MAC address is not retained using the "Retain MAC" option after running a HCX migration

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

• After running a HCX migration it was noticed that some VMs had MAC address changed.
• The migration plan had option "Retain MAC" enabled.
• From the logs (/common/logs/admin/app.log), both the source and target VM have the same mac-address - example:

<timestamps> UTC [VmotionService_SvcThread-9397, Ent: HybridityAdmin, , TxId: TxId: ########-####-####-####-############] INFO  c.v.h.s.v.j.PostProcessTargetWorkflow- [migId=########-####-####-####-############] Source VM Nics :[{"nicIndex":7,"macAddress":"##:##:##:##:##:##","connectable":{"status":"ok","connected":true,"startConnected":true,"allowGuestControl":false}}]

<timestamps> UTC [VmotionService_SvcThread-9397, Ent: HybridityAdmin, , TxId: TxId: ########-####-####-####-############] INFO  c.v.h.s.v.j.PostProcessTargetWorkflow- [migId=########-####-####-####-############]] Migrated VM Nics :[{"nicIndex":7,"macAddress":"##:##:##:##:##:##","connectable":{"connected":true,"startConnected":true,"allowGuestControl":false,"status":"ok"}}]

Environment

VMware HCX

Cause

The mac-address of the VM was only changed inside the guest OS, not reflecting the information on the configuration file (.vmx), which it's where the HCX get's the correct mac-address info.

Resolution

When changing the MAC address in the guest OS you should also make the change in the configuration file (.vmx).
For more information: Tips for editing a .vmx file