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I did a P2V on a server and the software installed on the server is keyed to the MAC address of the physical machine. &nbsp;So, thinking myself clever, I decided the change the MAC address of the VM to that of the physical machine. &nbsp;Alas, I cannot!<br />
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I'm using the client to access my vcenter and then I edit the settings for the NIC and click the manual radio button for the MAC. &nbsp;When I do, it repopulates with 00:50:56. &nbsp;So, I paste in my MAC address from my physical machine and try to apply that and I get the message &quot;The MAC address entered is invalid. &nbsp;Enter a different MAC address of choose a different assignment method.&quot;<br />
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I did read that I can do this by editing the VMX file but I wanted to post here first and get guidance.<br />
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Can I set the V-NIC to the same MAC address of an old physical machine that is never coming back again?<br />
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IF yes, how?<br />
<br />
Thanks<br />
<br />
Cliff
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I did a P2V on a server and the software installed on the server is keyed to the MAC address of the physical machine.  So, thinking myself clever, I decided the change the MAC address of the VM to that of the physical machine.  Alas, I cannot!

I'm using the client to access my vcenter and then I edit the settings for the NIC and click the manual radio button for the MAC.  When I do, it repopulates with 00:50:56.  So, I paste in my MAC address from my physical machine and try to apply that and I get the message "The MAC address entered is invalid.  Enter a different MAC address of choose a different assignment method."

I did read that I can do this by editing the VMX file but I wanted to post here first and get guidance.

Can I set the V-NIC to the same MAC address of an old physical machine that is never coming back again?

IF yes, how?

Thanks

Cliff

VMware 6, changing VM MAC address to MAC address of physical machine

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

Software is any set of instructions that directs a computer to perform specific tasks or operations. Computer software consists of programs, libraries and related non-executable data (such as documentation). Computer software is non-tangible, contrasted with computer hardware, which is the physical component of computers. Software written in a machine language is known as "machine code". However, in practice, software is usually written in high-level programming languages than machine language. High-level languages are translated into machine language using a compiler or interpreter or a combination of the two.

Software

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.