Cloning Systems

Introduction to Cloning

A clone is a copy of a virtual system that has the same disk contents, accounts, root password and number of network interfaces as the original. However, it is assigned a new hostname, IP address(es) and description.

Creating a clone is easier than imaging a system and then creating a new system from it, as it is done in a single operation. Cloning is also available to system owners, subject to limits on disk, RAM and CPU use, and assuming that the owner is allowed to create new systems at all.

Virtual systems using Xen, KVM, OpenVZ, Vservers, LXC and Citrix Xen can be cloned in Cloudmin versions 4.5 and later. The process is the same regardless of the virtual system type. On Cloudmin 5.5 and later, a clone can be created on a different host system to the original system's host.

Cloning a System

The steps to follow to clone an existing system are :

1. Select it from the left menu, then go to System Operations -> Clone System
2. Enter a new system name into the New hostname prefix field. This typically only has to be a prefix, as the domain will be automatically appended.
3. Enter a description for the new system.
4. By default, Cloudmin will allocate new IP addresses for the clone in the same way that it does allocation for any new system. However, you can alternatively select Entered below in the IP addresses for clone and enter an address for each interface on the new system.
5. If you have multiple host systems for the virtualization type of the chosen system, you can select another host from the New host system for clone menu for the clone to be created on.
6. Click the Create Clone button, and wait for the process to complete.

Cloning is generally faster than creating a new system, as there are fewer steps involved. However, if the system being cloned has large disks, it will take proportionally longer.

Cloning will be disallowed if the host system does not have enough free RAM or disk space, or if your usage is too close to the limits set in your plan.