Clone a VM that's in your account

Set up one virtual machine the way you want it, with RemoteAccessApp in your account and unattended access on, then clone it as many times as you need. Each copy notices it's a copy, adds itself to your account as a new PC, and keeps the settings of the one you cloned. You don't need to set anything up on the copies.

If you clone one VM three times, your PCs list shows the original and the three copies, all online at the same time.

How to clone

Shut the VM down first, then clone it the usual way:

• virt-manager (Linux, KVM): right-click the VM, choose Clone, and let it make new network addresses (the default). From a terminal, virt-clone --original my-vm --auto-clone does the same.
• VMware Workstation or Fusion: VM > Manage > Clone. If VMware asks whether you moved or copied a VM, choose I copied it.
• Hyper-V: export the VM, then import it with Copy the virtual machine (create a new unique ID).
• VirtualBox: right-click the VM, choose Clone, and keep Generate new MAC addresses for all network adapters.
• Proxmox: Clone on the VM (a full or linked clone both work).

Start the copy. A few seconds after its Agent starts, the copy appears in Devices in the app and on the website.

What a copy keeps, and what it gets new

The copy keeps what you set up on the original:

• the account it's in;
• unattended access, remote control, clipboard and sound sharing;
• the consoles and browsers you trusted;
• the permanent password and the connection password, if you set them.

The copy gets its own:

• entry in your account, named after its computer name, or "Name of the original (clone 2)" when the copy kept the same name;
• device credential (the original keeps its own, and nothing about the original changes);
• 8-digit code and Recent PC keys. A PC saved in Recent PCs for the original doesn't open the copy.

The copy shows Clone of and the original's name in its details in the app and on the website. On the copy itself, the Agent says it was recognised as a copy and the name it got. On Windows this is also in the PC's activity history.

Notifications and limits

You get a notification when a copy joins (if you use notifications), and the account's activity shows Copied PC added.

Copies count like any other PC. On the free plan your account holds 5 PCs: a copy that would be the 6th doesn't join, and you get a notification saying so. It joins by itself once there's room (remove a PC or get Pro). At most 20 copies join an account per hour (10 from the same original); the rest join a little later by themselves.

Turn it off

On the website, open Security in your dashboard and turn off Allow copied PCs to join automatically. Copies then stay out of your account. To add one, set it up with a setup code from Add a PC.

Things to know

• Moving a VM is not copying it. Moving a VM to another host, a BIOS or Windows update, or a new network card doesn't make it a new PC.
• A physical PC moved into a VM (P2V), or a new mainboard, looks like a copy: the PC joins as a new one. Remove the old entry from your PCs list.
• Linux VMs on Hyper-V: give them static MAC addresses. With dynamic ones, a VM that moves to another host can get new addresses, and it may then join as a new PC.
• Windows sysprep: if you generalize a Windows image with sysprep, the copies may not be able to read the saved setup. Set them up with a setup code, or clone without sysprep.
• Copies made with an older version: if you cloned a VM before updating RemoteAccessApp, the first copy that connects keeps the original's entry and the others join as new PCs.
• "Another computer is connecting with this PC's setup": something else uses this PC's credential and this PC keeps its place. If you don't know that computer, remove this PC in the app and set it up again.