VMWare ESX: Steps to clone an image with SQL Server on it
The following steps are helpful to clone a Win 2012 R2 server from an arbitrary image to a new machine (incl. SQL server installation). Power down source image Power up copied, new image Open via ESx console / vSphere Client and first rename workstation to new name and unjoin the domain (e.g. workgroup TEMP), Restart Rejoin domain, Restart (unjoin/rejoin prevents many silly issues with the AD) Access from now on via mstsc Start checking for Windows updates Open SQL Management Studio and add the domain sysadmin user, if not present Now it's safe to delete the <old-workstation-name>\<admin-username> Have all Windows updates installed Create "clean" Snapshot