Virtual NIC settings on a Windows guest are lost after a virtual hardware upgrade

Symptoms

After upgrading a Windows virtual machine from hardware version 4 to hardware version 7, virtual NIC settings (such as static IP configuration) are lost.

Resolution

This issue occurs when the virtual network card configured in the virtual machine is moved to a different position on the virtual PCI bus and results in the guest Operating System treating the existing virtual network card as a new hardware device.

Overview of the VMUpgradeHelper Tool

To workaround this issue, use the VMUpgradeHelper service before performing the virtual hardware upgrades on a virtual machine. For the updated version of VMware Upgrade helper, see:

• VMware ESX 4.0, Patch ESX400-201009401-SG: Updates VMkernel, CIM, Scripts, VMware Tools, VMklinux, and VMX (1023759)
• VMware ESXi 4.0, Patch ESXi400-201009402-BG: Updates VMware Tools (1025322).

The purpose of the VMUpgradeHelper service:

• It allows you to save the current configuration of any virtual network cards to the registry.
• It allows you to restore a previously saved configuration, overwriting the current configuration of the virtual network cards.

Note: The VMUpgradeHelper service is only available with the latest version of VMware Tools, so you must upgrade VMware Tools before upgrading from a hardware version 4 virtual machine to a hardware version 7 virtual machine. For more information, see:

• Overview of VMware Tools (340)
• Install VMware Tools on a Windows Guest in the vSphere Basic System Administration Guide
  
  

Settings that are saved when using the VMUpgradeHelper Tool

The VMUpgradeHelper service saves and restores the following NIC information:

• IP
• IPv4/v6 network addresses and subnets masks
  • Default gateways and cost metrics
• DHCP state (enabled or disabled)
• DNS
  • Domain name
  • Server search order list
  • The Register this connection's addresses in DNS setting

Settings that are not saved using the VMUpgradeHelper Tool

The VMUpgradeHelper service does not save the following network protocol connections:

• WINS
  • The NetBios setting
• Alternate configuration settings
• IP filtering
  • Permitted IP protocols
  • Permitted TCP ports
  • Permitted UDP ports
    

Using the VMUpgradeHelper Tool

Note: In later versions of VMware Tools the VMUpgradeHelper tool may have a .bat extension. The usage is the same as the .exe version.

VMUpgradeHelper.exe / VMUpgradeHelper.bat usage:

• /s Saves network configuration into the registry.
• /r Restores network configuration from the registry.
• /i Installs the VMUpgradeHelper service.
• /u Removes the VMUpgradeHelper service.

Recommended procedure to save the network configuration before performing a virtual hardware upgrade:

1. Open a command prompt inside the Windows virtual machine.
2. Navigate to the VMware Tools install directory (C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools).
3. Save the network configuration using one of the following:
   
   
• VMUpgradeHelper.exe /s
• VMUpgradeHelper.bat /s
  
  
4. Power off virtual machine and upgrade virtual machine hardware. See Upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version (1010675)
5. Power on virtual machine and open a command prompt inside the Windows virtual machine.
6. Navigate to the VMware Tools install directory (C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools).
7. Restore the virtual machine network configuration using one of the following:
   
   
• VMUpgradeHelper.exe /r
• VMUpgradeHelper.bat /r