APIPA IP(169.254.x.x) displayed for Microsoft Windows virtual machines on vCenter UI.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• User has configured static IPv4 address on the network adapter. However, APIPA IP( 169.254.x.x)  is also being pulled by vmware tools onto the vSphere client.
  
• TCP/IPv6 stack is using DHCP, even though IPv6 is not being used.
  
• No communication problems observed.

Environment

VMware ESX 7.x

VMware ESX 8.x

VMware vCenter 7.x

VMware vCenter 8.x

Cause

This is expected behavior, since TCP/IPv6 stack is using DHCP for IP address assignment.

Resolution

Disable IPv6 from network properties of the ethernet adapter from Windows Guest OS. To disable TCP/IPv6 in Windows, right-click the active network adapter in your adapter settings, select Properties, and then uncheck the box next to Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) before clicking OK and restarting your computer for the changes to take effect.

Additional Information

Reference https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/configure-ipv6-in-windows