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Cloning on-premises servers

The third tab of the Servers screen lets you configure the script file for cloning an on-premises server. 

Use the information in this guide to learn how to configure on-premises server cloning. You may also refer to the article on configuring persistent virtual machine (VM) settings.

Configure on-premises server cloning

If on-premises cloning configuration is enabled in Setup, a third tab will show on the Servers screen. This tab provides options for cloning script generation.

on-prem cloning config tab on servers screen

The table below shows the values that can be used in cloning configuration.

Field Datatype Required? Notes
Hypervisor vendor Lookup value Yes
  • VMWare
Cloning method Boolean Yes
  • Configure cloning in Apporto (default) – If this option is chosen, the remaining fields will be displayed.
  • Download PS script & edit offline – If this option is chosen, the remaining fields will be hidden and the downloadable cloning script will use generic values.
vCenter URL String Yes
vCenter login username String Yes
vCenter password String Yes
Source VM String Yes
VM template name String No
VM folder location String No
Resource pool String No
ESXi or cluster String No
Data stores String No
Active Directory DNS name (FQDN) String Yes
AD account for domain join String Yes
AD account for domain join password String Yes
VM network String No
Destination VMs String Yes Range or comma-separated list
Script overwrite Boolean No If enabled, cloning scripts will overwrite existing VMs

To generate a cloning script, follow the steps below.

  1. Log in to the system using your credentials.
  2. Click servers or the servers icon icon in the navigation panel.
  3. Click on the “on-prem cloning config” tab. 
  4. Select your preferred hypervisor vendor from the list to determine which form fields should show.
  5. Select your preferred cloning method:
    1. Configure cloning in Apporto – This option will be selected by default. Choose this option to use the form fields to create a customized script.
      on-prem cloning config tab on the servers screen

      1. Enter the appropriate values.
      2. Click save & download PS script to generate the customized script file and save it to local file storage.
    2. Download PS script & edit offline – Choose this option to download a generic script that can be edited offline.
      cloning method of downloading powershell script and editing offline

      1. Click save & download PS script. The system will display a pop-up message, prompting you to confirm the download.
        confirmation pop-up for downloading the powershell script and editing offline
      2. Click confirm to generate the script file and save to local file storage, or you may click cancel to abort the process.