Edit Hard Disk Serial Number with VMware

The UUID of the disk is in the .vmdk file. For example:

# The Disk Data Base 
#DDB

ddb.toolsVersion = "8327"
ddb.adapterType = "lsilogic"
ddb.geometry.sectors = "63"
ddb.geometry.heads = "255"
ddb.geometry.cylinders = "2610"
ddb.uuid = "60 00 C2 9f e4 06 d9 4c-13 9a d8 50 77 bb 73 36"
ddb.longContentID = "72d1cd8a4fb3119ca80f3870ee90c1b0"
ddb.virtualHWVersion = "7"

The MAC address can be edited under 'Advanced properties' of your network adapter. It should also be in the .vmx file. I found this is mine:

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:f3:72:cc"

It's possible that it's only saved there once you edit it though.

If you move your VM to another location VMWare usually asks you if you moved or copied the VM when you start it. If you say you moved it then all ID's stay the same. If you say you copied it then VMWare will change the ID's to prevent conflicts.

I am also dealing with AssetCentre which we have virtualized in VMware and have bound to the disk serial number. I've been trying to figure out how to display the disk serial number. Thanks for the information on how to do that within FactoryTalk. I also finally found that just doing a DIR in a command prompt in any folder on that drive shows it at the top.

I just cloned our server to another Cluster and it appears that the disk serial number stayed the same. Also, Microsoft Sysinternals provides a free tool VolumeID to change the disk serial number http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897436.aspx. I tested it and it did successfully change the serial number which FactoryTalk noticed after rebooting. Based on my testing of the clone I don't think that I will need it, but I wanted to see if it worked.

Can you clarify what you mean by the serial number of the disk ? How would you normally read it ?

MAC addresses for the ethernet adaptors are stored in the .vmx file as

ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:39:5b:b5:e0"