I'm cloning Windows 2008R2 and 2012R2 vms in a domain and giving the clone a new name with OS customization. I'm wondering if the need to re-register the source vm (the vm being cloned) in DNS is normal. When the source vm is powered off during cloning, the question is moot because the source vm re-registers itself in DNS at the next boot. (I don't care if it has no DNS record while powered down, because it's obviously inaccessible anyway.) The question is really about cloning running vms.
The Windows System log on the clone suggests that the name change is a two-step process:
a - 10:30:34 "The NetBIOS name and DNS host name of this machine have been changed from SOURCEVM to WIN-PBDJASQHPHD."
b - 10:30:52 "The NetBIOS name and DNS host name of this machine have been changed from WIN-PBDJASQHPHD to PROVSNTEST1."
The vm NIC is disconnected for some of the customization process. If the clone's vm NIC were disconnected for step 'a' (above) then presumably re-registering the source vm in DNS afterwards would be unnecessary when cloning a running vm? In my case (ESXi 5.5.0, 1892794, VC 5.5.0, 2646482) the clone's vm NIC seems to be connected during step 'a'. So I wonder if that's by design. Of course the clone's vm NIC must be connected to join a domain, but at least in theory, the change to the temporary name could happen with the NIC disconnected, so the source vm's DNS record is not purged.
If other folks are cloning running vms in a domain, do your source VMs drop out of DNS? If it's normal, maybe we'll need to anticipate downtime for vms that need cloning.
Possibly related Cloning a vm gets wrong dns entry