Resolving "A MAC address conflict occurred during the operation" when adding a VM to my environment?

The error "A MAC address conflict occurred during the operation" displays when a suspended VM is added to an environment that already has a VM with the same MAC address. This typically happens when trying to add multiple copies of the same VM to an environment.

Why this occurs

All VMs in an environment must have unique MAC addresses. Skytap attempts to enforce this when a new VM is added to an existing environment. If the new VM is shut down, Skytap automatically assigns a new MAC address to it. However, it's not possible to update the MAC address when a VM is suspended. Attempting to do so creates a MAC address conflict. The VM is added to the environment, but isn’t connected to the network.

How to resolve this issue

1. Shut down the VM. If the VM is suspended, we recommend that you run it and then safely shut it down.
2. Edit the VM network adapter to give it a MAC address that is unique for this environment. The linked Help Doc describes the requirements for MAC addresses used in Skytap x86 VMs.
3. Edit the VM network adapter to connect it to a network in the environment.

If you are trying to create an environment with many copies of an identical VM, we recommend that your original VM is in a shut down state to take advantage of automatic MAC address assignment.

Reference Links

• Adding VMs to an environment: https://help.skytap.com/adding-vms.html#resolving-mac-address-errors