linked clones script for esx3

Generated by Clearspace on 2010-05-25-07:00 1 Linked Clones script for ESX 3.x This script allows users to create linked cloned virtual machine(s) from a master (or golden) virtual machine. Clones may be stored on any type of datastore (LOCAL, SAN, NFS) that is presented to the ESX host. The script is very capable in deploying a large VDI environment in a relatively short amount of time. Compatiable with: VMware ESX 3.5 Update 3 VMware ESX 3.5 Update 2 VMware ESX 3.5 Update 1 VMware ESX 3.5 VMware ESX Server 3.0.3 VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 Update 1 VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 VMware ESX Server 3.0.0 There are currently 3 supported use cases: 1) Default Generate linked clones located in the same datastore that houses the master (golden) virtual machine. Writes will be directed to their respective linked virtual machine delta file with reads originating from the master virtual machine. 2) Distributed Write(s) I/O Generate linked clones evenly across available datastores of choice. Reads will originate from the specified master virtual machine while writes are directed towards their respective virtual machine delta files that have been dispersed across the specified datastores. 3) Distributed Read(s) & Write(s) I/O Duplicate the master virtual machine on available datastores of choice and evenly generate linked clones off of each duplicated master virtual machine. Reads and writes will be isolated onto the datastore of the linked clone(s) in question. This process is similar to running multiple instances of the default behavior of the script. Note: This linked clones script is virtual machine OS independent (i.e. it is not restricted to just Windows OS’s for VDI environment). For example, one can utilize this script to their advantage in development environments where new VMs need to be (mass) cloned quickly for testing. DISCLAIMER - When deleting linked clones, our process requires that the admin utilizes the “ my-vmware-cmd” toolset that has been developed. Under no circumstances should the “delete from disk” feature be used on a linked clone from within VIClient. This is to ensure that the master image of which clones are linked from is not terminated. The following requirements will be validated by the script prior to execution: • Ma st er VM is of fl ine • Master VM does not contai n any Snapshots or RDMs • Vali d e th 0 i nter fa ce • Singl e VMDK disk ( remo ve any in stanc es in th e .vmx file i f you ha ve othe rs)

linked clones script for esx3

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