Using virt-clone

usevirtclone.md

Using virt-clone

The virt-clone utility is a useful tool for rapidly reproducing KVM (libvirtd) virtual machines.

Basic command to clone an existing virtual machine:

$ sudo virt-clone \
--original debian1 \
--name debian2 \
--file /var/lib/libvirt/images/debian2.qcow2

Once the clone has been created, the following commands can be used to rename it and reset values like the hostname and ssh keys. Log into the guest machine and su to root:

# echo 'debian2' > /etc/hostname
# sed -i 's/debian1/debian2/g' /etc/hosts
# reboot
# /bin/rm -v /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*
# dpkg-reconfigure openssh-server