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azlin clone

Clone a VM with its home directory contents.

Synopsis

azlin clone SOURCE_VM [OPTIONS]

Description

Creates new VM(s) and copies the entire home directory from the source VM. Useful for creating development environments, parallel testing, or team onboarding.

Home directory security filters are applied (no SSH keys, credentials, etc.).

Arguments

SOURCE_VM - Source VM name or session name (required)

Options

Option Description
--num-replicas INTEGER Number of clones to create (default: 1)
--session-prefix TEXT Session name prefix for clones
--resource-group, --rg TEXT Resource group
--vm-size TEXT VM size for clones (default: same as source)
--region TEXT Azure region (default: same as source)
--config PATH Config file path
-h, --help Show help message

Examples

Clone Single VM

# Clone VM with default name
azlin clone amplihack

Creates one clone with auto-generated name.

Clone with Custom Name

# Clone with session name
azlin clone amplihack --session-prefix dev-env

Creates: dev-env VM

Clone Multiple Replicas

# Create 3 clones
azlin clone amplihack --num-replicas 3 --session-prefix worker

Creates: - worker-1 - worker-2 - worker-3

Clone with Different VM Size

# Clone with larger VM size
azlin clone my-vm --vm-size Standard_D4s_v3

Useful for scaling up/down resources.

Clone to Different Region

# Clone to different region
azlin clone my-vm --region westus2

Use Cases

Development Environment

# Set up base development VM
azlin new --name dev-base
azlin connect dev-base

# Install tools, configure environment
sudo apt install -y build-essential python3 nodejs
git clone https://github.com/myorg/project
# ... more setup ...

exit

# Clone for team members
azlin clone dev-base --session-prefix alice
azlin clone dev-base --session-prefix bob
azlin clone dev-base --session-prefix charlie

Parallel Testing

# Create test environment
azlin new --name test-template
# ... configure test environment ...

# Clone for parallel test runs
azlin clone test-template --num-replicas 5 --session-prefix test-runner

Enables parallel test execution across multiple VMs.

Team Onboarding

# Prepare onboarding VM
azlin new --name onboarding-template
azlin connect onboarding-template

# Set up documentation, tools, configs
mkdir ~/docs ~/projects ~/scripts
# ... add files ...

exit

# Clone for new team members
azlin clone onboarding-template --session-prefix new-hire-jan
azlin clone onboarding-template --session-prefix new-hire-feb

Scale Testing

# Create base load generator
azlin new --name load-gen-base
# ... install load testing tools ...

# Scale out for distributed load test
azlin clone load-gen-base --num-replicas 10 --session-prefix load-gen

What Gets Cloned

VM Configuration

Cloned from source: - VM size (unless overridden) - Region (unless overridden) - OS image - Network configuration - Tags

Home Directory

Copied from /home/azureuser/: - All files and directories - File permissions - Directory structure - Dotfiles (.bashrc, .vimrc, etc.)

Security Filters

Not copied: - .ssh/ directory - SSH private keys - .env files with credentials - Azure credentials - Git credentials

Not Cloned

  • VM name (new name generated)
  • Public IP address (new IP assigned)
  • SSH host keys (newly generated)
  • System configurations outside home directory

Cloning Process

  1. Validate Source - Ensure source VM exists and is accessible
  2. Create New VM(s) - Provision with same configuration
  3. Wait for Ready - Wait for VMs to become running
  4. Copy Home Directory - rsync home directory from source
  5. Apply Filters - Remove sensitive files
  6. Report Status - Show clone results

Performance

Operation Time Notes
VM creation 2-3 minutes Per VM
Home directory copy 1-5 minutes Depends on size
Total (1 clone) 3-8 minutes
Total (5 clones) 10-15 minutes Parallel creation

Home directory size significantly affects copy time: - Small (< 1 GB): 1-2 minutes - Medium (1-10 GB): 2-5 minutes - Large (> 10 GB): 5-15 minutes

Output Example

$ azlin clone dev-base --num-replicas 3 --session-prefix worker

Output: 

Cloning dev-base...

Creating 3 VMs...
✓ worker-1 created (20.1.2.10)
✓ worker-2 created (20.1.2.11)
✓ worker-3 created (20.1.2.12)

Copying home directory from dev-base...
✓ worker-1: Copied 2.3 GB in 3.2 minutes
✓ worker-2: Copied 2.3 GB in 3.5 minutes
✓ worker-3: Copied 2.3 GB in 3.1 minutes

Clone complete!

VMs created:
  worker-1 (20.1.2.10)
  worker-2 (20.1.2.11)
  worker-3 (20.1.2.12)

Connect:
  azlin connect worker-1
  azlin connect worker-2
  azlin connect worker-3

Best Practices

Prepare Source VM

# Clean up before cloning
azlin connect source-vm

# Remove temporary files
rm -rf /tmp/*
rm -rf ~/.cache/*

# Remove sensitive data
rm ~/.env ~/.aws/credentials

# Document setup
cat > ~/README.md <<EOF
This VM includes:
- Python 3.11
- Node.js 20
- Docker
- Project repo cloned to ~/project
EOF

Use Descriptive Session Prefixes

# Good: Clear purpose
azlin clone base --session-prefix test-runner
azlin clone base --session-prefix dev-alice

# Bad: Unclear
azlin clone base --session-prefix vm
azlin clone base --session-prefix x

Choose Appropriate VM Sizes

# Scale down for cost
azlin clone powerful-vm --vm-size Standard_B2s

# Scale up for performance
azlin clone small-vm --vm-size Standard_D8s_v3

Tag Clones

# After cloning, tag for organization
azlin tag worker-1 --add purpose=testing --add source=dev-base
azlin tag worker-2 --add purpose=testing --add source=dev-base

Troubleshooting

Source VM Not Found

# Verify source exists
azlin list

# Check session names
azlin list --show-session

# Use correct identifier
azlin clone correct-vm-name

Clone Fails During Copy

# Check source VM is running
azlin status source-vm

# Test connectivity
azlin connect source-vm

# Check disk space on source
azlin connect source-vm --command "df -h"

Slow Cloning

# Check home directory size
azlin connect source-vm --command "du -sh ~"

# Reduce clones created at once
azlin clone source --num-replicas 2  # Instead of 10

Out of Quota

# Check quota
az vm list-usage --location eastus --output table

# Delete unused VMs
azlin killall --unused

# Or use different region
azlin clone source --region westus2

See Also