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:
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:

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

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