This API has a deprecated equivalent from v7.0U1.
Clone VM Task
Creates a virtual machine from an existing virtual machine.
if you do not have all of the privileges described as follows: - The resource Datastore referenced by the attribute VM.DiskCloneSpec.datastore requires Datastore.AllocateSpace. - The resource Datastore referenced by the attribute VM.ClonePlacementSpec.datastore requires Datastore.AllocateSpace. - The resource Folder referenced by the attribute VM.ClonePlacementSpec.folder requires VirtualMachine.Inventory.CreateFromExisting. - The resource ResourcePool referenced by the attribute VM.ClonePlacementSpec.resource-pool requires Resource.AssignVMToPool. - The resource VirtualMachine referenced by the attribute VM.CloneSpec.source requires VirtualMachine.Provisioning.Clone.
Request
URLURL
https://{api_host}/api/vcenter/vm?action=clone&vmw-task=true
Header Parameters
Header Parameters
string
vmware-api-session-id
Required
Required session ID, acquired from Create Session API under CIS product
vmware-api-session-id example
"b00db39f948d13ea1e59b4d6fce56389"
Request Body
Request Body
{
"name": "string",
"source": "string"
}
string
source
Required
Virtual machine to clone from. When clients pass a value of this structure as a parameter, the field must be an identifier for the resource type: VirtualMachine. When operations return a value of this structure as a result, the field will be an identifier for the resource type: VirtualMachine.
string
name
Required
Virtual machine name.
map of
VMDiskCloneSpec
disks_to_update
Optional
Map of Disks to Update. If unset, all disks will copied to the datastore specified in the VM.ClonePlacementSpec.datastore field of VM.CloneSpec.placement. If the same identifier is in VM.CloneSpec.disks-to-remove InvalidArgument fault will be thrown. When clients pass a value of this structure as a parameter, the key in the field map must be an identifier for the resource type: com.vmware.vcenter.vm.hardware.Disk. When operations return a value of this structure as a result, the key in the field map will be an identifier for the resource type: com.vmware.vcenter.vm.hardware.Disk.
guest_customization_spec
Optional
Guest customization spec to apply to the virtual machine after the virtual machine is deployed. If unset, the guest operating system is not customized after clone.
placement
Optional
Virtual machine placement information. If this field is unset, the system will use the values from the source virtual machine. If specified, each field will be used for placement. If the fields result in disjoint placement the operation will fail. If the fields along with the placement values of the source virtual machine result in disjoint placement the operation will fail.
boolean
power_on
Optional
Attempt to perform a VM.CloneSpec.power-on after clone. If unset, the virtual machine will not be powered on.
array of
string
disks_to_remove
Optional
Set of Disks to Remove. If unset, all disks will be copied. If the same identifier is in VM.CloneSpec.disks-to-update InvalidArgument fault will be returned. When clients pass a value of this structure as a parameter, the field must contain identifiers for the resource type: com.vmware.vcenter.vm.hardware.Disk. When operations return a value of this structure as a result, the field will contain identifiers for the resource type: com.vmware.vcenter.vm.hardware.Disk.
Authentication
This operation uses the following authentication methods.
Response
Response
Response BodyResponse Body
202 Accepted returns
string
of type application/json
An identifier for the task created by this API invocation will be returned. If the non-async version of the operation returns a value, this id can be used with the CIS Get Task operation to fetch that value. The normal description of this operation’s return value will follow if one exists. ID of newly-created virtual machine. The result will be an identifier for the resource type: VirtualMachine.
Errors
400
com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.already_exists : if a virtual machine with the specified name already exists. | com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.invalid_argument : if any of the specified parameters are invalid.
403
com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.unauthorized : if the user doesn’t have the required privileges.
404
com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.not_found : if any of the resources specified in spec could not be found
500
com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.error : if the system reports an error while responding to the request. | com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.resource_inaccessible : if a specified resource (eg. host) is not accessible. | com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.unable_to_allocate_resource : if any of the resources needed to clone the virtual machine could not be allocated.
503
com.vmware.vapi.std.errors.service_unavailable : if the system is unable to communicate with a service to complete the request.
default
‘Default’ means this response is used for all HTTP codes that are not covered individually for this operation.
Code Samples
PowerCLI Client SDK Example
$VMCloneSpec = Initialize-VMCloneSpec -Source "MySource" -Name "MyName"
Invoke-CloneVmAsync -VMCloneSpec $VMCloneSpec
PowerCLI Client SDK All Parameters Example
$VMClonePlacementSpec = Initialize-VMClonePlacementSpec -Folder "MyFolder" -ResourcePool "MyResourcePool" -VarHost "MyVarHost" -Cluster "MyCluster" -Datastore "MyDatastore"
$VMDiskCloneSpec = Initialize-VMDiskCloneSpec -Datastore "MyDatastore"
$VMGuestCustomizationSpec = Initialize-VMGuestCustomizationSpec -Name "MyName"
$VMCloneSpec = Initialize-VMCloneSpec -Source "MySource" -Name "MyName" -Placement $VMClonePlacementSpec -DisksToRemove "MyDisksToRemove" -DisksToUpdate @{ key_example = $VMDiskCloneSpec } -PowerOn $false -GuestCustomizationSpec $VMGuestCustomizationSpec
Invoke-CloneVmAsync -VMCloneSpec $VMCloneSpec
cURL Command
curl -X POST -H "vmware-api-session-id: b00db39f948d13ea1e59b4d6fce56389" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"disks_to_remove":["string"],"disks_to_update":{"key":{"datastore":"string"}},"guest_customization_spec":{"name":"string"},"name":"string","placement":{"cluster":"string","datastore":"string","folder":"string","host":"string","resource_pool":"string"},"power_on":false,"source":"string"}' https://{api_host}/api/vcenter/vm?action=clone&vmw-task=true
Vendor Extensions
This operation contains the following vendor extensions defined in the spec:
x-vmw-doc-deprecated-method: post
x-vmw-doc-deprecated-path: /rest/vcenter/vm?action=clone&vmw-task=true
x-vmw-doc-operation: clone_task
Availability
Added in 7.0U2
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