Methods and apparatus to clone an agent in a distributed environment are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a first management agent associated with a first component server in a virtualization environment, the first management agent configured to facilitate communication between the first component server and a virtual appliance, the virtual appliance to authenticate the first management agent based on first credentials including a first identifier and a first certificate. The example apparatus includes a second management agent associated with a second component server in the virtualization environment, the second management agent cloned from the first management agent and including a copy of the first credentials. The example second management agent is to: generate second credentials including a second identifier and a second certificate; authenticate with the virtual appliance based on the first identifier and the first certificate; and delete the copy of the first credentials.