              <term><option>KeepAllMACs</option></term>
              <listitem><para>
                  Specifies that the new clone reuses the MAC addresses
                  of each virtual network card from the existing VM.
                </para><para>
                  If you do not specify this option or the
                  <option>--options=keepnatmacs</option> option, the
                  default behavior is to reinitialize the MAC addresses
                  of each virtual network card.
                </para></listitem>
            </varlistentry>
            <varlistentry>
              <term><option>KeepNATMACs</option></term>
              <listitem><para>
                  Specifies that the new clone reuses the MAC addresses
                  of each virtual network card from the existing VM when
                  the network type is NAT.
                </para><para>
                  If you do not specify this option or the
                  <option>KeepAllMACs</option> option, the
                  default behavior is to reinitialize the MAC addresses
                  of each virtual network card.
                </para></listitem>
            </varlistentry>
            <varlistentry>
              <term><option>KeepDiskNames</option></term>
              <listitem><para>
                  Specifies that the new clone reuses the disk image
                  names from the existing VM. By default, disk images
                  are renamed.
                </para></listitem>
            </varlistentry>
            <varlistentry>
              <term><option>KeepHwUUIDs</option></term>
              <listitem><para>
                  Specifies that the new clone reuses the hardware IDs
                  from the existing VM. By default, new UUIDs are used.
                </para></listitem>
            </varlistentry>
          </variablelist></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--register</option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Automatically registers the new clone in this &product-name;
            installation. You can manually register the new VM later by
            using the <command>VBoxManage registervm</command> command.
            See <xref linkend="vboxmanage-registervm" />.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--snapshot=<replaceable>snapshot-name</replaceable></option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Specifies the snapshot on which to base the new VM. By
            default, the clone is created from the current state of the
            specified VM.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--uuid=<replaceable>uuid</replaceable></option></term>
        <listitem><para>
            Specifies the UUID for the new VM. Ensure that this ID is
            unique for the &product-name; instance if you decide to
            register this new VM. By default, &product-name; provides a
            new UUID.
          </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevm-examples">
    <title>Examples</title>
    <para>
      The following command creates and registers an exact clone of the
      <computeroutput>ol7</computeroutput> VM. The clone is called
      <computeroutput>ol7-dev-001</computeroutput>.
    </para>
    <para>
      The new clone includes all of the source VM's snapshots. The new
      VM also reuses all network interface MAC addresses, disk names,
      and UUIDs from the source VM.
    </para>
<screen>
$ VBoxManage clonevm ol7 --name="ol7-dev-001" --register --mode=all \
    --options=keepallmacs --options=keepdisknames --options=keephwuuids
</screen>
    <para>
      The following command creates and registers a clone of the
      <computeroutput>Snapshot 1</computeroutput> snapshot of the
      <computeroutput>ol7</computeroutput> VM. The clone is called
      <computeroutput>ol7-dev-002</computeroutput>.
    </para>
<screen>
$ VBoxManage clonevm ol7 --name="ol7-dev-002" --register --snapshot="Snapshot 1"
</screen>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id="vboxmanage-clonevm-see-also">
    <title>See Also</title>
    <para>
      <xref linkend="vboxmanage-registervm" />
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>