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ESXi: Cannot start VM. Invalid MAC address specified. 12:34:6:78:90:12 is not an allowed static Ethernet address

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Hi,

VMware vSphere does only allow to set MAC Addresses from the Range 00:50:56:00:00:00 up to 00:50:56:3f:ff:ff. You can set a static MAC out of this range but cannot start the virtual machine. The typical error message is:

Invalid MAC address specified. 12:34:6:78:90:12 is not an allowed static Ethernet address. It conflicts with VMware reserved MACs.

There is a workaround to set a MAC Address out of this range. Set a custom property ethernetX.checkMACAddress=false at the VM. Where X is the number of the NIC where you want to set the MAC.

For example NIC 0:

ethernet0.checkMACAddress=false
ESXi disable MAC check
ESXi disable MAC check

With PowerCli

Get-VM "Your VM"| New-AdvancedSetting -Name ethernet0.checkMACAddress  -Value false -Force -Confirm:$false

Michael

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