Possible to create a clone from a snapshot?

[soylent]

I need to create a clone VM from a snapshot. Is this possible using SureBackup or some other method in Veeam?

[Vitaliy S.]

Hi Max,

Could you please clarify your question as I do not understand what you're trying to do... Do you want to create a replica of the VM which is running on the snapshot?

Thanks!

[Gostev]

VM Copy and any other Veeam job picks up the most current VM state (as hypervisor sees it). So if you want to clone the latest state, then you can use any job at all.

[soylent]

Hi Max,

Could you please clarify your question as I do not understand what you're trying to do... Do you want to create a replica of the VM which is running on the snapshot?

Thanks!

We wanted a clone because we were about to install applications on the VM, so we wanted to keep a "clean" image in case we had to do it over. But instead, we did a snapshot, which has now grown too large.

The problem is that we still need both a clean VM and the current state. So we can't revert, delete or consolidate the current snapshot. My only idea was to clone the current VM (which would automatically consolidate the snapshot), and make the clone the production server. Then I would revert the snapshot on the original VM, making it the "original". But this would take a lot of downtime.

Can Veeam make this task a little easier than using the vCenter method?

[Gostev]

Theoretically, the following should work - shutdown the VM, and copy "base" VMDK and all other VM files (except snapshot files) with FastSCP functionality (Files tab in the new 6.1 UI). Then, manually edit VMX to remove references to snapshot files. Should work!

[dellock6]

If you play a bit with CID chains, you can basically create a VM state at every snapshot point in time. There are many tutorial and articles on how to do it.

Luca.