ESX Server, Virtual Infrastructure 2.1 3

[Dudester70]

I am going nuts trying to clone a VM! HELP!

I am running ESX Server, and a Virtual Center server for licensing. I have Virtual Infrastructure 2.01 client installed. I have 2 VM's built on my host. I want to clone 1 of them. In Virtual Center, Choosing INVENTORY, I point to the VM on the left, right click, and the sub menu appears. The option to CLONE does not exist! This is where I would expect to see it.
Why is this?

- Kevin

 

[skialta]

Make sure the VM is powered off while you do this. Otherwise, my options are grayed out for the Clone.

 

[Dudester70]

OK, but does it matter where I am running Virtual Center? I mean, I have the Virtual Center client running on my laptop and am pointing it to (logging into) my ESX Server and it pulls up the DB showing my machines. Whether the VM's are powered on/off doesn't seem to make a difference. The clone option is not greyed out, it's not THERE at all!.
Help!

 

[tteknos]

Regardless of how you're running Virtual Center, the Clone option should only appear greyed out if the machine is powered on, or in a state of being re-configured in some way (ie. name change, settings change, etc.).

 

[Dudester70]

OK, but the WORD "CLONE" is not even listed in the drop down menu! Why is this! (G) = Greyed out. My drop down looks like this:

Power ON
Power Off (G)
Suspend (G)
Reset (G)
Shutdown Guest (G)
Stanby Guest (G)
Restart Guest (G)
Snapshot
Add Permission
Open COnsole
Send Ctrl+Alt+Del (G)
Answer Question (G)
Report Performance
Install VMWare Tools (G)
Edit Settings
Rename
Remove From Inventory
Delete From Disk


THATS IT! The VM is powered off.

??????? Why is the CLONE option not there?

 

[tteknos]

You're missing that entire block of

Migrate
Clone
Clone to Template
Convert to Template

I know the Migrate portion is part of the licensing. If you don't have the license for VMotion that won't be there. The Clone option is part of the base install. You may need to reinstall VC.

 

[Arisap]

Might it be a permissions issue? VC has permission roles. Different roles allow the user to perform different functions. Check the permission role your userid is in

 

[dudenjersey]

I had the same problem and realized i was logged onto the actual host and not the VC.

 

[Dudester70]

Woahh....I think you may have stumbled on something here.....I am running virtual center and putting in the IP address of my ESX server, logging in as root.

Are you saying that I should not be pointing the VI Client to the ESX server? If not, where do I point it?

 

[Arisap]

When you run virtual center client, you should be pointing to your virtual center server, if you have one. I just verified this. When I connect to my vC server, I see the clone option in the drop-down. When I point the vc client to the ESX host itself, the clone option is NOT available on the drop-down.

 

[Dudester70]

OK, explain this to me like I am completely a newbie......

I have a DL380, that I want to run both a HOST and build a few VM's on.

I have the ESX server CD, and the VI install CD. I have installed ESX server (I thought this was the host?) on the DL380. I have built the VM's (2 of them) from running the VI client from another machine and creating a new VM and installing from ISO. I have a seperate machine as my license server.

Do I need another machine to be my "Virtual Center Server" as you call it? And if so, how do I install/build it?

 

[Arisap]

You do indeed need a VC server if you intend to use VMotion, HA, or DRS. If you simply have one ESX3 server, you only need the client to point to the ESX host (the old MUI is gone). The VC server needs to be Windows 2003. It can be a VM but if you lose the host you are running VC on, you lose Vmotion HA and DRS.