The VMware Blockchain cloning process is a two-step process. The first step requires creating a backup of an existing blockchain deployment, and the second step requires creating a clone from the newly saved backup.
The operator must perform both of the cloning configuration steps.
Before backing up and cloning a blockchain deployment, the operator must consider and plan additional hardware and memory resources.
For AWS deployments, VMware Blockchain cloning can be performed by creating a snapshot of a Replica or Client's secondary EBS or storage volume on the AWS console and utilizing the automated Concord metadata cleanup workflow. See Cloning VMware Blockchain Nodes in the Using and Managing VMware Blockchain guide.
Backing Up a Blockchain State
Start by identifying the blockchain deployment to clone. Then, select a Replica and Client node representing the blockchain state, back up the selected Replica nodes within the Replica Network and Client nodes within the Client node group.
Cloning the Blockchain Deployment Backup
After a successful backup of the blockchain state, create a clone of the deployment environment. You must have all the licensing entitlements for the Replica and Client nodes in the cloned deployment.
Issue the restore command to clone a blockchain from the existing backup. The new blockchain starts from the same state as the original one. The cloned deployment environment does not share private keys or certificates with the original blockchain for security purposes. New private keys are created when cloning the blockchain deployment environment.
For the vSphere environment, see the Configuring the Deployment Descriptor Parameters for Cloning on vSphere topic in the Using and Managing VMware Blockchain guide for implementation steps.
For the AWS environment, see the Cloning VMware Blockchain Nodes topic in the Using and Managing VMware Blockchain guide for implementation steps.
