we use an instance with some paid plugins as well.
Now I should re-do the whole routing etc, but can’t take the instance offline as it is needed for phone support and must always be online.
Could there be any issues if I clone the current instance VM and work on the clone without connecting it to the network?
I would only open network to my desktop to be able to change routings etc.
After being done with config I would take the “old” one offline and go online with the new one.
Do you see any issues (licenses, etc) when I do that?
What software on you running on the host? We are using Proxmox and when we clone a machine we have to reset the network settings and the new VM loses it’s Activation. So we have to Re-Activate the VM with a new Deployment ID. So you would lose any paid for Commercial Modules.
It really depends on the Virtualization Software you are using - Hyper-V allows you to both clone a running machine AND in the process, clone the MAC address of the NIC - when you do this, you have NO problems with Commercial Modules - both machines can be active at the same time.
However (there is always a however…)
You can’t have two machines on the same LAN segment with the same MAC address - HAVOC ensues with both machines alternatively turning each other off - so it has to be an isolated LAN segment and
If you are using SIP trunking, you have to disable the trunks on the new machine until you are ready to put it into production - or it will yank the trunks off the other machine - similar to the way duplicate MAC’s works.
Other than that, it is very straightforward - we use this method all the time to go from Physical to Virtual - We load a new replacement Virtual machine at our CoLo using the MAC address of the old Physical machine and then restore the backup and then finally shut down the old machine - works like a champ!