---
title: "Clone an instance"
description: "Launch a new TIR Instance with the same image, plan, storage, and access settings as an existing one, from a create form filled in for you."
content_type: "how-to"
product: "tir-instance"
platform: "TIR"
url: "/tir/tir-instance/how-to/clone-an-instance/"
topic: ["power-and-lifecycle"]
---

# Clone an instance

Launch a new instance with the same image, plan, storage, and access settings as an existing one,
and save yourself choosing each setting again. Clone an instance to run more of the same setup in parallel, to give a new task or a teammate a setup that already works, or to try a change on a copy before you make it on the original. The clone is a separate instance in the same project, and the source instance is
left unchanged.

## Before you begin

- An instance to clone, in any status.
- Permission to create instances in the project. Every project role except **MEMBER** has it; a
  **MEMBER** needs a policy that allows creating instances.
- On a prepaid account, enough credit to launch the clone: about 24 hours of an On-Demand plan, or
  the full price of a committed term.

The clone is a new instance, billed on its own from when it reaches **Running**. For prices, see
[E2E's pricing page](https://www.e2enetworks.com/pricing).

## What the clone copies

| Copied from the source                                             | Starts fresh on the clone                                                       |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Image and version, or its custom image and registry namespace      | The name: `clone-instance-` followed by the date and time, which you can change |
| Plan, including the Spot setting                                   | The workspace: the same size, but empty                                         |
| Workspace size and the **Workspace Encryption** setting            | The reserved IP, which is off                                                   |
| SSH access and SSH keys                                            | The security group, which you choose                                            |
| Start scripts and add-ons                                          | Packages you installed on the source                                            |
| Mounted datasets, and mounted SFS and PFS with their mount paths   |                                                                                 |
| On a private cluster, its cluster, resources, and scheduling rules |                                                                                 |

Files in the source's `/home/jovyan` stay on the source. To give the clone the packages installed on
the source, save an image of the source first and pick that image in the clone form; see [Save an
instance as an image](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/save-an-instance-as-an-image/). To bring files across,
copy them from the source's workspace, or put shared data on an SFS that both instances mount. See
[Copy files to and from an instance](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/copy-files-to-and-from-an-instance/)
and [Mount datasets and file systems on an
instance](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/mount-datasets-and-file-systems/).

A disk dataset mounts on one instance at a time, so unmount it from the source first, or leave it
off the clone. Otherwise the clone is refused with "This disk dataset is already mounted on other
node."

## Clone the instance

1. Select **Clone Instance** in the source instance's actions menu.
2. Review the form and change any field the same way as when you create an instance; see [Create an
   instance](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/create-an-instance/) for what each option does.
3. Under **Network & Security**, choose a security group; the clone starts with that field empty. When
   the form has SSH keys, as it does when the source has SSH access, choose a group that opens port
   22, such as the project's **Default-SSH-Security-Group**.
4. (Optional) Under **Reserve IP Address**, attach one of the project's available reserved IPs to
   the clone. Each reserved IP has its own charge.
5. Select **Clone Instance**.

The clone is **Waiting** in **Manage Instances** until its container is ready, then turns
**Running**.

To connect to the clone, see [Connect to an instance over
SSH](/tir/tir-instance/how-to/connect-to-an-instance-over-ssh/). If the launch is refused or the
clone stays on **Waiting**, see [Troubleshooting TIR
Instances](/tir/tir-instance/troubleshooting/tir-instance/).