How to Clone Your Shadow Pro PCs (Pro Feature)
Do you need multiple identical Shadow Pro PCs for your teams or projects? The cloning feature allows you to replicate an existing Shadow Pro virtual machine to create new ones, quickly and autonomously.
What is Shadow Pro PC Cloning?
Cloning consists of creating one or more exact copies of the main storage (the C:\ drive) of one of your existing Shadow Pro PCs (the "source VM"). Each copy then serves as the basis for a new Shadow Pro PC (a "clone VM").
This operation is particularly useful for quickly deploying pre-configured workstations or standardized test environments.
Conditions and Important Points Regarding Cloning
Before cloning a Shadow Pro PC, please ensure you meet the following conditions and consider these points:
-
B2B Account Required: Cloning is a feature reserved for Shadow accounts categorized as "B2B" (with a valid VAT number).
If your account is "Particular" (Individual), please contact Shadow Support to request the conversion. You will need to provide your VAT number and company name. - Compatible Source VM: The source VM you wish to clone must be a "Pro" type Shadow PC and must be equipped with a Windows Enterprise license (provided by Shadow or BYOL - Bring Your Own License).
- Same Datacenter: The source VM and all clone VMs created must be hosted in the same datacenter. You cannot clone a VM from one datacenter to another.
- Same Main Storage: The source VM and the clone VMs will have the same main storage volume.
- Only Main Storage is Cloned: The content of additional storage volumes (secondary drives you may have added) is NOT included in the cloning operation. You will need to attach or recreate them on the cloned machines if necessary.
- Software License Verification: Since the main storage content is copied identically, it is your responsibility to verify that you hold the necessary software licenses for using applications on each clone VM, in accordance with the terms of the licenses you have acquired (especially for per-seat licenses).
- Billing: Each clone VM is billed individually upon creation, in addition to the source VM.
- Clones are Independent: Once created, the clone VMs are completely independent of the source VM. Any subsequent modification made to the source VM will not affect the clones in any way, and vice-versa.
- Important: The Source VM must be SHUT DOWN! To start the cloning process, the source virtual machine must be shut down. You cannot clone a machine that is currently running.
How to start a cloning operation?
If you meet the conditions above, follow these steps to clone your Shadow Pro PC:
- Log in to your Shadow client area (Manager).
- Ensure the source VM is shut down.
- Click on the source VM you wish to clone from your list of Shadow PCs.
- In the side information panel that appears, click the "Clone this Shadow PC" button.
- A new page or window will open to configure the clones. You will be able to:
- View the datacenter (it is pre-selected and matches the source VM).
- Choose the Windows license type for the clones (Shadow or BYOL).
- Select the desired number of clones (you can create up to 50 in a single operation).
- Choose the billing period for the new machines.
- Click "Continue" or equivalent, then follow the steps to proceed with payment for the new machines.
- Once the payment is validated, the creation process for the clone VMs will begin. The new machines will appear progressively in your Manager.
You can start using your cloned Shadow PCs as soon as they appear as "Active" in your Manager