Need a Azure VM with static disk serial and MAC ID.

Question

Hi,

In virtual machine environment most of the system ID’s like a disk serial number or the MAC address of a network interface can change after rebooting the VM or if the VM is dynamically migrating to another VM host. We have planned to deploy a license server which will be identified by either the MAC address or the disk serial number. The VM needs to be configured for static system ID’s. Cloud providers offer these options.

Below is an example configuration to set the disk serial number to be static in VMWare.

VMWare configuration for a static disk serial number (example):

I. Power off the virtual machine. You cannot make these changes while the VM is

running.

2. Locate the VM's .vmx file. The location varies depending on your VMware product

(e.g., Workstation or vSphere). This file is'e configuration file for your virtual

machine.

3. Open the .vmx file with a text editor. Use a plain text editor like Notepad

(Windows) or TextEdit (macOS).

4. Add the disk.enab1eUUID line. Find an empty space in the file and add the

following line:

disk.enab1eUUID = "TRUE"

5. Save and close the .vmx file.
6. Power on the virtual machine. The virtual hard disk(s) will now have a serial

number.

Is the same configuration possible in the Azure environment?

Answer 1

Refer to https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/itopstalkblog/understanding-static-mac-address-licensing-in-azure/1386187

NIC setup and MAC address assignment

1. Once the machine is built, shut it down, as it will need to be powered off to perform the next steps.  
2. Once powered down, navigate to the virtual machine: 'settings' > 'Networking'. Select 'Attach Network Interface'. Select the former NIC from the previously built server. Note, we couldn't move the NIC, but if you are working in the same vNET, this is were you will attach a working NIC. 

 

Once the NIC is attached, proceed to step 5. If you have to assign a new NIC, go to step 4  

In the case that there is not a previous NIC to assign, create a new resource from the portal in Azure. Create a new 'Network interface'. Configure the network interface with the vNET and configuration details that you require. Attach the newly created network interface to the VM by navigating back to the VM networking configuration in step 2.   

Power on the virtual machine. The virtual machine will have the new name assigned in the Azure portal, but in our case, we re-purposed the original hard disks, thus the Windows machine name persisted on the OS disks. For our purpose, the machine name was also embedded in the license file. Log into the server and navigate to the 'device manager':  

Start > Search > type in Device Manager

Press Windows + x and select Device Manager

Press Windows + r and type devmgmt.msc  

Navigate to Network Adapters and select the arrow to expand the icon. There will be 2 Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter's listed. Right click the one noted with #2 or the the one with the higher number (i.e. virtual network adapter #5 and virtual network adapter #6), the higher numbered one will be the second NIC that you have recently attached.  

1. Right click on the network adapter #2 (or higher numbered) and select properties. Select the Advanced tab.  
2. Select Network Address and tick the item that reads 'Value'. Copy and paste the MAC address that is required for the licensing. 

 

Select okay  

You have successfully created/attached a second NIC and configured the MAC address for that NIC as a loopback for the virtual machine.  

To confirm that the MAC address was assigned correctly, open a cmd prompt or PowerShell window and type: 'ipconfig /all'

You should see the new MAC address assigned to the ethernet adapter.

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hth

Marcin