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

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