Gateway, Subnet Mask, DNS and Other Network Settings Might Not Be Maintained on New Virtual Machines Customized with a Static IP

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Some network configuration settings such as the Gateway, Subnet Mask, DNS, and WINS IP addresses do not seem to be maintained after customizing new virtual machines if a static IP is selected during the customization process. This affects new customized virtual machines that are created by cloning or template deployment. The guest operating systems affected are Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003 Server. The problem does not occur if the network (NIC) device of the new virtual machine is configured to acquire a DHCP IP address during the customization process.

Environment

VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware VirtualCenter 2.0.x

Resolution

This is known issue and VMware is currently working on a fix.

As a workaround, you will need to use at least two IP addresses for the gateway network setting during the customization process. For example, you can specify the default gateway IP address and a secondary one. To verify that your network settings are maintained, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you customize the new virtual machine using at least two gateway IP addresses.
   
   
2. If you are using an existing customization XML files, check the gateway network information section and ensure that at least two IP addresses are specified for the gateway.
   
   
3. Once the customization is complete and the new virtual machine is booted, open a command prompt and verify that your network settings are maintained by typing the command ipconfig /all at the prompt.