I`m probably going to get a hand-slap by others, but hey - just helping...
Look here, this guy details how to copy and generalize the image to a template. And before anyone asks, I have done this with older VM workstation and vSphere installation. This guy outlines the instructions better than I can... :-)
Cloning a VM without vcenter in ESXi
Update: Very well - must adhere to etiquette then..
- in vSphere client shutdown the vmware image in question (power down)
- Select config tab and the storage settings and browse/explore
- Copy the root folder by right-clicking and give the copy a new name (Example: copy_template_image).
- Select the config file (.vmx) and the virtual disk file (.vmdk) - control button [ctrl] to multi-select and ctrl-c to copy the items.
- Paste the two items to the destination folder.
- Copy the .vmx file to the Inventory.
- Enter a new name for the cloned VM
- Use the sysprep utility to generalize the VM.