Diskless virtual machine cloning by separately cloning a virtual drive and configuration data of a source virtual machine for combination into a cloned virtual machine
First Claim
1. A method for separately cloning a virtual drive of a source virtual machine and configuration data of the source virtual machine for combination into a cloned virtual machine, comprising:
- populating a datastore of a storage controller with a copy of a source virtual drive image file, of a source virtual machine that is to be cloned, to create a copied source virtual drive image file;
generating a diskless virtual machine in a destination container based upon configuration data of the source virtual machine;
invoking the storage controller to clone the copied source virtual drive image file to create a cloned source virtual drive image file in the datastore;
invoking a second storage controller to clone the diskless virtual machine to create a cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container, the second storage controller cloning the diskless virtual machine concurrently with the storage controller cloning the copied source virtual drive image file; and
combining the cloned source virtual drive image file, from the datastore, with the cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container to create a cloned virtual machine, the combining comprising mapping the cloned source virtual drive image file to the cloned diskless virtual machine.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One or more techniques and/or systems are disclosed that provide for cloning VMs, where different parts of the same VM are cloned separately. A temporary repository directory in a datastore of a storage controller is populated with a copy of one or more source virtual drive image files, which were generated from a source virtual machine (SVM) that is being cloned. A diskless virtual machine (DVM) is created in a destination container using configurations from the SVM. The copy of the one or more source virtual drive image files is cloned a desired number of times corresponding to a desired number of virtual machine clones. The DVM is cloned a desired number of times corresponding to a desired number of virtual machine clones. The DVM clones are combined with the source virtual drive image file clones in the destination container.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for separately cloning a virtual drive of a source virtual machine and configuration data of the source virtual machine for combination into a cloned virtual machine, comprising:
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populating a datastore of a storage controller with a copy of a source virtual drive image file, of a source virtual machine that is to be cloned, to create a copied source virtual drive image file; generating a diskless virtual machine in a destination container based upon configuration data of the source virtual machine; invoking the storage controller to clone the copied source virtual drive image file to create a cloned source virtual drive image file in the datastore; invoking a second storage controller to clone the diskless virtual machine to create a cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container, the second storage controller cloning the diskless virtual machine concurrently with the storage controller cloning the copied source virtual drive image file; and combining the cloned source virtual drive image file, from the datastore, with the cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container to create a cloned virtual machine, the combining comprising mapping the cloned source virtual drive image file to the cloned diskless virtual machine. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for separately cloning a virtual drive of a source virtual machine and configuration data of the source virtual machine for combination into a cloned virtual machine, comprising:
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one or more processors; and memory comprising instructions that when executed by at least some of the one or more processors implement at least some of the following; a virtual storage drive cloning component, on a storage controller, configured to; populate a datastore of the storage controller with a copy of a source virtual drive image file, of a source virtual machine that is to be cloned, to create a copied source virtual drive image file; and clone the copied source virtual drive image file to create a cloned source virtual drive image file in the datastore; a diskless virtual machine cloning component, on a second storage controller, configured to; generate a diskless virtual machine in a destination container based upon configuration data of the source virtual machine; and clone the diskless virtual machine to create a cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container, the diskless virtual machine cloning component configured to clone the diskless virtual machine concurrently with the virtual storage drive cloning component cloning the copied source virtual drive image file; and a combining component configured to; combine the cloned source virtual drive image file, from the datastore, with the cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container to create a cloned virtual machine, the combining comprising mapping the cloned source virtual drive image file to the cloned diskless virtual machine. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable instructions that when executed perform a method for creating a cloned virtual machine, comprising:
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populating a datastore of a storage controller with a copy of a source virtual drive image file, of a source virtual machine that is to be cloned, to create a copied source virtual drive image file; generating a diskless virtual machine in a destination container based upon configuration data of the source virtual machine; invoking the storage controller to clone the copied source virtual drive image file to create a cloned source virtual drive image file in the datastore; invoking a second storage controller to clone the diskless virtual machine to create a cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container, the second storage controller cloning the diskless virtual machine concurrently with the storage controller cloning the copied source virtual drive image file; and combining the cloned source virtual drive image file, from the datastore, with the cloned diskless virtual machine in the destination container to create a cloned virtual machine, the combining comprising mapping the cloned source virtual drive image file to the cloned diskless virtual machine.
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Specification