You obtain a CSV file that contains the networking information for the protected virtual machines on the vCenter Server by running dr-ip-customizer with the --cmd generate command. You edit the CSV file to customize the IP settings of the protected virtual machines.

Note: With Site Recovery Manager, you can define subnet-level IP mapping rules to customize IP settings on virtual machines by using the DR IP Customizer tool. You can use subnet-level IP mapping rules in combination with DR IP Customizer. For information about how you can use subnet-level IP mapping rules and DR IP Customizer together, see Customizing IP Properties for Multiple Virtual Machines.

A Generated DR IP Customizer CSV File

For a simple setup with only two protected virtual machines, the generated CSV file might contain only the virtual machine ID, the virtual machine name, the names of the vCenter Server instances on both sites, and a single adapter. 

VM ID,VM Name,vCenter Server,Adapter ID,DNS Domain,Net BIOS,
Primary WINS,Secondary WINS,IP Address,Subnet Mask,Gateway(s),
IPv6 Address,IPv6 Subnet Prefix length,IPv6 Gateway(s),
DNS Server(s),DNS Suffix(es)
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e,vm-3-win,vcenter-server-site-B,0,,,,,,,,,,,,
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e,vm-3-win,vcenter-server-site-A,0,,,,,,,,,,,,
834c1a9b-1f91-fbca-1028-43820d8f236d,vm-1-linux,vcenter-server-site-B,0,,,,,,,,,,,,
834c1a9b-1f91-fbca-1028-43820d8f236d,vm-1-linux,vcenter-server-site-A,0,,,,,,,,,,,,

This generated CSV file shows two virtual machines, vm-3-win and vm-1-linux. The virtual machines are present on the protected site and on the recovery site, vcenter-server-site-B, and vcenter-server-site-A. DR IP Customizer generates an entry for each virtual machine and each site with Adapter ID 0. You can add additional lines to customize each NIC, once you are aware of how many NICs are on each virtual machine.

Setting Static IPv4 Addresses

You can modify the generated CSV file to assign two network adapters with static IPv4 addresses to one of the virtual machines, vm-3-win, on the protected site and the recovery site.

For readability, the example CSV file in the following table omits empty columns. The DNS Domain, NetBIOS, IPv6 Address, IPv6 Subnet Prefix length, and IPv6 Gateway(s) columns are all omitted.

Table 1. Setting Static IPv4 Addresses in a Modified CSV File
VM ID VM Name vCenter Server Adapter ID Primary WINS Secondary WINS IP Address Subnet Mask Gateway(s) DNS Server(s) DNS Suffix(es)
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-B 0 example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-B 0 eng.example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-B 1 2.2.3.4 2.2.3.5 192.168.1.21 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 1.1.1.1
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-B 2 2.2.3.4 2.2.3.5 192.168.1.22 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 1.1.1.2
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-A 0 1.1.0.1 example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-A 0 1.1.0.2 eng.example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-A 1 192.168.0.21 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-A 2 1.2.3.4 1.2.3.5 192.168.0.22 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1

The information in this CSV file applies different static IPv4 settings to vm-3-win on the protected site and on the recovery site.

  • On the vcenter-server-site-B site:
    • Sets the DNS suffixes example.com and eng.example.com for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 1, with primary and secondary WINS servers 2.2.3.4 and 2.2.3.5, a static IPv4 address 192.168.1.21, and DNS server 1.1.1.1.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 2, with primary and secondary WINS servers 2.2.3.4 and 2.2.3.5, a static IPv4 address 192.168.1.22, and DNS server 1.1.1.2.
  • On the vcenter-server-site-A site:
    • Sets the DNS suffixes example.com and eng.example.com for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Sets the DNS servers 1.1.0.1 and 1.1.0.2 for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 1, with a static IPv4 address 192.168.0.21.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 2, with primary and secondary WINS servers 1.2.3.4 and 1.2.3.5 and a static IPv4 address 192.168.0.22.

Setting Static and DHCP IPv4 Addresses

You can modify the generated CSV file to assign multiple NICs to one of the virtual machines, vm-3-win, that use a combination of static and DHCP IPv4 addresses. The settings can be different on the protected site and the recovery site.

For readability, the example CSV file in the following table omits empty columns. The DNS Domain, NetBIOS, IPv6 Address, IPv6 Subnet Prefix length, and IPv6 Gateway(s) columns are all omitted.

