The e1000 network adapter gets corrupted when it is disconnected in a RHEL 6.3/CentOS 6.3/Oracle Linux 6.3 virtual machine during a ping

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• When the e1000 network adapter is disconnected in a RHEL 6.3/CentOS 6.3/Oracle Linux 6.3 virtual machine during a ping, the adapter gets corrupted
• RHEL 6.3 virtual machine fails when you change the vNIC connection type in VMwareWorkstation

Environment

VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware Workstation 9.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Windows)
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation 8.x (Linux)
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 9.x (Windows)
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded

Resolution

To resolve this issue:

1. Open the .vmx file of the virtual machine using a text editor. For more information, see Tips for editing a .vmx file (1714).
2. Locate this entry:
   
   ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000"
   
   
3. Change this entry to:
   
   ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e"
   
   
4. Save and close the .vmx file.