Copy a Virtual Machine to a Different vApp in the VMware Cloud Director Tenant Portal

You can copy a virtual machine to another vApp. When you copy a virtual machine, the original virtual machine remains in the source vApp.

When you copy a virtual machine, the snapshots are not included in the copy.

For more information on VMs with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) devices, see Working with Virtual Machines in the VMware Cloud Director Tenant Portal.

Prerequisites

• Verify that you are logged in as a vApp Author or a role with an equivalent set of rights.

• Power off the VM.

• If you want work with VMs with TPM devices, verify that the following criteria are met.
  • A VDC that supports TPM backs the VM.
  • For operations across vCenter instances, verify that the key provider used to encrypt each VM is registered on the target vCenter instance under the same name.
  • For operations across vCenter instances, verify that the VM and the target vCenter instance are on the same shared storage or that fast cross vCenter vApp instantiation is enabled.

Procedure

1. On the Virtual Data Center dashboard screen, click the card of the VDC you want to explore and from the secondary left panel, select Virtual Machines.
2. Click to view the list in a card view and, optionally, arrange the list of VMs from the Sort by drop-down menu.
3. From the Actions menu of the virtual machine you want to copy, select Copy.
4. Select the destination vApp to which you want to copy the virtual machine, and click Next.
5. Configure the resources, such as name of the VM and computer name, and, optionally, the storage policy and NICs, and click Next.
   Important: The computer name can contain only alphanumeric characters and hyphens. It cannot consist of digits only and cannot contain spaces.

   If you specify a remote datastore as a storage policy, all objects that make up the VM must reside on the same remote datastore.
6. If the selected VM has a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) device, select to make an identical copy of the device or replace the TPM with a new one, and click Next.

   The availability of the Replace option depends on the backing vCenter. Copying a VM to a vApp in vCenter 7.x automatically copies the TPM device. If you copy a VM to a vApp in vCenter 8.x, you can choose to copy or replace the TPM device.

   When you copy the TPM device, you create an identical copy of the device with the same secrets on the cloned VM. You might need to use this option if the VM cannot work without the same secrets. When you use the replace option, you create a TPM device with new secrets on the cloned VM. Replacing the TPM device improves the security of the VMs because less devices use the same secrets.

7. On the Ready to Complete page review your settings and click Done.