Table 2. Setting Static and DHCP IPv4 Addresses in a Modified CSV File
VM ID VM Name vCenter Server Adapter ID Primary WINS Secondary WINS IP Address Subnet Mask Gateway(s) DNS Server(s) DNS Suffix(es)
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-B 0 example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-B 0 eng.example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-B 1 2.2.3.4 2.2.3.5 dhcp 1.1.1.1
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-B 2 2.2.3.4 2.2.3.5 192.168.1.22 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 1.1.1.2
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-A 0 1.1.0.1 example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-A 0 1.1.0.2 eng.example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-A 1 dhcp
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-A 2 1.2.3.4 1.2.3.5 192.168.0.22 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1

The information in this CSV file applies different static and dynamic IPv4 settings to vm-3-win on the protected site and on the recovery site.

  • On site vcenter-server-site-B:
    • Sets the DNS suffixes example.com and eng.example.com for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 1, with primary and secondary WINS servers 2.2.3.4 and 2.2.3.5, that uses DHCP to obtain an IP address and sets the static DNS server 1.1.1.1.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 2, with primary and secondary WINS servers 2.2.3.4 and 2.2.3.5, with a static IPv4 address 192.168.1.22 and DNS server 1.1.1.2.
  • On site vcenter-server-site-A:
    • Sets the DNS suffixes to example.com and eng.example.com for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Sets the DNS servers 1.1.0.1 and 1.1.0.2 for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 1, that uses DHCP to obtain an IPv4 address and the globally assigned DNS server information.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 2, with primary and secondary WINS servers 1.2.3.4 and 1.2.3.5, and a static IPv4 address 192.168.0.22.

Setting Static and DHCP IPv4 and IPv6 Addresses

You can modify the generated CSV file to assign multiple NICs to vm-3-win, one of the virtual machines. The NICs can use a combination of static and DHCP IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. The settings can be different on both the protected site and the recovery site.

For readability, the example CSV file in the following table omits empty columns. The DNS Domain and NetBIOS columns are omitted.

Table 3. Setting Static and DHCP IPv4 and IPv6 Addresses in a Modified CSV File
VM ID VM Name vCenter Server Adapter ID Primary WINS Secondary WINS IP Address Subnet Mask Gateway(s) IPv6 Address IPv6 Subnet Prefix length IPv6 Gateway(s) DNS Server(s) DNS Suffix(es)
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-B 0 example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-B 0 eng.example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-B 1 2.2.3.4 2.2.3.5 192.168.1.21 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 dhcp 1.1.1.1
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-B 2 2.2.3.4 2.2.3.5 dhcp ::ffff:192.168.1.22 32 ::ffff:192.168.1.1 1.1.1.2
protected-vm-10301 vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-A 0 example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vm-3-win vcenter-server-site-A 0 eng.example.com
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-A 1 dhcp ::ffff:192.168.0.22 32 ::ffff:192.168.0.1 ::ffff:192.168.0.250
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-A 1 ::ffff:192.168.0.251
103b9e8b-1f90-faca-8028-13820b8f236e vcenter-server-site-A 2 1.2.3.4 1.2.3.5 192.168.0.22 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1 1.1.1.1

The information in this CSV file applies different IP settings to vm-3-win on the protected site and on the recovery site.

  • On site vcenter-server-site-B:
    • Sets the DNS suffixes example.com and eng.example.com for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 1, with primary and secondary WINS servers 2.2.3.4 and 2.2.3.5, that sets a static IPv4 address 192.168.1.21, uses DHCP to obtain an IPv6 address, and uses DNS server 1.1.1.1.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 2, with primary and secondary WINS servers 2.2.3.4 and 2.2.3.5, that uses DHCP to obtain an IPv4 address, sets a static IPv6 address ::ffff:192.168.1.22, and uses DNS server 1.1.1.2.
  • On site vcenter-server-site-A:
    • Sets the DNS suffixes to example.com and eng.example.com for all NICs for this virtual machine.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 1, that uses DHCP to obtain an IPv4 address and sets a static IPv6 address ::ffff:192.168.1.22. Adapter ID 1 uses static IPv6 DNS servers ::ffff:192.168.0.250 and ::ffff:192.168.0.251.
    • Adds a NIC, Adapter ID 2, with primary and secondary WINS servers 1.2.3.4 and 1.2.3.5, a static IPv4 address 192.168.0.22, and DNS server 1.1.1.1. By leaving the IPv6 column blank, Adapter ID 2 uses DHCP for IPv6 addresses.