Specifications

Table Of Contents
VMware Server Administration Guide
92 VMware, Inc.
Identifying a Virtual Machine by Its UUID
Each!virtual!machine!is!automatically!assigned!a!universally!unique!identifier!(UUID),!
which!is!stored!in!the!SMBIOS!system!information!descriptor.!The!UUID!can!be!
accessed!by!standard!SMBIOS!scanning!software,!for!example!SiSoftware!Sandra!or!the!
IBM!utility!smbios2,!and!used!for!system!management!in!the!same!way!you!use!
the!
UUID!of!a!physical!computer.
The!UUID!is!a!128bit!integer.!The!16!bytes!of!this!value!are!separated!by!spaces,!except!
for!a!dash!between!the!eighth!and!ninth!hexadecimal!pairs.!So!a!sample!UUID!looks!
like!this:
00 11 22 33 44 55 66 77-88 99 aa bb cc dd ee ff
The!UUID!is!based!on!the!physical!computer’s!identifier!and!the
!path!to!the!virtual!
machine’s!configuration!file.!This!UUID!is!generated!when!you!power!on!or!reset!the!
virtual!machine.!As!long!as!you!do!not!move!or!copy!the!virtual!machine!to!another!
location,!the!UUID!remains!constant.
If!you!move!or!copy!the!virtual!machine,!you!have!the!choice
!of!creating!a!new!UUID!
the!first!time!you!power!on!the!virtual!machine.!This!new!UUID!is!based!on!the!
physical!computer’s!identifier!and!path!to!the!virtual!machine’s!configuration!file!in!its!
new!location.
When!you!power!on!a!virtual!machine!that!was!moved!or!copied!to!a!new
!location,!a!
message!appears.
If!you!moved!this!virtual!machine,!you!can!choose!to!keep!the!UUID.!Select!Keep,!then!
click!OK!to!continue!powering!on!the!virtual!machine.
If!you!copied!this!virtual!machine!to!a!new!location,!you!should!create!a!new!UUID,!
since!the!copy!of!the!virtual
!machine!is!using!the!same!UUID!as!the!original!virtual!
machine.!Select!Create,!then!click!OK!to!continue!powering!on!the!virtual!machine.
If!the!original!virtual!machine!is!being!used!as!a!template!for!more!virtual!machines,!
you!can!choose!to!create!a!new!UUID!the!first!time!you!
power!on!each!copy.!After!you!
configure!the!virtual!machine!and!are!ready!to!make!it!a!template,!move!it!to!a!new!
location!and!power!it!on.!When!the!message!appears!after!you!power!on,!select!Always!
Create,!then!click!OK!to!continue!powering!on!the!virtual!machine.!The!
virtual!
machine!is!set!up!to!create!a!new!UUID!every!time!it!is!moved.!Power!off!the!virtual!