Move a Virtual Machine to a New Location or Host

You can move a virtual machine that was created in Workstation Pro to a different host system or to a different location on the same host system. You can also move a virtual machine to a host system that has a different operating system.

Moving a virtual machine typically involves moving all of the files that make up the virtual machine. All files in the virtual machine's original directory when the virtual machine was created must be moved. The path names for all files associated with a Workstation Pro virtual machine are relative to the virtual machine directory. If you stored any files in directories other than the virtual machine directory, be sure to move them into a directory of the same name and same position relative to the location of the virtual machine.

When you move a virtual machine to a different host system or to a different location on the same host system, Workstation Pro generates a new MAC address for the virtual network adapter. Workstation Pro also generates a new MAC address when you rename a directory in the path to the virtual machine configuration file.

Prerequisites

• Familiarize yourself with how Workstation Pro generates UUIDs for moved virtual machines. See Using the Virtual Machine UUID.
• If you are moving the virtual machine to a different host system, familiarize yourself with the limitations of moving a virtual machine to a new host. see Limitations of Moving a Virtual Machine to a Different Host.
• If you are moving a linked clone or a parent virtual machine, verify that the clone can access the parent virtual machine. See Moving Linked Clones for more information.
• Make backup copies of the files in the virtual machine directory for the virtual machine that you are moving.

Procedure

1. Verify that all virtual machine files are stored in the virtual machines directory.
   Some files might reside outside of the virtual machines directory.
2. Shut down the guest operating system and power off the virtual machine.
3. Copy the virtual machine files to the new location.
4. If you moved the virtual machine to a different location on the same host system, remove the virtual machine from the library, select File > Open, and browse to the virtual machine configuration (.vmx) file in its new location.
5. If you moved the virtual machine to a different host system, start Workstation Pro on the new host system, select File > Open and browse to the virtual machine configuration (.vmx) file.
6. When you are certain that the virtual machine works correctly in its new location, delete the virtual machine files from its original location.
7. If the virtual machine does not work correctly, verify that you copied all of the virtual machine files to the new location.
   You can examine virtual machine device settings to determine whether any associated files point to locations that cannot be accessed from the new location.