Virtual Machine Cloning

Question

This is related to Azure VM cloning.
I see two options for VM cloning.

First option is to use VM image "capture". Before that, we need to run sys prep from windows OS.

Second option is to use VM snapshot and then need to take managed disk.
Should we need to do sysprep after powering on the cloned VM? And which method can I prefer?

Answer 1

Hi @martin ,

Thanks for contacting Microsoft Q&A platform.
The only difference between the specialized and generalized deployments are below.

A specialized disk is a copy of a virtual hard disk (VHD) from an existing VM that contains all the user accounts, applications, and other state data from your original VM. After deploying a new VM from the specialized you need handle uniqueness within the VM, like setting a hostname, to avoid DNS conflicts on the same VNET.

A generalized image is created by running Sysprep on the VM. Sysprep removes all your personal account information, retains OS and application specific information which prepares the machine to be used as an image and Once you set the VM to be generalized you can reuse the existing VM and this action is irreversible.

Hope this helps!
Kindly let us know if the above helps or you need further assistance on this issue.