Virtual machine is assigned an invalid IP address after a reboot (2012646)

Symptoms

• When you restart a virtual machine, the IP address is changed from the assigned static IP address to 169.254.x.x.
• The guest operating system network interface with a static IP address fails to communicate with the network until the IP address is changed to DHCP and then back to a static IP address.

Cause

This issue occurs because the IP address registry values are incorrectly overwritten by a newly added IP address, instead of the whole list of IP addresses.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, perform one of these options:

• Reconnecting the network can remove issues with the virtual connection:

1. Edit the settings on the virtual machine.
2. Select Network Adapter.
3. Deselect Connected.
4. Click OK to apply the settings.
5. Navigate to Edit Settings.
6. Select Network Adapter.
7. Select Connected.
8. Click OK to apply the settings.

• If the above steps did not resolve the issue you need to change the registry in the virtual machine:

Note: This procedure modifies the Windows registry. Before making any registry modifications, ensure that you have a current and valid backup of the registry and the virtual machine. For more information on backing up and restoring the registry, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 136393.

The preceding link was correct as of July 21, 2014. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

To manually edit the registry:

1. Click Start > Run , type regedit, and click OK. The Registry Editor window opens.
2. Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces registry key.
3. Select each GUID under Interfaces until you see the 169.254.x.x IP address. This is the value that must be edited.

   Note: GUID is a placeholder for the Globally Unique Identifier of the network adapter that is experiencing this issue. For example, {25892e17-80f6-415f-9c65-7395632f0223}

4. Change or add these strings:

   Note: To add a new value right-click, select New > String Value. To confirm the version of Windows, clickStart > Run, type winver, and click OK.

   In Windows 2008:

• Name = ActiveConfigurations
  Type = REG_SZ
  Data = Alternate_{GUID}
• Name = IPAddress
  Type = REG_SZ
  Data = IP address
• Name = SubnetMask
  Type = REG_SZ
  Data = Subnet mask

In Windows 2008 R2:

• Name = IPAddress
  Type = REG_SZ
  Data = IP address of the virtual machine
• Name = SubnetMask
  Type = REG_SZ
  Data = Subnet mask of the virtual machine
• Name = DefaultGateway
  Type = REG_SZ
  Data = Gateway address of the virtual machine

Note: Double-click the name to enter the data value.