Connect to VMware vSphere. Securely connect with vSphere and ESXi servers to launch, control and manage both virtual machines (VMs) and physical hosts. Thanks to the common VMware platform, VMs can also be easily transferred from the vSphere data center to the Mac desktop and then run in Fusion. MAC addresses are used in the Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) of the network protocol stack to transmit frames to a recipient. In vSphere, vCenter Server generates MAC addresses for virtual machine adapters and VMkernel adapters, or you can assign addresses manually. Each network adapter manufacturer is assigned a unique three-byte prefix called an Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI), which it.
MAC addresses are used in the Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) of the network protocol stack to transmit frames to a recipient. In vSphere, vCenter Server generates MAC addresses for virtual machine adapters and VMkernel adapters, or you can assign addresses manually.
Each network adapter manufacturer is assigned a unique three-byte prefix called an Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI), which it can use to generate unique MAC addresses.
VMware supports several address allocation mechanisms, each of them with a separate OUI:
- Generated MAC addresses
- Assigned by vCenter Server
- Assigned by the ESXi host
- Manually set MAC addresses
- Generated for legacy virtual machines, but no longer used with ESXi
If you reconfigure the network adapter of a powered off virtual machine, for example by changing the automatic MAC address allocation type, or setting a static MAC address, vCenter Server resolves any MAC address conflict before the adapter reconfiguration takes effect.
vSphere provides several schemes for automatic allocation of MAC addresses in vCenter Server. You can select the scheme that best suits your requirements for MAC address duplication, OUI requirements for locally administered or universally administered addresses, and so on.
The following schemes of MAC address generation are available in vCenter Server:
- VMware OUI allocation, default allocation
- Prefix-based allocation
- Range-based allocation
After the MAC address is generated, it does not change unless the virtual machine's MAC address conflicts with that of another registered virtual machine. The MAC address is saved in the configuration file of the virtual machine.
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Preventing MAC Address Conflicts
The MAC address of a powered off virtual machine is not checked against the addresses of running or suspended virtual machines.
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When a virtual machine is powered on again, it might acquire a different MAC address. The change might be caused by an address conflict with another virtual machine. While this virtual machine has been powered off, its MAC address has been assigned to another virtual machine that has been powered on.
If you reconfigure the network adapter of a powered off virtual machine, for example, by changing the automatic MAC address allocation type or setting a static MAC address, vCenter Server resolves MAC address conflicts before the adapter reconfiguration takes effect.
For information about resolving MAC address conflicts, see the vSphere Troubleshooting documentation.