6.0.1

Table Of Contents
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Enforce MAC address regeneration when transferring a virtual machine between vCenter Server
instances by using the virtual machine files from a datastore.
a Power off a virtual machine, remove it from the inventory, and in its configuration file (.vmx), set
the ethernetX.addressType parameter to generated.
X next to ethernet stands for the sequence number of the virtual NIC in the virtual machine.
b Import the virtual machine from one vCenter Server system to another by registering the virtual
machine from a datastore in the target vCenter Server.
The virtual machine files can reside in a datastore that is shared between the two vCenter Server
instances or can be uploaded to a datastore that is accessible only from the target vCenter Server
system.
For information about registering a virtual machine from a datastore, see vSphere Virtual Machine
Administration.
c Power on the virtual machines for the first time.
While the virtual machine is starting up, an information icon appears on the virtual machine in the
vSphere Web Client.
d Right-click the virtual machine and select Guest OS > Answer Question.
e Select the I Copied It option.
The target vCenter Server re-generates the MAC address of the virtual machine. The new MAC address
starts with the VMware OUI 00:0c:29 and is based on the BIOS UUID of the virtual machine. The BIOS
UUID of the virtual machine is calculated from the BIOS UUID of the host.
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If the vCenter Server and hosts are version 6.0 and later and the vCenter Server instances are connected
in Enhanced Linked Mode, migrate virtual machines by using vMotion across vCenter Server systems.
When a virtual machine is migrated across vCenter Server systems, the source vCenter Server adds the
MAC address of the virtual machine to a blacklist and does not assign them to other virtual machines.
Attempt to Power On a Virtual Machine Fails Due to a MAC Address Conflict
After you set a certain static MAC address to a virtual machine adapter you cannot power on the virtual
machine.
Problem
In the vSphere Web Client, after you assign a MAC address within the range 00:50:56:40:YY:ZZ
00:50:56:7F:YY:ZZ to a virtual machine, attempts to power the virtual machine on fail with a status message
that the MAC address is in conflict.
00:50:56:XX:YY:ZZ is not a valid static Ethernet address. It
conflicts with VMware reserved MACs for other usage.
Cause
You attempt to assign a MAC address which starts with the VMware OUI 00:50:56 and is within the
address range allocated for host VMkernel adapters on the vCenter Server system.
Solution
If you want to preserve the VMware OUI prefix, set a static MAC address within the range
00:50:56:00:00:0000:50:56:3F:FF:FF. Otherwise, set an arbitrary MAC address whose prefix is different
from the VMware OUI one. For information about the ranges available for static MAC addresses that have
the VMware OUI prefix, see the vSphere Networking documentation.
vSphere Troubleshooting
80 VMware, Inc.