The uniqueness of a virtual machine's BIOS UUID within or across vCenter Servers

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The uniqueness of a virtual machine's BIOS UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) is significant for several key reasons, primarily related to identification and management of virtual machines:

• Software Licensing and Activation
• Virtual Machine Management and Identification
• Backup and Recovery Operations
• Preventing Conflicts in Shared Environments
• Supporting System Management Tools

Environment

VMware vCenter Server
VMware vSphere ESXi

Resolution

The UUID must be unique across all VMs within the same vCenter Server, but it's not necessarily unique across different vCenter instances.

Additional Information

If duplicate UUIDs are found within a vCenter Server while powering on a virtual machine, see Changing or keeping a UUID for a moved virtual machine