December 18, 2009 at 9:06 am
Hi Experts,
This morning I was asked by my business managers whether we can clone a SQL Server 2005 Instance and move it to another virtual server and use it.
I never heard before about cloning an instance but I do know that we can do cloning of a database.
Please, help me in answering this to my management.
Thanks In Advance
Sree
December 18, 2009 at 10:07 am
With the server being virtual, the question may be pertinent to ask the business managers if they are referring specifically about the VM.
Can one clone a VM? Yes. Will that require some additional work to ensure the SQL Instance will continue to work - possibly. It will depend on what will be done with the old VM and the new VM and whether or not both will continue to exist at the same time..
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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December 18, 2009 at 10:09 am
You can do this, however you might have naming issues.
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December 18, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Thank you for answering my question and help me undersatnd it !!!
This is cloning of SQL Server Instance not the VM....
If its possible ..is it possible for the default instance of SQL or for named instances too...if so can you plz help me in understaning how we can do this and wht changes has to be made related to the configuration or any kind of security ???...correct me if I misunderstood anything here ....
Thank You Once Again,
Sree
December 18, 2009 at 2:14 pm
You can backup and restore all SQL Server database, including master and msdb. That being said, only one SQL Server with that name can exist, so you'd have to change the name on the restored instance.
A disaster recovery situation is essentially cloning the SQL Server.
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January 20, 2011 at 5:09 am
It really depends why you want to clone the instance. I was working on a implementation of a new system and when I stated we would require a non-prod system for testing purpose and to show auditors we are compliant on that front the Proj Mgr was not too keen as it was all costed on 1 server. With the server going from physical to virtual I advised that we could get away with cloning the VM. This helped with the testing of SP without issues on the Prod server or if a incident occurred on the Prod server atleast we could cut the image of the server and bring up a clone. This also ensures that all Patches, drivers and SP are the same on the clone. Last thing you want I suppose is to Clone the SQL Server instance but then hit a problem on the Production server because a patch was missing on the clone that was applied on the Production.
January 21, 2011 at 7:40 am
We have used the VM clone to move old standalone SQL Servers to new VM Machines and it works fine. Just shutdown SQL Server and all services for the move.
January 21, 2011 at 11:28 am
Check out HP's PolyServe... It might be exactly what you're management would like to have.
Steve
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March 2, 2011 at 1:30 pm
It doesn't sound like anyone has done this otherwise there would be references to the following
1. Run sysprep before cloning. I haven't done this but have read this is a good idea
2. Edit the Hosts file to point to the local ip and server name.
3. Fix the server name of the new server.
master..sp_dropserver 'OldServerName'
master..sp_addserver 'LocalServerName', local
Restart SQL Server services
4. I'm not sure how to do this but you would also need to reconfigure the NT security groups for SQL Server as they will be referencing the server they were cloned from.
e.g.
SQLServer2005NotificationServicesUser$OLDSERVERNAME
SQLServer2005MSOLAPUser$OLDSERVERNAME$MSSQLSERVER
5. Transfer the logins http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918992.
use sp_change_users_login to fix/re-link the logins
Use ALTER LOGIN to enable disabled logins and misc. properties
6. Use RegEdit to search the registry for other settings that may need to be modified.
7. If this is an SSRS server rerun the ReportServices configuration utility. Edit RSWebApplication.config. Change <ReportServerUrl> to point to ServerName. Edit rsreportserver.config. Change <UrlRoot> to point at the ServerName.
This is not yet a comprehensive list. Please let me know if you have any more info on what specifically needs to be done.
Has anyone done this all successfully or is it just better to re-install everything?
March 2, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Isn't log shipping a clone of that instance of sql server.
Regards,
Sushant
Regards
Sushant Kumar
MCTS,MCP
March 2, 2011 at 2:19 pm
SKYBVI (3/2/2011)
Isn't log shipping a clone of that instance of sql server.Regards,
Sushant
Log shipping is automated copy of transaction logs being applied to a database on the same or another server. Cloning a server is quite different and includes the disks, registry values, etc.
Not creating a copy of a database.
March 3, 2011 at 6:03 am
Vernon Jimmerson-306463 (3/2/2011)
SKYBVI (3/2/2011)
Isn't log shipping a clone of that instance of sql server.Regards,
Sushant
Log shipping is automated copy of transaction logs being applied to a database on the same or another server. Cloning a server is quite different and includes the disks, registry values, etc.
Not creating a copy of a database.
OH wait...does the OP wanted to clone hte server or just the sql db.,
Instance is not hte same as server.
Regards,
Sushant
Regards
Sushant Kumar
MCTS,MCP
March 3, 2011 at 8:54 am
sree-879715 (12/18/2009)
Hi Experts,This morning I was asked by my business managers whether we can clone a SQL Server 2005 Instance and move it to another virtual server and use it.
I never heard before about cloning an instance but I do know that we can do cloning of a database.
Please, help me in answering this to my management.
Thanks In Advance
Sree
Based on the information given. Yes, you can clone the server instance by copying to a virtual server. This is made easier if the current server is already virtual.
HOWEVER, you will have problems using this server if it is to exist on the subnet/domain/network.
March 3, 2011 at 8:28 pm
The last couple of posts even bring to mind the idea that the manager may have a different mental picture of exactly what constitutes a clone, as the term is often used to refer to a living thing, where it's a genetic duplicate, but yet a unique individual, and perhaps even be thinking that such would be the nature of a clone of the instance. Perhaps the most important question is why the need for the clone - what's the objective.
Steve
(aka sgmunson)
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Steve?(aka sgmunson)?:) 🙂 :)?
Health & Nutrition
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