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Also to add, when all this was going on, the DNS record was lost for the original VM. I don't know how that came about, so I had to add it back manually.
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When you cloned the vm (which had a static ip address) the static ip address stays on. &nbsp;It doesn't magically change by itself. &nbsp;You should have got a new MAC address.. use ipconfig /all to confirm that you have unique MAC addresses
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As far as both switches can take the traffic through i don't think it would not cause any issues.<br />
<br />
And as everyone said, you will have to build a custom script and invoke in during the time of cloning to change the properties of the newly cloned machine.<br />
While cloning select the option that says &quot;Customize using the Customization Wizard&quot; and make select all the changes that have to be done. At the end of it, save the custom specs. So that next time you clone a machine you don't have to build a new one again.<br />
You can use the option that says &quot;Customize using existing customization Specs&quot;.
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When you view the VMX file for the VM, what does it list for the vDS switch? <br />
As a test have you tried to clone another VM to see if it holds the correct vDS settings?<br />
On the target vDS do you have enough open ports or have it set not to dynamic increase ports when needed?
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<div class="content wysiwyg-content">
Please see attached. <br />
<br />
When I clone a VM, I put in (No. 1) vswitch. However, when I powered it on, it ended up in (No. 2) vswitch. When I go to the network properties to view the TCP/IP info, it retained the IP info that was on the original VM. Shouldn't it have changed the TCP/IP info when the VM is set to a diferent vSwitch? So with the original VM powered on, and when powering on the Cloned VM, I noticed the IP are identical. It did not complain about any conflict at that time, but I was concerned about this, so I changed the IP right away so there won't be any conflicts. Is there a way to change the IP address of a VM while it is powered off?<br />
<a href="https://filedb.experts-exchange.com/incoming/2014/03_w10/838161/Untitled.png" target="_blank" class="file-inline" title="vm (17 KB)"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 512 512"><path d="M67.508 468.467c-58.005-58.013-58.016-151.92 0-209.943l225.011-225.04c44.643-44.645 117.279-44.645 161.92 0 44.743 44.749 44.753 117.186 0 161.944l-189.465 189.49c-31.41 31.413-82.518 31.412-113.926.001-31.479-31.482-31.49-82.453 0-113.944L311.51 110.491c4.687-4.687 12.286-4.687 16.972 0l16.967 16.971c4.685 4.686 4.685 12.283 0 16.969L184.983 304.917c-12.724 12.724-12.73 33.328 0 46.058 12.696 12.697 33.356 12.699 46.054-.001l189.465-189.489c25.987-25.989 25.994-68.06.001-94.056-25.931-25.934-68.119-25.932-94.049 0l-225.01 225.039c-39.249 39.252-39.258 102.795-.001 142.057 39.285 39.29 102.885 39.287 142.162-.028A739446.174 739446.174 0 0 1 439.497 238.49c4.686-4.687 12.282-4.684 16.969.004l16.967 16.971c4.685 4.686 4.689 12.279.004 16.965a755654.128 755654.128 0 0 0-195.881 195.996c-58.034 58.092-152.004 58.093-210.048.041z"/></svg>Untitled.png</a>
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Untitled.png

Please see attached. 

When I clone a VM, I put in (No. 1) vswitch. However, when I powered it on, it ended up in (No. 2) vswitch. When I go to the network properties to view the TCP/IP info, it retained the IP info that was on the original VM. Shouldn't it have changed the TCP/IP info when the VM is set to a diferent vSwitch? So with the original VM powered on, and when powering on the Cloned VM, I noticed the IP are identical. It did not complain about any conflict at that time, but I was concerned about this, so I changed the IP right away so there won't be any conflicts. Is there a way to change the IP address of a VM while it is powered off?

Why when I clone a VM and put in a designated network vswitch (network segment), the network configuration did not go to that designated segment when I powered it on?

VMware, a software company founded in 1998,  was one of the first commercially successful companies to offer x86 virtualization. The storage company EMC purchased VMware in 1994. Dell Technologies acquired EMC in 2016. VMware’s parent company is now Dell Technologies.

VMware has many software products that run on desktops, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS, which allows the virtualizing of the x86 architecture.  Its enterprise software hypervisor for servers, VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi), is a bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on the server hardware and does not require an additional underlying operating system.

VMware

Virtualization is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, including (but not limited to) a virtual computer hardware platform, operating system (OS), storage device, or computer network resources. Virtualization is usually the creation of a system that executes separate from the underlying hardware resources, or the creation of an entire desktop for systems located elsewhere, similar to thin clients.

Virtualization

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, based on the Microsoft Vista codebase, is the last 32-bit server operating system released by Microsoft. It has a number of versions, including including Foundation, Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Web, HPC Server, Itanium and Storage; new features included server core installation and Hyper-V.