UUID not unique in same vCenter

[lc.escv]

Veeam Backup and Replication creates replica with same UUID as the original VM. An UUID that is not unique in the same vCenter can generate issues with others systems, for example with Simplivity (the system identifies the VM with UUID, if 2 VM are with the same UUID, the system trigged « random » one or the other). It would be very appreciate, if the Veeam replica process could handle the UUID question. Perhaps the choice should be given to the administrator :

1) Creation of replica ; original UUID yes/no
2) Running of replica ; original UUID yes/no
3) Restore from replica ; original UUID yes/no

regards

[foggy]

Hi Laurent, basically BIOS UUID is preserved since it is used by guest BIOS to identify the VM. Besides, many software applications are using it to verify licensing/configuration data, etc., so changing it during replication would result in issues upon failover. But thanks for the feedback anyway.

[lc.escv]

Hi Alexander, thank you for your reply. I understand what you mean and my question is more a request of a new feature in Veeam. It can be normal that the UUID from replica is the same as the original VM when it is running (on behalf of veeam server); but most of the time the replica is down. Simplivity has trouble with non unique UUID in same vCenter, sometime tasks are triggered on replica instead of the original VM. I saw that in hyper-V environment, the administrator can chose to restore a replica with same UUID or not; it was the reason that I decide to post this question/request. In our environment Simplivity, the non unique UUID is a problem.

Thank you in advance for your time, regards, Laurent

[NightBird]

I think it's on the Simplivity side to change things, like use moref id instead of VM Bios UUID.
It's quite stupid to use UUID if in the same vcenter system you can have 2 VM with the same Bios UUID... moreover moref id is unique because generated by vcenter at the moment of the object (VM) registration.

[foggy]

Yep, that's why Veeam B&R itself uses moref to track VMs.

Laurent, your request is accepted, just wanted to justify the current behavior for you.

[lc.escv]

Hi Alexander,
I thank you for your understanding and for your open-mindedness. If you need some informations, please let me know.
Regards, Laurent

[daphnis]

When a VM is replicated to a destination site, Veeam preserves the instanceUuid (AKA vc.uuid in the VMX file) as it should. If one manually changes the instanceUuid at the destination and the Veeam replication job re-runs and moves data, that ID is overwritten with the one in the source (because this is what is in the source VMX). Is there a registry key somewhere that will prevent Veeam from behaving this way? I need those instanceUuid numbers to be different and yet still be able to replicate the contents of the source VM's disk. Can this be done?

[foggy]

Please review this thread for considerations behind this behavior. Thanks.

[daphnis]

While this isn't *exactly* the same thing as I'm reporting, it's close enough that I can see a feature request still applies and I'll have to find another way to accomplish this.

[lc.escv]

Hi Alexander,

Happy new year to you! I have just updated to the new version 9.5 Update 3. It seems to run fine

Do you think that you will have time to find a way to solve the question of UUID not unique in same vCenter or is this question aborted? I thank you in advance for your answer.

Laurent

[foggy]

Hi Laurent, Happy New Year to you too! I cannot comment on when and whether this request is going to be addressed - we prioritize all requests based on their demand and actual value to the product and have a long list of features to choose from.

[mdxyz]

When a VM is replicated to a destination site, Veeam preserves the instanceUuid (AKA vc.uuid in the VMX file) as it should. If one manually changes the instanceUuid at the destination and the Veeam replication job re-runs and moves data, that ID is overwritten with the one in the source (because this is what is in the source VMX). Is there a registry key somewhere that will prevent Veeam from behaving this way? I need those instanceUuid numbers to be different and yet still be able to replicate the contents of the source VM's disk. Can this be done?

You could run a post job PowerCLI script to change the uuid.

Edit: just noticed I'm replying to a post from September.... oh well.

[morty]

I've read that when cloning a Windows guest I need to take into consideration things like UUID and MAC address. Does VM Copy do this for me so I can just copy a VM to the same cluster and network under a different name and run it simultaneously with the original VM?

[Vitaliy S.]

To the best of my knowledge it doesn't, so you will need to perform manual steps here.