Re-IP issues: Win2008R2 with VMXNET 3 Adapter

Challenge

When you perform failover for a Win2008R2 server with a VMXNET 3 Adapter, configured Re-IP settings are not applied to the target replica. Instead, the replica acquires another IP address.

Cause

This is a known issue with the VMXNET 3 Adapter. When Veeam Backup & Replication creates a VM replica, the replica’s PCI Express virtual network acquires a MAC address that differs from the MAC address of the source VM. This MAC address is ultimately added as a new device, so Re-IP does not function properly.

Solution

Information regarding solutions and workarounds are discussed in the following VMware article.

Deploying Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 templates with vmxnet3 renames the NIC as #2 (1020078)
 

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After following the instructions in the above VMware KB article to either resolve or workaround the issue, the following steps should be performed to update the replica.

1. Delete the current VM replica.

2. Verify Re-IP settings in the properties of a replication job.

3. Re-run the replication job.

4. When a new replica is created, test failover to make sure that Re-IP settings are applied properly.