Home / server / Questions / 98898
Accepted
MikeT505
Asked: 2010-01-03 17:11:25 +0800 CST

Can you create Virtual Machines, in VMWare Workstation from a CloneZilla image?

  • 772

Is it possible to create a Virtual Machine, from a CloneZilla image?

If not, is there any other Imaging software that I can use to carry out this task?

vmware-workstation

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Depending on how you are envisioning the process to be done it is possible.

    Lets assume that the image contains an operating system that does not care about hardware changes

    My Basic Steps

    1. Create VM with VMWare Workstation
    2. Save clonezilla image into an ISO image (you may need to use UDF filesystem)
    3. Add extra Virtual DVD to VM
    4. Download clonezilla livecd from here or use gparted live cd from here
    5. Attach livecd to DVD1
    6. Attach clonezilla image to DVD2
    7. Boot into livecd
    8. Clone from DVD image to the Virtual hard drive

    Please note that you may have to do some work to get the 2nd cd mounted. GParted should provide an icon on the desktop. I have not used the clonezilla livecd so don't know if uses a graphical environment.

    Some more enlightened people will add some comments about drive mounting and I will update my question if it as not been edited.

    Standard Warning

    If you are trying to do this with say a Microsoft O/S then be aware you may need to go thru the reactivation process due to hardware changes.

    • 3

  2. I did a write-up on this very topic. Linux is easy as the auto hardware discovery is top notch and as long as you stuck with pseudo device (/dev/sda rather than /dev/uuid-blahblah) it will boot with standard grub. For Windows 2003/XP here are some tips on my site:

    • Windows 2003 Enterprise
      • Change the hard drive to IDE from SCSI. Windows will blue screen when you boot after image deployment since it cannot find the drive to boot from. You will get the error: 0×0000007b
      • After booting windows 2003 you can then install the BusLogic or LSI SCSI drivers
    • Red Hat Linux 5
      • Boot with the first CD of the install set and instead of an install, use linux rescue.
      • Once booted chroot /mnt/sysimage
      • Blank out the /etc/modprobe.conf
      • mv /boot/initrd-2.6.18-20.el5.img /boot/initrd-2.6.18-20.el5.img.orig
      • mkinitrd /boot/initrd-2.6.18-20.el5.img 2.6.18-20.el5
      • reboot
    • Windows XP
      • Change the hard drive to IDE from SCSI. Windows XP in the default install does not include the two SCSI adapters VMware supports, BusLogic or LSI Logic.
      • During the CloneZilla restore you are given a few options. The ones to select to ensure a successful MBR restore are:
        • -t1
        • -j1

    Geekyschmidt.com CloneZilla Tips for Physical - Virtual

    • 1