Create Additional Nodes for a WSFC Across Physical Hosts

To create additional nodes in a cluster of virtual machines across physical hosts, you can create a template from the the first virtual machine and use it to deploy additional virtual machines or use the procedure outlined previously to manually create additional VMs onto another ESXi host.

Caution: If you clone a virtual machine with an RDM setup, the cloning process converts the RDMs to virtual disks. Unmap all RDMs before cloning, and remap them after cloning is complete.

Caution: If you clone a virtual machine with clustered VMDKs, unmap all clustered VMDKs before cloning, and remap them after cloning is complete.

Caution: Use Windows sysprep operations before cloning to a template.

Procedure

1. In the vSphere Client, right-click the first virtual machine you created and select Clone > Clone to Template.
2. Proceed through the wizard to create the virtual machine template.

   Page	Action
   Name and folder	Enter a name (for example, Node2_Template) and select a location.
   Compute Resource	Select the host or cluster where you will run the virtual machine.
   Disk Format	Select Same format as source.
   Storage	Select a datastore as the location for the virtual machine configuration file and the .vmdk file.
   Ready to Complete	Click Finish to create the virtual machine template.

3. Right-click the virtual machine template and select Deploy VM from this Template.
4. Proceed through the deployment wizard to deploy the virtual machine.

   Page	Action
   Name and folder	Enter a name (for example, Node2) and select a location.
   Compute resource	Select the host or cluster where you will run the virtual machine.
   Disk Format	Select Same format as source.
   Datastore	Select a datastore as the location for the virtual machine configuration file and the .vmdk file.
   Clone options	Select Customize the operating system.

5. Select a new guest operating system from the list.
   1. Click the Create a new specification button to add a new guest operating system. Proceed through the New VM Guest Customization Spec wizard.
   2. Click Finish to exit the wizard.
6. Click Finish to deploy the virtual machine.