Multiple devices reported as identical under VMWare

When running BlackFog on Virtual Machines under VMWare they may appear as identical devices within the Enterprise console. When BlackFog identifies devices it uses a multi-step procedure to determine the serial number of the device. This involves first querying the system for a unique serial number directly from the machines BIOS. If this fails then it is able to generate a number based on other system hardware.

When running in a virtual machine there is only a virtualized BIOS available. Typically virtual machine images are created with unique numbers when they are generated. However, if an image is cloned from a master image they will have the same BIOS serial number. Please use the following procedure to ensure this value is unique to ensure the devices are listed individually within the Enterprise console.

1. Power off the virtual machine whose UUID you are going to change. 
2. Edit the virtual machine’s configuration file (.vmx). Use a text editor of your choice. 
3. Search the file for the line: 
   
   uuid.bios = <uuidvalue> 
   
   
4. Enter the new UUID in this format. Include the quotation marks. 
   
   uuid.bios = “00 11 22 33 44 55 66 77-88 99 aa bb cc dd ee ff” 
   
   The UUID is a 128-bit integer. The 16 bytes of this value are created by using 16 hexadecimal digit pairs. Each digit in the pair can have any value between 0 to f (the digits of the hexadecimal number system), for example 1e, 87 or d3. These pairs are separated by spaces, except for a dash between the eighth and ninth hexadecimal pairs. The UUID is generally based on the physical computer’s identifier and the path to the virtual machine’s configuration file. 
   
   
5. Save and close the configuration file. 
6. Power on the virtual machine. 
   
   The new UUID is used when the virtual machine boots.