ESX 3.0.2 VM cloning

Hi,

To clone a VM under ESX 3.0.2 you can use VMware Converter, here is a solution I use (if I want to clone a VM on the same ESX) :

Connect to the ESX with ssh and use these command-line :

cd /vmfs/volumes/storageX
mkdir newVM
vmkfstools -i oldVM/oldVM.vmdk newVM/newVM.vmdk
sed 's/oldVM/newVM/g' oldVM/oldVM.vmx > newVM/newVM.vmx
vmware-cmd -s register /vmfs/volumes/storageX/newVM/newVM.vmx
chmod 755 newVM/newVM.vmx

Then go to the GUI (VIC) and start the machine, you will be asked a question about the UUID answer Create (to create a new one for the new VM).

I tested these command without any problem, but it’s given without any garantee as your environment may be different.

SSH and DNS reverse lookup

One of the sucking thing with SSH is that it uses DNS to map IPs to domain name.
When you have some DNS problems and need to connect through SSH into a box, you can get some timeout or delay.

This is almost true in ESX servers. To solve this on ESX 3.0.2 you need to create a file : /etc/sysconfig/sshd with this inside :
OPTIONS="-u0"
then restart your SSH daemon (don’t worry, you will not loose your connexion if you didn’t make a mistake).

Under debian like system, you only need to add this line in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config : UseDNS no
then restart your SSH daemon.