Is it possible to create a linked clone of only a .vmdk file in vmware

Question

I want a programatic way to create a virtual machine with multiple delta.vmdk disks that all point back to an original disk of data. I know you can create clones and snapshots that do this, but I have not figured out how to have the disks all on one machine. Does anyone know if this is possible, and if so, how is it accomplished. I typically use the perl SDK but any pointers would be appreciated.

Answer 1

It turns out that when you are provisioning a disk you must delete the disk that you want to be the parent backing. After this you can point to it using the $device->backing->parent option.